Comments on: HDR Photography – What Do You Think About It?

By: Derek

Derek — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:21:41 +0000

HDR is another medium to be included in the procession of art forms portayed through photography. Personally I love HDR and the surreal FX it can provide…….

By: soe pinoey

soe pinoey — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:57:30 +0000

really love HDR photography…!! i love so much..more than that, i want to learn n can make HDR photo..is there a chance for me to learn that? what website i can browse then? thanks…

By: Marianne Bush

Marianne Bush — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:21:32 +0000

HDR is wonderful when used correctly, i.e. with the original non-HDR image blended in to maintain the reality of the shot. Those awful halos and the exaggerated use of the effect will hopefully become a thing of the past as people learn to process correctly. As mentioned by someone else here, people who have no idea of photography and composition will turn to over-the-top HDR processing for effect.

By: Carlisle

Carlisle — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:36:38 +0000

Another point with these fad techniques, is that many novice photographers will learn HDRI because they are fashionable and cool, before learning basic photographic theory such as composition and lighting. So you get average shots given a veneer of professionalism because they are trendy…. the photographer is happy with the results and just continues to take average shots without attempting to improve the basics.

By: left_of_center

left_of_center — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:10:41 +0000

I have a very strong opinion when it comes to HDR images. I agree with what others have said here, that it is very rare to see an HDR image that has been processed well. That being said, I have to say the image above by Mor is probably the most impressive HDR image I’ve seen. For the most part, I really hate poorly done HDR, which seems to be the majority of the images out there. I’m not sure how I feel about the ethical issues surrounding HDR either. I come from a background in photojournalism, so the manipulation associated with HDR scares me away from it, and thus I really don’t care for photography that is done that way. Mor’s image above though is beautifully done, and it’s inspired me to maybe try HDR, maybe.

By: TUTTYGUALBERTO

TUTTYGUALBERTO — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:46:57 +0000

I agree with Matthew. Art is art and documentation is documentation.
“Each thing is a thing”

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:15:21 +0000

Do you like it? Is it “real” photography? The first question is an opinion. The second is an argument of semantics.

You have to break pgotography down into two distinct sections: documentation or art.

If you ask me if I like a HDR photo I have to ask am I looking at it as a form of documentation. If so, then I disapprove. We are distorting what the human eye can see by itself. We have changed reality.

If you ask me about a photo that is artistic, then I approve of them. It is art.

But, that said… documentation or art, there are images that I just don’t like for personal asthetics. Both styles are legit forms of photography – just don’t try pass one off as the other.

By: PhillT

PhillT — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:19:51 +0000

Great photographers take great photos with their cameras.

Great processors make ordinary photos look more appealing.

A trully great photo is one that looks great straight off the camera.

Photographers are artists.

Processors are artists of a different kind, no less an artist though.

My belief, anyway.

By: AjitMenon

AjitMenon — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:17:13 +0000

I love some of the deaturated shots I’ve seen.. though sometimes, I think people overdo it with heavy saturation and heavy reds/ blues etc.

By: Carlisle

Carlisle — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 17:36:57 +0000

My views seem to reflect those of most people here… I like the bookshop and statue, but find the other’s overdone.

I do like overdone photos (such as those done where HDRI isn’t strictly necessary.) but I see it as a special effect rather than a bread-and-butter photographic technique. And it is becoming a bit of a ‘fad’ Rather than photographers making an informed decision on whether overdone HDRI will enhance a photo, many of them just seem to be applying it indiscriminately to every single photo they take, because it looks ‘cool’… this is what I don’t like.

For the record I haven’t done this sort of extreme HDRI myself. There are a couple of photos on my website which are HDRI but I defy anyone to actually tell me which ones they are.