Revisitng Dgrin Shootout 2008

anwmn1

Went wandering through the archives and decided to process a couple more shots.

1. Dead Horse Point- (group shoot) two image HDR then processed in LR and CS4 to try and reduce the HDR effects that I do not like. Still do not like some of the sky but what say you?




2A. Paria Plateau- 2nd Process of this shot


Compared to 1st processing

2B.


Let me know your thoughts.

hawkeye978

Aaron,

I like the detail that's coming out in the first. I agree, the HDR software appears to be blocking up some of the clouds.

The first seems to lack a little depth, to my eye. The foreground rocks have great detail and light, but I'm wondering if the intermediate red wants to be a touch darker? Is the picture tilted down to the left?

I like the new processing on number 2. The horizon seems tilted to the right but that could be perspective effects.

thapamd

Very nice, Aaron!

1st shoot: The highlights in the sky are a bit too bright. The horizon is tilted. Your tripod may have been perfectly aligned to the horizon, but the perception from what I see is an image that is a counter clockwise tilted. In pictures, it's perception that counts.

2nd/3rd shot: I like the sky from the 3rd and the FG brightness from the 2nd. If you could combine the two elements into one, you'd have the "perfect" brightness and sky detail, IMO. The image is tilted a bit clockwise, as Tom mentioned above.

I'd be happy to call any of these shots mine!

kdog

Agree with all that's been stated above. Sky is blown out in places on the first one. HDR software will happily do that if you're not paying attention.

I really like Mahesh's idea of combining the sky from the 2b with the rocks from 2a. Using HDR in conjunction with manual blending is not an uncommon thing to want to do.

But overall, I really like the way you've coaxed the light and details out on these shots. You're definitely on the right track.

-joel

dlplumer

I like # 2 the best. I also like #1 (fix horizon).

I like the sky in 3 with the rocks in 2.

Dan

schmoo

Great advice so far in this thread. I love the last show and the foreground is wonderful.

My only nit is the WB on these which seems a bit cyan and magenta to me. With the sweet light I expect the light to be a touch warmer, but of course that's all up to you, as the artist!

bryanj87

I agree with the other comments, but would offer this suggestion. Try both in b/w. I've found you can get some very intense results converting HDR to b/w. That first image, to me, screams b/w conversion.

anwmn1

Thanks everyone for pointing out my lopsidedness.

I will see if I can straighten them without ruining the foreground. I think it is more of a lens issue though as they were very wide shots. 7mm and 17mm.


Guess I better learn to merge images.

Back to the editing room.