David Leask wrote:
Great shots Randy - #1 and #4 are stunners!
Well done.
David
Thanks David, glad you like those two!
Adrian Cray wrote:
A very pleasing series , Randy , and I can see what you mean about searching for fine clouds ! My favourite is the last shot ; no objection to HDR techniques when used sensitively , as in this case . The brightness behind the right hand cliffs seems a bit off to me , but it may be the decrepit laptop I'm using at present !
Thanks Adrian, glad you approve and liked. Some mention of this and the lighting have been mentioned. You can seen in the original raws that those features did indeed exist. From this point the sun was rising almost directly to my left.
Randy
Allen_Maestas wrote:
Lovely images Randy, beautiful colors.
Al
Thanks Al, I'm happy you enjoyed these!
Tim ONeill wrote:
Excellent series Randy. Would you consider an HDR black and white conversion? I'm seeing (and doing) some of it in the Black and White forum. It is pretty effective, and give the shots a very different (and pleasing IMHO) look.
Thanks a lot Tim. Yes I would, especially after seeing your work in the B&W forum. Although I have to admit I hadn't thought of it till you mentioned.
Randy, Concerning photo four, both the Photomatix and the cs3 blend have redeeming qualities. The "hdr" version has less shadows and is more life like, minus the blown-out highlights . The blended version makes a better "photograph" but lacks drama of real life or DR that we so desire. My take would be to revisit the sliders in Photomatix and bring back the highlights and work on the FG and induce some shadows. Somewhere in between is a wall hanger!!!
phil hawkins wrote:
Holy Crap! The first one is really good! The last one doesn't look natural.. The HDR looks way off to me... Sky is too dark in relation to the foreground... And the mountains have a halo, and are light at the bottom and conspicuously dark at the top. But that first one is excellent!!
Phil, I'm glad you liked the first image. The 4th I knew would be subjectively reviewed. However the light other than the foreground rocks which were lighted in PS with curves, as you can see in the original raws is pretty much true. The sun was just rising over the mountains to my almost immeadiate left and the tops of the mountain in the bg were darker at the top, just the way it was. As far as looking natural, as I mentioned that is not my upmost concern. I think too many people continue to stand in a hallway when it comes to creative processing. Plus if you think about it, is this any less natural than stars going in circles? There are no halos in any of the images, original, hdr, or blends. Even a 300%, you may be misconstruing light with halos. Thanks for your comments!
night86mare wrote:
i think #1 is extremely beautiful.
#4 is overdone in my book - i appreciate what hdr can do, but here you have lost sight of the correct hierachy of light - how can your rocks be brighter (or as bright as) than the sky?!
Glad you liked the first image young man. Your opinion and critique on the 4th was expected by me from some. All I can say about the light is that other than some additional lightening on the foreground rocks the light is actually pretty much true to the scene. Again by design, my image was processed not to necessarily represent the scene as totally natural. Unlike most of you I merely mention the fact when HDR is used and don't try an conceal it.
kschweichhart wrote:
I like first and second one, Randy.
Karl
The first and last shots are very nice. I like your manual blend of the fourth one.
I know that this is not what everybody else thinks, but I like the shot of the boats with the 1 ripple in the water. I think it tells a good story. I think that particular shot needs a little more contrast for it to work, but the story that it tells is very nice. I might try to bring out more contrast in that one, or perhaps try to increase to contrast dramatically and change it to black-and-white? That might give a sense of the early-morning, start of the day, potential for fishing story. Just an idea.
As for the HDR , i am so digging the bottom , i might suggest to look at a crop , pano style and clip the top off the right most peak this puts the rear of the lake horizon at 1/3rd down from the top. give it a try , i like it as is but i like a crop too please
Zeph wrote:
Randy, Concerning photo four, both the Photomatix and the cs3 blend have redeeming qualities. The "hdr" version has less shadows and is more life like, minus the blown-out highlights . The blended version makes a better "photograph" but lacks drama of real life or DR that we so desire. My take would be to revisit the sliders in Photomatix and bring back the highlights and work on the FG and induce some shadows. Somewhere in between is a wall hanger!!!
Thanks Zeph! I agree the manually blended image is more of a photograph and not necessarily what I wanted to describe the scene. I will work with the image some more as you suggested.
gordon l wrote:
Hello Randy,
The first and last shots are very nice. I like your manual blend of the fourth one.
I know that this is not what everybody else thinks, but I like the shot of the boats with the 1 ripple in the water. I think it tells a good story. I think that particular shot needs a little more contrast for it to work, but the story that it tells is very nice. I might try to bring out more contrast in that one, or perhaps try to increase to contrast dramatically and change it to black-and-white? That might give a sense of the early-morning, start of the day, potential for fishing story. Just an idea.
Gordon...Show more →
Thanks for your comments! You were the only one to catch the reason for the 2nd shot! It amazed me that so many fisherman come to the lake and started arriving shortly after we finished shooting. But here were the rental boats all secured and waiting for the days use and large fish were having a ball right off the mooring. Appreciate your thoughts and ideas and I will try on the image.
jmcfadden wrote:
sheesh Randy , man i hate you
just teriffic man !
As for the HDR , i am so digging the bottom , i might suggest to look at a crop , pano style and clip the top off the right most peak this puts the rear of the lake horizon at 1/3rd down from the top. give it a try , i like it as is but i like a crop too please
J
Hey Bud, I can feel the hate! Thanks for the comments and suggestion. I cropped to a pano format, just a bit higher than you suggested but I see your point.
Great picture, Randy! The only thing I don't like in the HDR is the gradual darkening of the mountainside which looks too unnatural for me. I'd prefer having the whole mountain homogenous.
stanj wrote:
I really like the HDR! And I usually don't like HDRs... this one is very nice.
Knowing that you don't particularly like HDR's your comment is very pleasing. Thanks Stan!
CarloDidier wrote:
Great picture, Randy! The only thing I don't like in the HDR is the gradual darkening of the mountainside which looks too unnatural for me. I'd prefer having the whole mountain homogenous.
Thanks for commenting Carlo. The graduated shades on the mountainside is actually the way it looked naturally. It may have been accentuated with the hdr but was actually as it was. Light as it gradually appears does not light everything equally at once.
