# Graveyard HDR C&C



## Houghwya (Apr 14, 2010)

First attempt using the hdr effect. Used 5 different exposures. I think it turned out good even if it has a little of that fantasy effect. Leave some C&C


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## dom yo (Apr 14, 2010)

All in all i think the picture came out very well.

Not the type of mood i would have gone for in a graveyard pic though :hug::


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## Provo (Apr 14, 2010)

Very good for 1st attempt, now for what I see above one of the headstones I see this black circle with the shadow is distracting perhaps removing it in PS would help. Another thing is your brightness needs to be bumped up the image is a little on the dark side, and last the sky is going from dark blue to a yellowish haze.


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## Bynx (Apr 14, 2010)

A couple of the smoothing sliders will fix the dark dirty sky. Thats about the only think Im not fussy about. The rest looks good.


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## D-B-J (Apr 14, 2010)

great first attempt. I like the ethereal look it has.  Although, seems to.. nice or happy for a graveyard


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## Houghwya (Apr 14, 2010)

Thanks for the C&C. I like how the sky changes although I have to agree with you that the graveyard seems to nice/happy and not really like you would intend a graveyard to be like


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## D-B-J (Apr 14, 2010)

^^yeah, i like the slow change in the sky coloration.


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## pbelarge (Apr 14, 2010)

I don't know...

The roof is splotchie, and the stone siding looks almost like plastic. I would work on the roof and make the stone look more like stone.


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## D-B-J (Apr 14, 2010)

^^ Thats often the idea with hdr photos.  You want a look of smoothness and beauty.  That is what makes hdr different.


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## ghpham (Apr 14, 2010)

D-B-J said:


> ^^ Thats often the idea with hdr photos. You want a look of smoothness and beauty. That is what makes hdr different.


 
eh? no, that is not the idea of HDR.  The idea is to show dynamic range in a scene not capable of being recognized by the camera.  The fact that many people choose to be creative and "artsy" if fine, but that is not the original intention.

on the OP, it looks to "dreamy" to be a cemetery.  It doesn't convey an appropriate mood if you know what I mean.


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## Bynx (Apr 14, 2010)

I hate to break the news to you guys, but the sun also shines on cemeteries. Thunder, bolts of lightning and falling trees are mostly in the movies. Its kinda funny expecting the OP to wait until its dismal before you like a cemetery scene.
I think there is something going on with the dirty roof and the sky. While the sky does have a nice transition the roof is in the middle and makes it all look so dirty. I still think some Smoothing slider work would go nicely.


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## manaheim (Apr 14, 2010)

There's a choice you make with HDRs... are you going for funky/cool effect, or are you looking to make it look more like what the human eye sees. Me, personally, I go for the latter. To me, this is more of the former. 

As an example, I did this shot as an HDR becaue I knew a single exposure could not possibly capture the deep tonal range and rich qualities of the varied woods and materials and lighting conditions in this library.






Personally, I think you should employ HDRs only when a single exposure really won't capture what you see in your artistic vision. Is that the case here? Dunno, but I don't think the HDR is doing your shot any real favors to be honest.

Also the thing to keep in mind is that the shot itself needs to also be worth something to you artistically... a really well done HDR of an uninteresting subject is still an uninteresting subject. Same for tilted horizons and other issues (this one is tilted... and not in a way that I believe was intentional).


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## Bynx (Apr 14, 2010)

I think the original or middle shot for a jpeg should be shown as well as the HDR to see what we are working with.


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## Houghwya (Apr 15, 2010)

Bynx said:


> I think the original or middle shot for a jpeg should be shown as well as the HDR to see what we are working with.



These are the 5 exposures that I used. Although I hate posting links I thought it would be easier to share this way. 

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/1814/dsc02772h.jpg
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/5931/dsc02773w.jpg
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9920/dsc02774b.jpg
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/5094/dsc02775d.jpg
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/170/dsc02776g.jpg


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## pbelarge (Apr 15, 2010)

Houghwya said:


> Bynx said:
> 
> 
> > I think the original or middle shot for a jpeg should be shown as well as the HDR to see what we are working with.


 
I am not sure what your ultimate goal of the shot is...

Here is what I see now that you posted these two shots - BTW: Thanks for posting them.


With the work you did in the HDR, I think you have lost the shading of the front wall, and it does not match the shading with the headstones. It makes the photo a little _'hard to follow'._


_P.S. - I am not always looking for a dark cemetary shot...I want a nicely lit up cemetary one day in the future.:mrgreen:_


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## Bynx (Apr 15, 2010)

This is about how I would have processed it.






For the ones who want something more grave does this work for ya?


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