Strong HDR

[blizarre]

I've seen many beautiful HDR around here...
I've been trying to do the same .... With more or less success and this is my favorite (i like the color of the stop sign).

What do you think ?

Is it too much ? I wanted to make it look abandoned ...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21229822@N05/2223633799/" title="Can't go nowhere de Blizarre, sur Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2119/2223633799_00928d22f6.jpg" width="500" height="346" alt="Can't go nowhere" /></a>

[wulf]

I like the way the colours have come out. Many HDR-processed images come out oversaturated but this one keeps its subtlety. However, there are a couple of things you might want to consider.

Firstly, it looks like the image is leaning to the right a little. With a shot like this it can be hard to figure out what should be upright but the trunks of the trees running across the horizon all seem to be leaning and I suspect that correcting that would be an obvious improvement.

Secondly, I am not so keen on the chopped off bits of trees on either side of the frame, especially on the left where the stronger light has caused a halo effect. I would crop off both sides (after rotating). Trim the top and bottom a little as well - a square format might work well as an end result.

Wulf

[blizarre]

You're right !
As (almost) everytime ... (and I forget a crucial step.. I should make myself a checklist : tilted ? ok ! colors ? ok ! cropping ? ...)

It was quite hard to choose where to crop (as always). I decided to keep the fence because i liked its its texture and the yellow in the upper part is important. But the right part was less interessant. I just keeped the sign far from the border (couldn't managed to get the rule of the third right)

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21229822@N05/2225572009/" title="pano HDR v2 de Blizarre, sur Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/2225572009_4464afba98.jpg" width="500" height="393" alt="pano HDR v2" /></a>

[wulf]

Yes, I think that works better. You could also experiment with trimming more off the top and bottom. The crop above removes the distracting elements but perhaps also reduces the sense of desolation. Reducing the height (a chance to play with the "rule of thirds" vertically) would result in a wider image, restoring some of that feel.

Wulf

[xxpinballxx]

i agree with wulf and also like the econd crop better. The trees were distracting and the flare at the left from the sun was giving a halo around the tree.....
I love the colors of this....definitely not the realistic look and not overdone.....
Good touch with the sliders!

[Nathan deGargoyle]

The changes you've made are great but maybe us a noise reduction filter?

[blizarre]

Thank you !
About the noise reduction, i have tried it earlier (neatImage).. But the picture seems too soft to me...
When you see it at a good res ( > 1000 px width ) the image is too perfect... like if something is missing. I mean i choosed the colors to get a feeling and i think that the noise add something. Or maybe softening just the sky.. I'll try this !

I've cropped it and uploaded the new version. I can't really say wich one looks best for me ...

What do you think ?

[wulf]

I think I would go for a bit more sky (possibly moving the whole frame a little way up) but I do prefer the effect of the wider format. It is your photo though, so select what you prefer.

Wulf

[sideeffects]

I am no expert , but for some reason I think I like un-cropped version better. I like the contrast between the dark trees and the orange sky. Even though the trees do make my eyes wander it makes this "world" look more realistic? lol I can't think of the right word. I really want to attempt to some HDR pics I really like the effect.