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I've been trying to figure out this whole HDR thing these past couple of days. It's frustrating, especially with the wind of late, but I'm enjoying learning something new.

This was the original Hume Hwy crossing over the Goulburn River...



And an old church from a small nearby town...



I normally don't do much post and Photoshop/Photomatix are not my good friends yet, so any tips are most appreciated!

Hi Adam, I'm not really a fan of the first - before I read that you were experimenting with HDR I instantly thought a little bit over the top HDR which I don't think suits this scene. NB: I'm not against HDR (I do it myself) but I find it hard to do "realistic" HDR with scenes like this (esp with lots of sky, foliage, etc) and tend to reserve it for scenes that suit the more hyper processed look. I think you've done well to get the sky to actually look blue (HDR often turns sky to grey) but I think it's the lower half - the reflection in the water where things go a bit awry.

The second I like - it still has a bit of the haloing going on but with the B&W I think it's working OK

Thanks mate. Here's something with a little less colour...



I wasn't really going for the realistic HDR look in this case. I've done that in the past reasonably successfully and I'm also a big fan of the realistic look, but this time I wanted more of a hyper-realistic (if you will) look.

Lately I've been spending a lot of time looking at the works of Klaus Herrmann, Anthony Gelot and Trey Ratcliff.
Pretty much all of those images are obvious HDR, but they appeal to me.
They're all clearly masters of the craft and mine and terrible in comparison, but it gives you an idea of the direction I was heading, or trying to head at least.

I definitely prefer "realistic" version 2...but it certainly not the "hyper realistic" look that you were after, if you stick with it for long enough i am sure you will master that look as well.