Do the halo and vignette ruin this HDR?

[ifitzpat]

Hi All,

I grabbed this 12-shot HDR with my 17-85 mm EFS kit lens, which unfortunately exhibits some vignetting on wide angle shots. Does this ruin an otherwise decent capture? I'm also slightly worried about the halo around the tree, but I'm not sure how to avoid this... any comments appreciated!



Camera: Canon EOS 50D
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 100

[Sterling]

Wow 12 shots! Sounds like overkill but it's your shot. I think the sky in general ruins this shot. The bright halos, the dark corners, and the too-dark expanse of blue sky all contribute to the problem. I think I would process the sky separately and then combine it with the HDR ground.

Oh, and the horizon is really crooked.

[andrewdt]

I agree the sky doesn't look great with all the tones everywhere. +1 on the crooked horizon too.

Maybe straighten and try another with just 3 exposures (+1,0,-1) and see what that looks like?

[ctcook]

Here's my 2 cents. Don't go too crazy with the HDR. Just do enough to get the job done. Yes the horizon is not level and there are some noticable halos, but those can be corrected. Great location, first thing that came to my mind was setting up a night shot. Maybe some star trails. I peeked at your photostream and you have a really good eye, keep up the good work.

[EOBeav]

This is a great scene, and I think HDR would be the perfect treatment under a few conditions. First, come back and shoot this just at sunrise or just at sunset. The colors here are killing you. Twelve exposures isn't a bad thing, but it might be unnecessary for this. At the right time of the day, you could probably get away with as little as two. I assume you used Photomatix for this? Also, compositionally, I might use that little ditch/stream as a leading line to the tree. Just an idea.

There's a guy named Dan Jurak from Canada who shoots landscape shots just like this in HDR. His blog is an excellent read, and you'll find out in no time how to improve shots like this. You can get to his blog here. I've learned a lot from him.

[cleamon]

Originally Posted by ifitzpat

Hi All,

I grabbed this 12-shot HDR with my 17-85 mm EFS kit lens, which unfortunately exhibits some vignetting on wide angle shots. Does this ruin an otherwise decent capture? I'm also slightly worried about the halo around the tree, but I'm not sure how to avoid this... any comments appreciated!



Camera: Canon EOS 50D
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 100

I have that same lens, but have never had a problem with vignetting (except when using a "thick" filter at wide angles). You might want to have it checked out.

[ishafizan]

hi, allow me to comment

Q: Do the halo and vignette ruin this HDR?

A:
- yes. too prominent. vignettes work if u want to direct/focus viewers to a subject
- composition a bit off: not sure what your point of interest is. the tree? the sky? the fences are distracting/obstructing ... the shadows (from a building?) are also not contributing. i think u had the sun behind your back. i'd get in front of the tree and the sun in front. may have more fun with the scene ... colors, silhouettes etc
- picture tilt to the right
- photomatix effects: grass, trees look unreal. too much of a good thing
- for landscapes, u want details in fgrond and bground. try f8 and above