Cockatoo Crane...

[Remorhaz]

This Crane on the waters edge on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour, with some great cloud action in the sky made for an ideal location for a gritty detailed HDR. I lined things up with my Ultra Wide Angle lens down low on a tripod looking up at the crane and hook with the sun in the clouds directly behind the main arm of the crane and took three bracketed images at 0, -2 and +2EV.

Since this is probably my personal favourite (non people) shot from our trip to the island I wouldn't mind some feedback on these...



and here is a version I've converted to monochrome and processed even further

[Reschsmooth]

As a photo, I like the composition, although would prefer a tighter crop - the space to the left doesn't add much to the image. Would it have been possible to move the barricade that is at the left of the crane?

Can you post the non-HDR image as exposed for comparison?

[surenj]

Really feeling #2 but perhaps consider slightly toning it down... Nice gritty and somewhat ominous which is less so evident in the color version.

[aim54x]

The monochrome appeals more to me...I find that the over-the-top HDR tends to stretch colours too far so I tend to gravitate towards the mono. I like what you have gotten with the skies in the mono.

[biggerry]

Since this is probably my personal favourite (non people) shot from our trip to the island I wouldn't mind some feedback on these...

When i first opened it, i was a bit..'meh' it looks very much like the default output from photomatix, now thats not necessarily a bad thing, however for me I have seen so many that now they need to have some extra shamazz to warrant a second glance.

I did however think as a composition it has potential with the biggest downer for me being the position of the sun (thats a good idea btw), it feels like its in the middle of nowhere,, with the crane arm leading the eye thru the image the sun does little but stop you smack in the middle, placement at the crane tip or hook would have made for a stronger image in my opinion.

That said, i reckon it still has potential and a little extra/different PP may make it shine, there are a plethora of ways to do this and I reckon everyone develops their own style. Here is my take on what I would do after it came outta photomatix.

My main objective was to make that crane more prominent and separate it from teh BG and hence give teh image depth, somethign which the photomatix processing has sucked away.

If you really want detailed steps on teh PP let me know, but the crux is that is basically alot of selective contrasting, diffusion and lighting..



hth.

[biggerry]

the other thing i forgot was, sometimes its good to let the sun go and blow out, a highly caged sun can be a real turnoff imo, HDR can have blown sections and still be good

[Remorhaz]

Would it have been possible to move the barricade that is at the left of the crane?

Maybe - although there were a number joined together all around that side of the crane - presumably to stop kids playing on it.

Can you post the non-HDR image as exposed for comparison?

Sure

[Remorhaz]

My main objective was to make that crane more prominent and separate it from teh BG and hence give teh image depth, somethign which the photomatix processing has sucked away.

the crux is that is basically alot of selective contrasting, diffusion and lighting..

Thanks Gerry - I like what you've done for the crane (and even the ground) but not so much the sky/clouds in your version - but your comments are definitely food for thought and I might try a bunch of slective contrast & clarity on just the crane and lower part of the image and see what happens - thanks for taking the time to do this

[biggerry]

I like what you've done for the crane (and even the ground) :

i reckon that little bit of ground and shadow play a big part in the image, gets you in at the bottom and gives you a good push through the frame.