2 Years After the Fire

CWSkopec

Shot this on the same day as my last post, later in the day and on the opposite side of the lake in a community park with a number of trails and lots to see. This side of the lake was hit by a major wildfire in 2007 that burned almost 200,000 acres. I shot this with the recent challenge (Comedy/Tragedy) in mind. Also processed it using Photomatix for the first time, with -2, 0 & +2 exposures.

Seeing as it's only been 2 years since the fire, I was really surprised by how much has grown so quickly, but I like the contrast between the charred tree trucks and the living plants/trees.



C&C greatly appreciated! I've got a ton more to process and will probably do some more in Photomatix, so if I've horrible botched something, it'd be nice to know now before I go through them!

craig_d

There's a very distinct dark border between the land and the sky. It's nasty-looking.

Overall, my main objection to this picture is that it doesn't look at all like a real place due to the totally un-subtle use of HDR. Not only do the sky and the land not go together, even taken separately they look garish and overly contrasty, and the colors of things just don't look right. The pebbly texture of the hills in the background are completely unbelievable.

HDR can be a valuable tool, but it has to be used with some degree of skill and sensitivity. For an idea of what HDR can do when handled well, check out the True Tone HDR group on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/truetonehdr/

The place you took this shot looks like an interesting landscape with a lot of potential for great images. I'm not sure this shot, even without HDR, will amount to much, though. The only real focal point you have here is the one taller burnt tree at left, and it doesn't seem interesting enough to me to carry the shot. I've had shots of my own that failed for similar reasons. Sometimes the idea of a shot is better than the actual shot.

rainbow

This is a powerful shot. The ominous clouds appear to be drawing the stark/dead trees upward.

OTOH, the living on the bottom as the contrast does not stand out as much. Can you make the green "pop" more without affecting the rest?

CWSkopec

craig_d wrote:

There's a very distinct dark border between the land and the sky. It's nasty-looking.

Overall, my main objection to this picture is that it doesn't look at all like a real place due to the totally un-subtle use of HDR. Not only do the sky and the land not go together, even taken separately they look garish and overly contrasty, and the colors of things just don't look right. The pebbly texture of the hills in the background are completely unbelievable.

HDR can be a valuable tool, but it has to be used with some degree of skill and sensitivity. For an idea of what HDR can do when handled well, check out the True Tone HDR group on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/truetonehdr/

The place you took this shot looks like an interesting landscape with a lot of potential for great images. I'm not sure this shot, even without HDR, will amount to much, though. The only real focal point you have here is the one taller burnt tree at left, and it doesn't seem interesting enough to me to carry the shot. I've had shots of my own that failed for similar reasons. Sometimes the idea of a shot is better than the actual shot.

Craig, thanks for honest critique!

That dark border between the land and sky, well... that's a result of my masking "skills" disappearing after midnight. Even with the bracketing, there was some detail loss in the sky that I was trying to mask back in and looks like I got too much in there.

And you're absolutely right that it is an un-subtle use of HDR. In the past I've been much more of a fan of subtle use of the tool, but this heavy handed adventure with the tool is just part of my exploration of what I can do with it. I imagine that as I get more comfortable with the program, I'll ease into a more subtle style with it, but I've found that explorations such as this are important to my learning process.

I've got more comps from this spot (and hopefully each is better than the one before it) so I've got plenty to mess with. Thanks for the link, I'll be sure to check it out over the long weekend.

The only point I'd like to counter, is that the hills really DO look like that!
They're pretty typical of the geology around here!

CWSkopec

rainbow wrote:

This is a powerful shot. The ominous clouds appear to be drawing the stark/dead trees upward.

OTOH, the living on the bottom as the contrast does not stand out as much. Can you make the green "pop" more without affecting the rest?

Thanks, Rainbow!

If I remember right, once I got the file into Photoshop, I applied a couple selective color layer masks so I can go back and try to "pop" up the green a bit.

squirl033

this is a powerful photo, but as Craig mentioned, it needs a much more subtle hand on the HDR. you might try reprocessing the originals and using a bit less strength in the HDR. it takes practice to get the feel for how the software works, but once you get the hang of it, Photomatix can be a very powerful tool. don't get discouraged, though... play around with it a bit, get the feel of it, and experiment.

kdog

Yer on the right track, Chris, but too much light inversion. The grass in the foreground is way too hot. I'd crank up the light smoothing.

Cheers,
-joel