HDR and Filters - Is it too Much?

[paintingwithlight]

Hi all,

I used LR6 and NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to edit these two photos. In LR6 all I did was auto-tone. In NIK I applied lots of filters. I like the NIK image with filters - the LR6 image seems boring and dull by comparison. I like the heavily filtered image but I feel that perhaps it looks to amateur - I worry about that because I am an amateur.

Comments or criticisms? I didn't clone or crop of vignette the images - should I have?

Plain old LR:



Here is the heavily filtered NIK:



Thanks.

Michael

[Shadowman]

A crop would be interesting if you eliminated all of the sky right up to the greenery on left, however if you crop that tightly you'd split the masts; but then again they are almost lost in the foreground. The crop would lose the bit of detail you've pulled from the clouds but the severe crop was suggested because you've done the same in camera to the tops of the buildings and the masts on either end of the composition.

Regarding the processing, I don't think the scene called for HDR and I don't think HDR was really done on this scene just processed to look as if. I'm not for or against either image; interestingly I like the red of the LR version and the yellow of the NIK version. Nice effort.

[Manfred M]

Personally I find the image far too busy to be effective, but then that is my personal taste coming through. Your PP work is definitely "over the top", in my opinion. Unless you are actually blending multiple exposures then I would skip HDR Pro, the tone mapping by itself often results in images that are not all that appealing.

I use Color Efex Pro in much of my work, but I apply it quite lightly. I don't want to get that grungy look that people tend to tire of quite quickly. Here is my version of your original and I used Color Efex Pro only - I used the Pro Contrast, ND Gradient and Detail Extractor (around 2% strength).

[paintingwithlight]

My edit of the normally exposed frame edited in LR only. Better?



Tips on composition are always welcome but composition was not an objective in this photo.

I have much to learn...

-Michael

[Manfred M]

My edit of the normally exposed frame edited in LR only. Better?


Tips on composition are always welcome but composition was not an objective in this photo.

I have much to learn...

-Michael

You appear to have introduced a yellow colour cast. To me that is a bit strange looking given the predominantly cool tones in this image.

[MrB]

Firstly, this image is busy...but surely that is the point of it.
Secondly, this image is not enhanced by applying a vignette.
Thirdly, special software is not necessary for this image - the only tools needed are the usual readily available ones of brightness, contrast, saturation, and unsharp mask.
Just my opinions, of course.
To each his own.



(Images best compared in the lightbox.)

Cheers.
Philip

[Limpopoboy]

I agree with GrumpyDiver, the photo is to busy for me and nowhere to lay or lead they eye. However, I enjoy post edit almost as much as I do actually taking photographs. I often revisit my photographs and post edit them several times giving them totally different looks,