HDR Lighthouse

[lraccomando]

Hi Everyone, I'm new here and was hoping to get some critique on this HDR image I took the other morning. Specifically I was hoping for critique as to my framing / composition and the HDR processing. I was going for a realistic HDR, hoping to expand my dynamic range without getting the "grunge" look that sometimes comes along with HDR.


Pickering Lighthouse at Dawn by laccomando, on Flickr

EXIF
5 frame HDR taken between -2 and +2 EV
Nikon D3100
Nikkor 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 @ 32mm
ISO 200
f/18
Shutter speed between 1/4 sec and 4 sec

Thank you!

[Krusty79]

I like the shot, but it does look a little underexposed to me. I don't see any halos. The only composition suggestion I have is to maybe move a little closer to the foreground rocks to make them a little more prominent to help draw my eye into the image. Overall, it's still a good shot and if you go back, maybe you can capture some colorful sunset clouds.

[lraccomando]

Thanks!

I have been playing around with the brightness of this image, I'm trying to strike a balance between color and making sure it isn't too dark, I think it is a tad underexposed as is. And this is right down the street from me, so there will be many return trips to try to catch clouds/ add a little drama to the sky

[pbailey68]

Welcome to DPS. I really like this image. The color and saturation are good, and the processing is very realistic, but it does seem a bit dark and might benefit from a little sharpening, maybe a high pass filter with a radius around 3, set to overlay. What software and settings do you use to process the HDR?

I'm also a little envious because I don't live right down the street from anything even remotely as interesting as this.