HDR of Beach Huts

[victor]

Taken from 3 exposures. HDR Efex Pro used to process, then masked in photoshop.

Any comments please.



Thanks

David

[FrankMi]

Hi David, I would be very curious to see what the normal exposure image looked like for comparison. Thanks!

[Colin Southern]

Taken from 3 exposures. HDR Efex Pro used to process, then masked in photoshop.

Any comments please.



Thanks

David

Hi David,

Sorry, but it just doesn't look natural to me. I would have thought that there would have been sufficient dynamic range in a properly exposed normal dynamic range capture to be able to capture the scene without using HDR techniques.

[victor]

Original Image/exposure

[Peter Ryan]

The original shows much more form, or modeling, from the shadow detail. Shadows are your friend. I find HDR removes the shadows and renders a flat, colourful looking image . I much prefer this version, although it could be livened up a tad with slight Fill Light to open shadow a little before applying some contrast enhancement, which in turn adds darkness but now to the modified dynamic range, and sharpening.

[Colin Southern]

How's this for a quick retouch (mostly just levels in ACR)

[FrankMi]

Hi David, You have a beautiful composition with this beach scene and it is always easier to get a pleasing result when you can apply milder post processing techniques. As this image didn't have a high dynamic range of exposure values, the issues added by tonemapping can be avoided.

When I do HDR images, it is usually a dramatically contrasty scene like shooting a sunset, an indoor/outdoor scene, or a dark woodlands scene with bright sunlight. In these situations, I can't get a good result without HDR. Effective HDR processing entails compensation for the issues created by the tonemapping process. The issues created often include a dark sky and even darker clouds, overly bright foliage, oversaturated colors and sickly skin tones. These issues can be minimized in the HDR process but in most cases, have to be dealt with in detail using masking and layers. It is all doable and can produce not only strikingly beautiful results, but in many cases, results that are impossible to achieve any other way. Learning to use HDR processing effectively will take time but has many benefits and can be a lot of fun.

[Colin Southern]

issues added by tonemapping can be avoided.

Effective HDR processing entails compensation for the issues created by the tonemapping process. The issues created often include a dark sky and even darker clouds, overly bright foliage, oversaturated colors and sickly skin tones. These issues can be minimized in the HDR process but in most cases, have to be dealt with in detail using masking and layers. It is all doable and can produce not only strikingly beautiful results, but in many cases, results that are impossible to achieve any other way.

Congratulations Frank, you've earned yourself a Colin J. Southern "This Man Gets It" award - an award given only occasionally, and only to those who have articulated a true "real world" grasp of something that is often misunderstood by many.

[FrankMi]

Why thank you Colin! I am humbled and honored to receive such a coveted award.

I just hope that this information helps David as well as any others that enjoy working with HDR images.

[victor]

Many Thanks all. Very constructive advice.

regards

David