Waterfowl and more Sunsets (HDR inside)

[Pyke]

Headed up to my summer hangout for the first time this year. Was a pretty productive day - got attacked by a goose, but got some really nice sunset shots. Comments/critique welcome.... Enjoy!

1 - Obligatory close up


2 - So timid; hard to get close to


3 - Showing off


4 - Coming in for the attack. Got to close to its nest/mate - this was right before it came to close for my 70-200. Ended up a few feet from my face.


5 - Said nest/mate.


6 - Cruising.


7 - Sunset


8


9 - Personal favourite.


10

[elchorizo]

Everything from 6 on is wow!

6 is a world class capture, I love it!

[MHZ]

Love the HDR. What program are you using for those?

[icw@ter]

take 7 again once everything is green, and the picture will be 10x better

[kamarola]

any tips on how you took those hdr shots? especially the colors? mine always turn out like shit :|

[Comics]

4 is sweet.

I can't wait for the day when everyone wakes up and realizes that HDR sucks. It's such a fad. Having said that, as far as HDR goes, these are tastefully done (ie. not pushed too far). I just hate the fact that people will often take a shot which is otherwise boring, do it all HDR, and it somehow transforms itself into good photography.

[Pyke]

Thanks all -

Originally Posted by MHZ

Love the HDR. What program are you using for those?

Using Photomatix Pro then using a similar method to methd's - levels, curves, saturation to bring some of the scene back.

Originally Posted by kamarola

any tips on how you took those hdr shots? especially the colors? mine always turn out like shit :|

Auto bracketing for 2 stops below and two stops above, with one taken manually at three stops below and three stops above. Then use the programs above.

[Efflixi]

6-10 are just jaw dropping, those are some really great shots!

[elchorizo]

Originally Posted by Comics

4 is sweet.

I can't wait for the day when everyone wakes up and realizes that HDR sucks. It's such a fad. Having said that, as far as HDR goes, these are tastefully done (ie. not pushed too far). I just hate the fact that people will often take a shot which is otherwise boring, do it all HDR, and it somehow transforms itself into good photography.

I respect your opinion but disagree. I've seen some excellent HDRs including those in this thread and methds in the best photo thread. I'm glad HDR is around and its worth putting up with the shitty ones to see some of the wonderful stuff the technology is capable of.

The fact that there are tons of bad HDRs out there doesn't mean all HDR sucks IMO.

[Comics]

Like I said, I think Pyke's HDRs are pretty good, but I really don't understand what this sudden kick with HDR is such that everyone and their grandmother wants to get in on the action. I don't understand what exactly it's trying to capture. It might rub me the wrong way because I feel like it verges into the realm of CG/Digital Art more than photography. I don't feel that it should really be looked at in the same category. It's more in the realm of these crazy CG manipulations of photographs. It's verging away from traditional photography into something new which I'm not crazy about.

Of course, like anything, there will be good and bad examples. There are a gazillion pictures out there that try to be passed off as art or good photography when they are no more than snapshots. The other issue I isolated with HDR is that I all-too-often see snapshots being turned into "art" just because they are HDR. It seems too easy. Ah well.

[elchorizo]

Originally Posted by Comics

Like I said, I think Pyke's HDRs are pretty good, but I really don't understand what this sudden kick with HDR is such that everyone and their grandmother wants to get in on the action. I don't understand what exactly it's trying to capture. It might rub me the wrong way because I feel like it verges into the realm of CG/Digital Art more than photography. I don't feel that it should really be looked at in the same category. It's more in the realm of these crazy CG manipulations of photographs. It's verging away from traditional photography into something new which I'm not crazy about.

Of course, like anything, there will be good and bad examples. There are a gazillion pictures out there that try to be passed off as art or good photography when they are no more than snapshots. The other issue I isolated with HDR is that I all-too-often see snapshots being turned into "art" just because they are HDR. It seems too easy. Ah well.

I dig what you're saying.

I've played with HDR a bit and find it pretty fun, but at the same time I feel almost like I'm cheating. But when it comes down to it, I just ask myself if I'm happy with the result, and if I am, then cool.

[Queen Pee(nis)]

I really like 8...one of the nicer HDRs around here...

[DrNigel]

Is that really what you saw through the view finder? HDR is good for adding depth to an image when you want to achieve a more realistic dynamic range than what film or digital can give you, but everyone just seems to want to perfectly expose everything in the frame. Does it honestly look right? They look more like paintings or cgi art than photographs.

That said, I love the composition on 9

[Mediocrates]

too bad you couldn't have hdr'ed the geese.. there would be fewer blown highlights

[wilse]

Originally Posted by Mediocrates

too bad you couldn't have hdr'ed the geese.. there would be fewer blown highlights

true.dat