Time for a new trick (leaning some jiggery pokery sheyut)

So, having felt photographically inadequate for quite some time (thank you flickr) and being on an extreme budget (like, a thread on a shoe-string) I had started to accept that there was only so much I could do with what I had. The hope is still there though. The friend that inspired me to go for it takes truly incredible photos with a camera considerably older and with fewer functions than mine. And he has no add-ons. No home studio, no flashgun. Heck, I don't think he even owns a tripod.

I've got a good eye for shots, I know that much, and I've grown up with PS so I reason I could make my ordinary shots a little less ordinary (somehow). I shoot in RAW & JPEG but don't have any plug-ins to play with the RAW shots yet (I'm savin' 'em, I'm savin').

I'll get some extension tubes when I can afford them as what I'm most interested in are macro shots, and maybes even a wide-angle for landscapes.

CallmeGoose inspired me today to give HDR a shot. I never thought I had taken shots of anything worth trying them on. Most people seem to go for pretty spectacular landscapes and the like. Plus I had never considered the technique for photo-realistic shots, most stuff I'd seen was more artsy. I've got some truly dull shots of Arthurs seat I'd like to try HDR on but would rather be more clued up before I waste any time on it.

http://i57.tinypic.com/csrqf.jpg

Not really a technique I would use with a closeup shot but wanted to test first on the worst/blurryasfuck photo I took that day.

http://i62.tinypic.com/3006y2q.jpg

Now really, not more than 5 mins was spent on either of these. They are single JPEGS yadda, yadda.

Apart from the obvious like the haloing on the rose (and lets not talk about the top rail/sky scenario (fuck that shit)), am I on the right track, bearing in mind that I want to stay away from the fairy-tale look?

a lot of people say Hdr has had its moment but in my opinion the whole point of photography is to produce something appealing to the eye. if the hdr process can turn something boring (like your bridge on the left) into something worthy of being hung on someones wall (like on the right) then I by no means think its "had its day"

I don't think it works aswell on the close up, but it still does produce something better than the original

Love that second shot!


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I wouldn't have thought it was out of fashion. Nearly every landscape/city shot I see is HDR, so I think its a skill worth learning. Of course there are people that believe a shot should be 'organic' (and, tbh, I'm kind of one of them) as it's really the only way to see if the photographer is skilled. But often the pictures that catch my eye have had something done to them.

http://i58.tinypic.com/20gctit.jpg

I'm afraid I'm long over HDR, too many people have overdone it for too long.

It is purely down to you at the end of the day, if you like using HDR then continue but general opinion in the photography world is not positive towards it. If you use HDR and then present your images online you are going to meet some negativity but are you shooting be get praise from other people or for yourself?

HDR can be used very subtly without making images look like some scene from a pixar movie and I think HDR techniques are used far more than we realise, theyre just not the in your face style that some people use to process every shot they take.

With your 3 examples, the rose is composed pretty perfectly, so aside from being a little flat, it doesnt need much doing to it. I think the processed shot is too far in the other direction, the green is especially over contrasty.

The other 2 shots have a few issues for me, the bridge just isnt so interesting, the processing has brightened up the scene but in general the composition needs to be different.

I like the processed mountain range shot but it does look like a scene from LOTR, which isnt a bad thing is thats what you were aiming for but again the composition is unbalanced and the scene seems to run off the right of the frame.

Exactly. . .subtle use, as with ALL processing. . . . as an experimental effect for some fun it's fine and as an overall one size tweak it's good when used sparingly. .

Well I like the HDR bridge shot, certainly give's it that little bit extra. However, in my opinion, if you'd have zoomed in a bit and got more of the far end of the bridge in that second section, it would have been a better shot altogether.

The carnation shot certainly has more punch but as blag says the greens are a bit ott. I generally use Lightroom, and reckon that a bit of a boost to the vibrance, clarity and saturations levels would have got this just right.