Smoke on water

[suntoryjim]

My first attempt at HDR. 3 bracketed photos of the San Francisco bay harbour 5 minutes before sunrise, then run through Picturenaut 3.2.

Canon T2i
Canon 50mm f1.4 prime
f/9
1/60 (standard exp)
ISO 200
WB=cloudy

[EOBeav]

My only question is, what was the purpose of processing this as an HDR? You really didn't take advantage of the full spectrum of tones and light levels that were available to you.

[shruggy63]

What bracketing did you use?
If I'm reading it right the shot is suggesting a pollution story? But the image is kind of serene?

[windrider86]

anything in particular you want us to critique?

[suntoryjim]

Originally Posted by EOBeav

My only question is, what was the purpose of processing this as an HDR? You really didn't take advantage of the full spectrum of tones and light levels that were available to you.

I wasn't particularly happy with any of the 3 bracketed exposures, and I found by accident that putting them through HDR brought out the subtle gradation in oranges/reds/pinks in the clouds just above where the sun was beginning to rise.

It was a very dark, cloudy, foggy morning at the time and as you can see, there was very little contrast/dynamic lighting going on.

[suntoryjim]

Originally Posted by shruggy63

What bracketing did you use?
If I'm reading it right the shot is suggesting a pollution story? But the image is kind of serene?

I used 1/2 ev bracketing not with the initial intent of doing HDR, but because I wanted to make sure I got a good shot. In retrospect, I should have probably bracketing in whole steps.

The sunrise through the clouds and low fog made for an almost Martian-looking sky.

[suntoryjim]

Originally Posted by windrider86

anything in particular you want us to critique?

Composition (horizon too low?), choice of lens, focus, overall composition?

[Krusty79]

Your horizon looks a little higher on the right side. This did not strike me as HDR - was there really a dynamic range issue you had to overcome? Or did you just like the HDR processing?

I think the composition is pretty good, I might crop some off the top of the sky, as most of the visual interest is lower in the sky.

[suntoryjim]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

Your horizon looks a little higher on the right side. This did not strike me as HDR - was there really a dynamic range issue you had to overcome? Or did you just like the HDR processing?

I think the composition is pretty good, I might crop some off the top of the sky, as most of the visual interest is lower in the sky.

I ran the bracketed shots through Photomatix this time and tweaked the sliders, then rotated and cropped. If I had bracketed the shots correctly in the first place, I would've gotten a little more range to work with. Another day, another sunrise.

[Krusty79]

I like the Photomatix version better. I downloaded the trial version and it works a lot better than the HDR function in Paint Shop Pro. I might have to break down and buy the full version.