Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: slothead on June 01, 2013, 08:15:37 pm

Title: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: slothead on June 01, 2013, 08:15:37 pm
An HDR made last December.

D800, 12-24mm @12mm, (three images centered at: f/11, 1/2500 sec)

(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/tmansonusa/D8S_1086a3_zps00cc1641.jpg)
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: David Eckels on June 02, 2013, 08:34:24 am
Nice scene. I'd be curious how this would look, working up the single best exposure in LR? That white halo along the mountain ridge is distracting, something I often see with multiple layers and I've taken to trying to work with just one, sometimes using HDR toning.
BTW, welcome to the forums!
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: Chairman Bill on June 02, 2013, 08:59:12 am
I've seen worse HDR, but this still doesn't work for me. Where're the shadows & highlights? What's the point of supposedly High Dynamic Range if the resultant images actually restrict the dynamic range?

And yes, that halo of white along the ridge line ...
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: DwayneOakes on June 02, 2013, 11:05:42 am
The HDR is not really doing anything for me but those clouds are awesome !

Take care,
Dwayne Oakes
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: sdwilsonsct on June 02, 2013, 01:25:58 pm
The HDR is not really doing anything for me but those clouds are awesome !

Yeah, great detail in the clouds: they look almost solid and bumpy. The photo has lots of good elements and might benefit from a lighter touch during processing.
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: slothead on June 02, 2013, 06:09:18 pm
Thanks guys, and thanks for the welcome Dave.  I'll consider trying a single-image HDR and post the results here (if I'm not embarrassed with those results :) ).
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on June 03, 2013, 03:34:47 am
Thanks guys, and thanks for the welcome Dave.  I'll consider trying a single-image HDR and post the results here (if I'm not embarrassed with those results :) ).

I'll second the welcome, but I'm a little puzzled. Does the scene really need HDR at all? I'm struggling to see that its dynamic range exceeds that of the sensor, particularly the sensor on a D800 (from what I've read: I've not used one).

Jeremy
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: Tony Jay on June 03, 2013, 05:24:34 am
This image is close but unfortunately still no cigar.

I agree with the comments about the lack of contrast in the image.
For HDR to work well in landscape it has to be subtle - it needs to scream "nice capture" rather than "HDR".
You had no need to tell anyone that your post-processing included HDR - it was self-evident!

Jeremy raises the question asking whether HDR was required at all - I think that there may have been a place for HDR - the lack of contrast in the image probably in no way mirrors the reality present when shooting.

If I may be so bold - look to use HDR to produce an image with wonderful tones and detail that simply does not have the 'HDR look.'
You can rework this image in infinite ways because from this image I can see that you certainly succeeded in your capture sequence - everything required is there.

Tony Jay
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: francois on June 03, 2013, 06:22:25 am
The HDR is not really doing anything for me but those clouds are awesome !

Same feeling here!

You have all the materials for a great image but some more work on post-processing is needed. I would try with a single image first, as you suggested […I'll consider trying a single-image HDR and post the results here].

Welcome aboard!
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: David Eckels on June 03, 2013, 08:40:03 am
I'll second the welcome, but I'm a little puzzled. Does the scene really need HDR at all? I'm struggling to see that its dynamic range exceeds that of the sensor, particularly the sensor on a D800 (from what I've read: I've not used one).

Jeremy
Agree with Jeremy and the others. They were relatively gentle with you, unlike they were with me ;) Folks here helped me work through some images and PP in LR, both HDR and not, and the feed back was terrific in User Critiques. Some of it can be a little rough, but it's honest and that is worthwhile. I look forward to seeing more.
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: PeterAit on June 03, 2013, 12:07:54 pm
Yow! Fantastic scene, but it yells "over-processed" to me at 150 decibels. In other words, it looks fake. Junk pile or calendar fodder. I don't mean to be offensive, but why, why, why do people take lovely photos and then process them into ugliness?
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: sdwilsonsct on June 03, 2013, 12:30:02 pm
For HDR to work well in landscape it has to be subtle - it needs to scream "nice capture" rather than "HDR".

No one complained about HDR in my recent HDR image (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=78596.0), although I was warned not to overbrighten the subject.
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: thierrylegros396 on June 03, 2013, 01:06:49 pm
For me, too much local contrast and too low global contrast lead to this result.

But as others said you have all to obtain a good picture.

Just process it to keep shadows dark enough and highlights really bright.

With your D800 to bracket in this case, you have 14Ev available.

We are waiting for another version ;)

Thierry
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: Tony Jay on June 03, 2013, 05:02:39 pm
No one complained about HDR in my recent HDR image (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=78596.0), although I was warned not to overbrighten the subject.
Scott, I think I missed your offering first time around.
Actually I do like it because it is a believable result.
Nonetheless I would still darken the foreground (barn and surrounding farmland) slightly but it must be borne in mind that I live in the tropics where the contrast in light at that time of day is much greater than the gentle twilights at higher latitudes so your presentation of the light may be more accurate than my, potentially, warped impression.

Tony Jay
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: sdwilsonsct on June 03, 2013, 05:52:47 pm
... it must be borne in mind that I live in the tropics where the contrast in light at that time of day is much greater than the gentle twilights at higher latitudes...

Interesting point you make about tropical vs temperate twilight and its effect on backlit subjects.
Title: Re: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Post by: Tony Jay on June 04, 2013, 06:53:17 am
Not just backlit subjects!

Tony Jay