HDR neighbors houses from my porch

[cneville101]

We had an interesting sky this evening and really the only way to capture anywhere near the full dynamic range of the scene was to use HDR on a combination of 3 images.

I'm not sure that it has enough contrast, and I know that the clouds have drifted out of alignment...but I like the overall effect... any thoughts??

Took this with the 5D and 24-70L.

http://goarmybeatnavy.smugmug.com/photos/235391111-L.jpg

[azpix]

the clouds alignment was the first thing i noticed.

couldn't you have don this with 1 long exposure. not sure the hdr process added anything here.

[numberonegun]

the clouds alignment was the first thing i noticed.

couldn't you have don this with 1 long exposure. not sure the hdr process added anything here.
agreed. longer exposure would have produced a cleaner image imho

[cneville101]

Sure... could have done it with one exposure. Actually, I have done it with one and I always hate the images because of the blown highlights from one or more really bright lights.

My goal was to bring out as much detail in the highlights and the shadows as possible - without having very bright lights blow out the detail in surrounding areas.

Thoughts?

I just faced the same situation in New York City. I had a great view of the city from an apartment overlooking Central Park. But when I take a long exposure, I always get a bunch of blown highlights (which I think ruin the photo).

I'd love suggestions on how to control this and get the best night photos that I can.

Thanks
CMN

[medicdude]

a long exposure would mess up the clouds too, no?

[cneville101]

I thought the same thing as soon as I posted my previous message. I'm not sure how to deal with clouds, stars or the moon during long exposures.

[BottomBracket]

It does seem to lack a bit of contrast, at least on my cousin's monitor (I'm away from home). Did you use a tripod for this? The houses look very slightly blurred, could be from camera shake. Maybe use MLU?

[azpix]

I thought the same thing as soon as I posted my previous message. I'm not sure how to deal with clouds, stars or the moon during long exposures.

if you did one long exposure, the clouds would be smoother. here they are choppy.looks like they moved quite a bit in the 3 images

It does seem to lack a bit of contrast, at least on my cousin's monitor (I'm away from home). Did you use a tripod for this? The houses look very slightly blurred, could be from camera shake. Maybe use MLU? what is mlu?