HDRish or not

[woodsie]

Both these images are obviously very heavily processed. One involved HDR (Photomatix) as one of the steps, and the other is from a single exposure. Just interested in what people think before I reveal which is which, though I am sure that many of you will have no trouble working it out.

1.
http://woodsie.smugmug.com/photos/436607811_JNWtX-X3.jpg

2.
http://woodsie.smugmug.com/photos/436596617_QU3ru-X3.jpg

[randy.wick]

My guess would be that #1 is HDR. I guess this because it appears to have detail across a greater range of lightness.

It's outside your topic but have you considered putting your vignette layer above your grain layer? Seems to me the grain would stop at the end of the light-sensitive area of the "film," but I say that with the disclaimer that I've never shot in film with any bit of a critical eye.

[woodsie]

Actually, the vignetting wasn't added in PP, but is from in camera. There where a few experiments in this shot, and one of them was playing with my Tokina 12-14 UWA which has an EF mount but designed for a 1.6x sensor. I have just picked up a 1D which is a 1.3x sensor, so was playing around with the useability and limitations of this lens on this camera, and also if the vignetting at 12mm could be used to produce and interesting framing of the image.

[-Douglas-]

Kind of cool look Woodsie, I wonder how it would look with a lower point of view, and I give
give up, I can't tell which is HDR but will guess at #1 anyhow! :lol:

[woodsie]

Thanks for the comments. :)

Rather than guessing which is the HDR, I am interested to know which one people think looks better. I am not revealing which one is which yet as I don't want the knowledge to influence peoples opinions. :lol:

[-Douglas-]

Thanks for the comments. :)

Rather than guessing which is the HDR, I am interested to know which one people think looks better. I am not revealing which one is which yet as I don't want the knowledge to influence peoples opinions. :lol:

Damn, Alright then,:lol: I like the 1st one because of the darker atmosphere, haha!

[woodsie]

Well, it is the second one that is HDR with three handheld exposures 1 1/3 apart and RAW straight into Photomatix. The first one is the middle exposure of the HDR, converted to TIFF then a bit of Shadow/Highlight tool to bring out the highlight and shadow detail. The B&W conversion, contrast and sharpening where then the same for both images after that.

You can spot the HDR as the foreground is a little unaturally bright and has more obvious detail, almost as if I hit the forecourt with a big strobe.

After not looking at them for a couple of days, I also prefer the mood and darkness of the first shot.

[tmcman]

Sorry to arrive late in the game but
I'm liking number two,
even before I read the reveal!
I feels to me like I can see the detail on the front of the church better
while the silhoutte is less dominant...