Sutro Baths San Francisco

rookieshooter

Headed down there at sunset and took some HDRs. C&C welcome! I really like HDRs now - makes it hard to just take one photo of a scene.

#1 up above sun is setting


#2 Down low, the triple birds are from the bracketed exposure. I think it's kind of cool actually.


#3


#4


#5 sun has set


#6


#7 Not an HDR but single exposure


#8 Turned around to go home and took one last pic

Macushla

They are all absolutely stunning. I can't even pick a favorite. You are so lucky to live near such a beautiful place.

Terrence

Wow, those are some stunning images. After seeing these and a recent short film from Philip Bloom, I *really* want to go there.

Sea from Philip Bloom on Vimeo

craig_d

This kind of HDR processing reminds me of psychedelic mushrooms. Colors get exaggerated in a similar way and have a sort of inner-glow effect like this. I suppose that's good if your goal is to create pictures that look like drug trips, but these aren't pictures I would really want to spend any time looking at. They lack any trace of subtlety, and not being terribly distinguished compositionally, they have to rely on hitting the viewer with a chromatic baseball bat to get attention. The best shot here, by a long way, is the last one, which either isn't HDR or uses it much more delicately.

Art Scott

I really like these.......I think they are FANTASTIC......love the DR of the images.

How many stops do you bracket +and - ??
Do you shoot the correctly metered shot first or in the middle?

Thanks for sharing the GREAT IMAGES!!bowbowthumbthumbthumb

Richard

IMO, extreme HDR processing overpowers the subject. It can be useful in graphic design to create an attention-getting background, but an ad shot requires an even more attention-getting subject. The colors here are nice and I rather enjoyed the triple birds. I lived in SF for a long time and have photographed the Sutro Baths, but I think if it had not been for the title, I wouldn't have recognized them. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on what your goals are, I suppose.

Panther

Howdy RS,

I am not normally a fan of hyped up HDR, but these are very nicely done.

I especially like all the water and the reflections, the Bird one is just very cool and shows well .

I also like how you've not blown things out, seems like all of mine are usually a little too much and have almost a "Hole" in there were the light was coming from or the Sun.

I'd be interested to see how a couple of these look by just using the images stacked for dynamic range.

black mamba

The range of opinions to these pictures serves, once again, to highlight the different attitudes toward HDR. Personally, I find these shots way over-cooked for my taste. Others, obviously, feel much more open to the manipulations. Something for everyone......and that's always a good thing.

Tom

Dogdots

You did a wonderful job on your photos. I really like the 3rd one

rookieshooter

Thanks for the comments, on both sides I'm not here to convince anyone about HDR at all; to each his own. I see a lot of HDR that makes me want to puke, personally. Again, thanks for the comments. I value all feedback!

rookieshooter

Art Scott wrote:

I really like these.......I think they are FANTASTIC......love the DR of the images.

How many stops do you bracket +and - ??
Do you shoot the correctly metered shot first or in the middle?

Thanks for sharing the GREAT IMAGES!!bowbowthumbthumbthumb

Five shots +1. Whether or not I use EV depends on the circumstance.

RobYat

Awesome! Great compositions and PP.

jsqueri

This kind of HDR processing reminds me of psychedelic mushrooms. Colors get exaggerated in a similar way and have a sort of inner-glow effect like this. I suppose that's good if your goal is to create pictures that look like drug trips, but these aren't pictures I would really want to spend any time looking at. They lack any trace of subtlety, and not being terribly distinguished compositionally, they have to rely on hitting the viewer with a chromatic baseball bat to get attention. The best shot here, by a long way, is the last one, which either isn't HDR or uses it much more delicately.

You must be high, these are great.

Seriously, I think the color and comp in # 6 is great.