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Thread: Smoky Mountain Cascade

  1. #1
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    Default Smoky Mountain Cascade

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    Hello folks,
    I'm a macro/bird shooter mainly and I rarely shoot scenics but visited the Smokies recently and decided to give some a try. So here is my first HDR and my first post to this forum. I'm sure I have alot to learn so any comments are appreciated.

    Canon 40D, Tamron 17-50mm, F16, CS5 HDR

  2. #2
    Landscapes Moderator Andrew McLachlan's Avatar
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    Hi Allen,

    I like the composition and the arrangement of the elements. I have little experience with HDR imagery, but to me the rocks look a little flat and could use a little more detail in them. The large rock on the left looks a little blurry to me, perhaps the camera moved slightly for one of your captures in the HDR series? I have had similar issues when I have tried shooting HDRs. A few tweaks with the rocks though and I think you will have it.

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    Great composition, the water and green rocks look flat and no detail so you might have to go back and have no experience with hdr in cs5 as use nik hrd and like the results so far better than photomatix pro.

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    Hi Allen, Good comp and agree with others regarding the image's flatness. For a scene like this which has a very even exposure I'm not sure why HDR was even used.

  5. #5
    Robert Amoruso
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    Hello Allen and welcome to the Landscape Forum. Good first post - well composed as mentioned above.

    As it looks to me overcast, I feel Dave is correct that HDR may not have been needed here. Try looking at the HDR frames you created and see which one best encapsulates the dynamic range of the image and process that one.

    As mentioned, flatness of the contrast is a typical problem with HDR. In lieu of using curves to increase contrast here, I suggest local contrast enhancement. See my tutorial here for instructions on how to do it.

    Go to http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=20434 for Reverse S-Curve, Shadows/Highlights, Local Contrast Enhancement (LCE), Blending Mode and Selective Color.

    I downloaded the image and tried USM settings of 25/50/0 and liked the results.

    I also tried sharpening it again as the FG looks soft. The BG branches appear to be in sharper focus then the FG rocks. Selectively sharpening the rocks can help. I am betting that at f/16 the FG is sharp and the softness is caused by the HDR.

    Looking forward to seeing more posts for you.

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    Another way of reducing flatness is use vignetting:- here's a quick go:

    Tim

  7. #7
    Roman Kurywczak
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    Hey Allen,
    Cant add much to the comments above but tweaks will make this one pop more. I too agree with Dave.....this scene may have been better with just 1 exposure as the contrast and tones don't appear too far apart. Just something to keep in mind for the future.

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