I think I did this right...

[carlXSI]

This is my first HDR. How'd I do? I hope the lens flare isn't too distracting.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/crazayaznguy/HDR_Carl.jpg

[luigis]

Well it seems you have blown highlights and that is not very good in an HDR pic, to avoid that problem you probably needed to take an extra underexposed shot. The dynamic range of the scene was probably bigger than the 10 stops your bracketed shot can take.

The lens flare is IMHO really annoying too big and in the center of the pic. Try to shade the lens, use your own body to cast a shadow over the lens if needed.

Hope the tips help.

Luigi

[canonloader]

I see a reshoot in your future. :)

It's an excellent scene and needs to be done right. How many of the shots had the lens flare?

[carlXSI]

i did half the shots while the sun was way up in the sky. the other half was when the sun was setting so no flare at all. the ones with no flare seemed too dim to me. here's one when the sun was down:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/crazayaznguy/IMG_4893_4_5_noflaresmall.jpg

[canonloader]

Definately not too dim. But I think, because of shadows and the differing fall of the light, that shooting them too far apart is going to cause problems with alignment. As well as moving the camera. The two shots shown here are definately not aligned. I don't know how well Photomatix can align, but they look too far out for a good job to me. Usually, you should shoot the exposure spread all at once and as fast as possible, and the darkest one can be almost black and the lightest one almost blown out.

[zacker]

try upping the color slider to make the scene a bit warmer.. i like it, it doesnt look to HDR tone mapped.. personally, id push it to be fake looking..but then again, i love that fake look.. lol

[arg245]

Up the contrast a bit, then convert it to B/W and see what you get. Just a suggestion.......

[tmcman]

Myself, I don't mind a few blown highlights in hdr.
It adds a bit of realism.
Very nice first try.

[René Damkot]

Not bad for a first.

I'd probably use (parts of) the car of the second shot in the first (Side and roof mainly).. That would involve some manual work with layer masks though ;)

[tonylong]

I like the tones in the first one best, but the contrast and vibrancy could probably be pumped up a bit in the second one.

However, the sky, the sky, please save the sky:)!