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Hi all, just wanted to share 2 quick photos taken last week. This is the HMAS Castlemaine stationed at Gem Pier in Williamstown. Click on image for larger version.





Comments and feedback welcome

The HDR effect is very visible, a bit too much for my liking, but you have done well to avoid halo-ing in #1.

There is a slight haloing in #2 (the vertical green pole) but most people wont pick it up.

I would try backing off the HDR a slight bit

Hmm that's fair enough... I did have a bit of trouble balancing between natural-looking and too-HDR. I guess my objective was to show something that it is a bit different from the usual photo, but not blindingly obvious.

Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated

I agree with Cameron, they are nearly there.

Thanks for the feedback Cameron & Craig , here's a 2nd attempt at the processing:





A little bit more subtle?

I think the use of HDR in this situation is killing the mood. HDR is only useful where the dynamic range is greater than the imaging chips ability to capture it. In the images you have posted that probably is not the case.

Matt. K wrote:I think the use of HDR in this situation is killing the mood. HDR is only useful where the dynamic range is greater than the imaging chips ability to capture it. In the images you have posted that probably is not the case.

Hi Matt, thanks for the insight. You are right in that the dynamic range of the scene probably is not excessive. In this case, my intention in choosing to use an HDR processing technique was to show the darkness in the clouds. The sky would be much brighter in a single exposure capture.

NeoTiger,
Were these taken with multiple exposures made into HDR or by using a single file and changing the exposure in ACR, then made into a HDR?

The blown highlights in the sky ruin it for me, but I see what you were trying to do.

Dave

Neotiger,

HDR aside, I am not keen on the composition of #2 especially.

Maybe post us some other compositions and non-HDRed versions (You should still post process them but without HDR).

Other considerations are
1. Why did you use HDR in these pictures?
2. Do you think it has helped to set the mood that you are trying to set?

hth

I'm with the others on your use of HDR here.

Given that the conditions weren't really those that needed that treatment, I think that where you choose to go down that path anyway, then go the whole hog: make it very obvious, to the point of being silly. You never know what you might achieve.

There's also some distortion in the second image, btw. Try lining up the rh side of the pole with, say, rh edge of your screen. It should be parallel; it ain't.

Thanks for the feedback guys. As said before, my intention was to bring out the dark clouds in the sky and get some good contrast there.

It's interesting to get a range of feedback, as I've had comments from other people saying they really liked the use of HDR in this scene. I'll re-process some of the single captures for the same scene later and upload them up here for comparison and comments.

Thanks again, much appreciated

This is the original of the first shot, without HDR (the HDR one was a combination of 3 exposures). Some adjustments to this shot have been made in lightroom.

I think you have got some good critique from others so I will not repeat it, the things that jump out at me are the raindrops? on the lens (the funny circle next to the flag) I get drawn straight to that and as gary mentioned the distortion, a little correction there will solve that problem.

I took your original single file and just for examples sake to concrete in what the others were saying about probably not needing HDR in this case, I edited it in a way that emphasised the clouds and has that 'HDR' style.

If you want it removed or have objections to people editing your images just let me know.

Hi gerry, no I don't mind at all. Thanks for putting in the effort to demonstrate.

On a different tack Neo, I would have liked the ship to have filled more of the frame eg either by cropping or better still by getting closer in the first place.

As for the HDR treatment it's very subjective. You have good subject matter here to start with so the HDR treatment may be overkill.

My two bob's worth!

Ozi