China Poot Bay Shack HDR

[Arthur Morris]

This HDR Grunge image was created from 6-frames (of a 7-frame AEB capture): Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens with the 1.4X III TC and the EOS-1D Mark IV (hand held rested on a rock at 160mm.) ISO 400. Base exposure at zero: 1/100 sec. at f/10. 7-frame AEB +/- 1 full stop. Processed in Photomatix; toned down from Enhancer Grunge.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

ps; Denise went home last night from the first Bald Eagle IPT and Indranil arrived last night for the 2nd IPT.

[Dennis Bishop]

When I do HDRs -- and that's a lot of the time -- I usually go for a fairly natural look which I'll alter in some way, later. Only occasionally will I opt for grunge. However, I think this image should be a bit grungy. To test out my thoughts, I popped this into Photoshop and tried it. I like both the shack and the fallen tree pieces, so I wouldn't have taken the photo with the shack on the left side, but I thought the composition would be better with a horizontal flip. Then I subdued the saturation, did a moderate amount of HDR toning in CS5 and applied levels and curves. For me, at least, that worked out better.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Art, I'm just not fond of HDR work where the colors look strongly saturated, as in this image, but that may be the grunge style. This type of coloring renders the image a bit two dimensional in my eyes. It's the composition that's not working for me.......to me the shack is the dominant element and its facing left and framed left. The wood pile is not strong enough to balance it out on the right side (that might be what Dennis is referring to by flipping the two). Both the wood pile and the shack are interesting features and I might have focused on one or the other to form a composition around. My opinion, as always.........It's your image. I'm headed out of town, and will try and tune-in to see what others have to say.

[denise ippolito]

Nice idea for the grunge treatment. Could it use a slight rotation? The exaggerated colors and detail fit the scene well. I might try to add a slight curve adj. if it were mine. Very cool!!

[Arthur Morris]

When I do HDRs -- and that's a lot of the time -- I usually go for a fairly natural look which I'll alter in some way, later. Only occasionally will I opt for grunge. However, I think this image should be a bit grungy. To test out my thoughts, I popped this into Photoshop and tried it. I like both the shack and the fallen tree pieces, so I wouldn't have taken the photo with the shack on the left side, but I thought the composition would be better with a horizontal flip. Then I subdued the saturation, did a moderate amount of HDR toning in CS5 and applied levels and curves. For me, at least, that worked out better.

Thanks Dennis. So where is the repost?

[Arthur Morris]

Art, I'm just not fond of HDR work where the colors look strongly saturated, as in this image, but that may be the grunge style. This type of coloring renders the image a bit two dimensional in my eyes. It's the composition that's not working for me.......to me the shack is the dominant element and its facing left and framed left. The wood pile is not strong enough to balance it out on the right side (that might be what Dennis is referring to by flipping the two). Both the wood pile and the shack are interesting features and I might have focused on one or the other to form a composition around. My opinion, as always.........It's your image. I'm headed out of town, and will try and tune-in to see what others have to say.

Thanks Jay. There was tons of inappropriate crap on both the left and right just out of frame. For me, the wood pile balances the shack nicely. And this is really a quasi-grunge look. I like it.

[Arthur Morris]

Nice idea for the grunge treatment. Could it use a slight rotation? The exaggerated colors and detail fit the scene well. I might try to add a slight curve adj. if it were mine. Very cool!!

Thanks Denise. Lady D gave me a great tip by phone: "When trying to level a dilapidated building always try by leveling the porch or a door jamb (if you can see it). Indeed. This needed 1.9 degrees of CW rotation. As here :).

[Dennis Bishop]

Thanks Dennis. So where is the repost?

I could make arguments both ways about posting another version of someone else's work, so I decided not to do it unless you asked. Here it is -- flipped horizontally, less saturation, CS5 HDR toning for some grunge, levels and curves, and a gradient vignette on the edges.

[denise ippolito]

Artie, I liked the leveled version. I think Dennis made it look a bit dark but I like what he did with the lightening of the building.. This is what I had in mind. Let me know tour thoughts.

[John Storjohann]

Hi Artie...this is my take on it...I hope you don't mind the repost. I used NIK's Dark Contrasts and Topaz's Adjust. Something for comparison!

[Jay Sheinfield]

Thanks Jay. There was tons of inappropriate crap on both the left and right just out of frame. For me, the wood pile balances the shack nicely. And this is really a quasi-grunge look. I like it.

Art, Thanks for the response. Looking at Dennis's RP, the lightening of the wood pile against the background does make a difference.

[Arthur Morris]

I could make arguments both ways about posting another version of someone else's work, so I decided not to do it unless you asked. Here it is -- flipped horizontally, less saturation, CS5 HDR toning for some grunge, levels and curves, and a gradient vignette on the edges.

Thanks Dennis. I always appreciate reposts by others and am glad that they were interested in my work. As for side to side flips based on the way we read (or not), they never make sense to me. Probably due to a previous brain injury . Your version is certainly toned down. I prefer something closer to the original. Thanks again for the repost; it is always nice to see other interpretations of a scene.

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, I liked the leveled version. I think Dennis made it look a bit dark but I like what he did with the lightening of the building.. This is what I had in mind. Let me know tour thoughts.

Thanks for your repost. Did you do anything aside from de-saturating it and making it a bit darker? Again, I would probably go for something between your repost and the ORIG.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Artie...this is my take on it...I hope you don't mind the repost. I used NIK's Dark Contrasts and Topaz's Adjust. Something for comparison!

Thanks John. Your version is a lot like Denise's. I'd like it a bit lighter.

[denise ippolito]

Thanks for your repost. Did you do anything aside from de-saturating it and making it a bit darker? Again, I would probably go for something between your repost and the ORIG.

Artie, I used a bit of Tonal contrast because I felt the building looked a little soft, I desaturated it and added a slight curve adj. After looking at it again, I think somewhere in between this and the orig. would look good.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Way late to the party, but I like Denise's post in pane #9 best. Having never been there, it looks the most natural to me with a nice grunge look.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Thanks for your repost. Did you do anything aside from de-saturating it and making it a bit darker? Again, I would probably go for something between your repost and the ORIG.

Hi Art,

I'm catching up after returning from out of town. Although this is a late response, I must do an "about-face" on my original comments. Denise's take on this is quite nice and the design works fine. Even if you decide to go with a "tweener", clearly this image looks good. I think I was thrown off by the grunge look initially, where the wood pile seemed to blend with the background. Nice work.