So today looked like a good day to try HDRs. Here's what I did: Handheld auto-brackets, +/- 1.5 (3 exp) Create HDR in Photomatrix Basic Tone Map in Photomatrix Basic Saturation/Exposure adjust at Photoshop.com (have I mentioned how much I love photoshop.com?) Here they are: China: + + = France: + + = Morocco + + = Germany: + + = Seeeeeem-ba. (Pink pajamas, penguins on the bottom... Pink pajamas, penguins on the bottom...) + + = Learned a lot today. Critical feedback desired, particularly from auto-bracketing, HDRing tone mappers. Especially if said feedback is followed by helpful tips!
Critique: The HDR doesn't look overdone, which is good imo, but the result looks simply like a saturated version of the original 1st "correct" exposure. There is some extra details brought in from the shadows of the buildings and the highlights of the clouds, but again, I mainly notice the intense saturation/exposure adjustments, not the HDR. I would recommend auto-bracketing at +/-2 EV for increased range, and lower the luminance on your blues so that the sky isn't so light and fake looking (unless that is the effect you want). Personally, I wouldn't saturate the colors quite as much either. It works better on the China photo, because of the prominence of the red and green colors, but for the others, it is too much for me.
try adding a touch of local contrast enhancement... use 20%,50,0 as the settings to clear some of the 'haze' from the image.
Awesome, thanks for the critique tanner & Tim. Was exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. I was frustrated with the look of the sky. I was hoping for a deep blue, contrasty sky, but couldn't get it right with the sliders in Photomatrix Basic. Will try the autobracket +/- 2.0 ...I thought I was pushing it with 1.5. Will also toss these over to my Mac to mess with them in PS. (Photomatrix Basic is PC only, and I don't have PS on this PC. Guess I'll have to "dual box" my HDRs.) Thanks again for the help!
photomatix reccommends 2 stops +- as the starting point, i have done 5 stops, in 1 stop increments, i have found i need the 2 stop range or i end up with much the same issues, approaching an oversaturated look without that slightly metallic hdr look i have a couple from today, waterfront landscapes, to be processed, i'm particularly going for that brassy look as much of the scene was green water and yellowed marsh grasses, i'll post what i end up with in a couple
