1st HDR trial

[kentwong81]

1. In which area is critique or feedback to be given?
Composition, sharpness, colours, HDR techniques and other comments are welcome

2. What were you hoping to achieve with this image?
This pic was taken beside OCBC Centre and tried using HDR for the first time.

3. Under what circumstance was the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Taken around 540pm with handheld. Post-processing by making additional four photos by changing exposures to -2, -1, 1 and +2 in Lightroom, then blending them together using Photomatix. Didn't change any tonal settings in Photomatix.

4. Thread-starter's personal thoughts about the image.
I thought the composition is ok, but the colours and contrast are not enough to make the photo outstanding though. Hope to get C&C here to further improve my skills.

 

[kwttan]

I assume the sculpture is the focus object? Personally, I find this shot the background pretty messy and distracting.

 

[kentwong81]

Thanks. I also think the same. Is this resultant from HDR which makes every detail visible? In my original photo, the background is darker.

 

[Nashaz]

I find that the HDR effect has been applied well, bringing out the richer greens in the trees especially. But to be honest, it does not really help the overall feel of the picture much as i too find it too cluttered to appreciate any one detail in it. I think for this particular shot, selective colouring would work well with everything else but the statue in monochrome. But the composition has to be slightly changed with the statue being the sole attraction of the shot.

 

[Lekech]

My thoughts: HDR applied well. Convert to B/W, crop off distracting background on left (perhaps a 16:9 framing?), add a circular vignette to accentuate statue, and me think the result would be quite presentable. Cheers

 

[engrmariano]

yup, your HDR processing looks fine... just like it doesnt work with the over all subject...

 

[hotwork77]

1. In which area is critique or feedback to be given?
Composition, sharpness, colours, HDR techniques and other comments are welcome

2. What were you hoping to achieve with this image?
This pic was taken beside OCBC Centre and tried using HDR for the first time.

3. Under what circumstance was the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Taken around 540pm with handheld. Post-processing by making additional four photos by changing exposures to -2, -1, 1 and +2 in Lightroom, then blending them together using Photomatix. Didn't change any tonal settings in Photomatix.

4. Thread-starter's personal thoughts about the image.
I thought the composition is ok, but the colours and contrast are not enough to make the photo outstanding though. Hope to get C&C here to further improve my skills.

Assuming sculpture is the focus but the background trees is also pulling in the focus thus making the overall composition very dull.

The HDR treatment is subtle and nice.

Perhaps you might want to try by making the sculpture stand out in colour and the rest you mask it in black and white. That's my two cents.

 

[kentwong81]

Thanks for the comments
The focal length I used is 24mm and the water fountain didn't allow me to move closer to the sculpture, which caused the sculpture doesn't stand out as the subject from this viewing angle.
Sound like they involve a lot of layers editing in Photoshop. Will take time to learn them. Thanks again. :thumbsup:

 

[ExplorerZ]

first off, the photo is slanted, and reflection doesn't work well in a slanted photo.

2nd, while the HDR kind of works, but the color is screwed. color seem to have some greyish tint