Thoughts from a new guy

woellerd

Still new here, and feeling my way around. I thought I'd offer up this image for thoughts and suggestions. This is one of my early HDR experiments. A 3 shot + - 2 stop series tone mapped only enough to bring shadows and highlights into an accceptable range. Yes I have pushed the envelope on other shots, and feel it sometimes has its place. I like this one with minimal effect. What do you guys and gals think?

rwells

woellerd wrote:

I like this one with minimal effect. What do you guys and gals think?

Hey Dave,

As I often say, "if your happy, I'm happy".


Now, on a personal note: I think this is a stellar image. Sharp, clear, articulate comp.

Good job ~ Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

harvey3

Looks great!
you're doing great!

adbsgicom

Very well done.
Even though everything is nicely aligned, for some reason it feels to me like something is slightly off angle. I can't figure out why, other than I'm going nuts.

woellerd

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I can assure you I have a huge head start on the nuts catagory:D Gotta keep pluggin away though. Very high quality work here, I hope to fit in.

Richard

I don't think I would have known this was an HDR if you hadn't said so. That--to me--is a sign of success. I know lots of people like to push the colors to extremes, but sometimes that seems to be just because they can, not because it serves any real artistic purpose. I'm probably in the minority, mind you, but when I see a pic that screams Photomatix, my eyes glaze over. OTOH, using HDR to deal with difficult light--as you have done here--can be a great tool, and you have done a good job of it.

woellerd

Thanks Richard. There is quite a debate on the use of this tool, but I guess it all comes down to your desired end result. I must admit that I have seen some highly toned images that were impressive, but the intended message was quite clear. Many look more like an illustration than a photograph.

Richard

woellerd wrote:

Thanks Richard. There is quite a debate on the use of this tool, but I guess it all comes down to your desired end result. I must admit that I have seen some highly toned images that were impressive, but the intended message was quite clear. Many look more like an illustration than a photograph.

Well, I try to avoid discussion of what constitutes a photograph as opposed to whatever, so I usually stick with "image." Don't get me wrong--I enjoy extreme image manipulation including HDR techniques. I just think that they are often applied indiscriminately, and that's what puts me off.

woellerd

I will completely agree with that. I appreciate your thoughts.