Too much HDR (cowbell?)?

Worked on this 6 exposure of the North Church and Paul Revere statue in Boston. Because of the time I was there, the statue was very very backlit - in order to get any detail on it I had to totally blow out the sky and even the church in the background. My single 580 I had with me would not have been able to light it so I resorted to multiple exposures on my tripod. After tinkering with it in Photomatix Pro and Photoshop, this is what I came up with. Still hate the halos where the sky and trees meet, but I wanted any input on how to make it better (including ways to decrease or eliminate the halos).

Thanks all!
James

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Yes it does not look very good. The composition is very nice, so I can well imagine you want to save this one. The halos are really very pronounced. There is a seperate forum for post processing where the experts might be able to help you with this one. If you have 6 shots at various exposure levels I am sure someone will be able to help to get a better result.

It is a nice idea. You noticed tha halo...so correcting that would be good. Also maybe finish the curch pp the same as the rest of the picture. It is the church that is ruining it for me. cAn you clone trees in there instead?

Well done - good composition and very colourful.

David

good composition but the PP LLS

Besides the halos in the sky, there are a couple "soft" spots which appear less contrasty such as in the trees below the church tower (and part of the lower tower) and to the right of the horse.

I find the background trees blending in too much with Paul Revere and his horse. Maybe standing a bit to the right would have provided a "cleaner" sky background which would better offset the statue from the background. Then again, you may not be able to do so due to the church also in the background.

Also, you have a slight horizon tilt to the right.

Regards, Frank

Black sky = no good, statue blending in too much with the trees. Also, the white areas on the North Church have taken on the "muddy" look that's often associated with most HDR attempts.

hockeyman wrote in post #13007401
Besides the halos in the sky, there are a couple "soft" spots which appear less contrasty such as in the trees below the church tower (and part of the lower tower) and to the right of the horse.

I find the background trees blending in too much with Paul Revere and his horse. Maybe standing a bit to the right would have provided a "cleaner" sky background which would better offset the statue from the background. Then again, you may not be able to do so due to the church also in the background.

Also, you have a slight horizon tilt to the right.

Regards, Frank

Agree 100% on all points Frank. Moving to the right would have made the church almost totally obscurred. I don't do HDR much for all of the reasons people have pointed out. I was a bit frustrated (not happy at all) with it which is why I posted. I need to step up my game in the HDR department. I plan on playing with it more today and maybe post over in the retouching forum after reading more on proper HDR processing.

Thanks everyone!

The British are coming ! The British are coming !

But I'm only here to make a suggestion.

As you already have different exposures for the sky / church / statue etc., I would blend them manually, rather than letting HDR software run riot on the image, unless you are particularly after a 'cartoon' look to it.

Use the image that is correctly exposed for the statue as your base, then mask and replace the sky with the sky from the image that is correctly exposed in that area etc. A little care needs to be taken blending the parts but should look much better than the halos you already have.

You could also start with the hdr image you have and mask in parts from the original images to replace the areas that bother you. Or jut try a different program. Do you have cs5? It does a pretty good job.

James33 wrote in post #13008447
Agree 100% on all points Frank. Moving to the right would have made the church almost totally obscurred. I don't do HDR much for all of the reasons people have pointed out. I was a bit frustrated (not happy at all) with it which is why I posted. I need to step up my game in the HDR department. I plan on playing with it more today and maybe post over in the retouching forum after reading more on proper HDR processing.

Thanks everyone!

Keep practicing and don't give up on HDR! Remember... besides HDR technique, only select photos will truly benefit from HDR.

I'll let you in on a secret but don't tell anyone... your HDR pic is many times better than any of my HDR attempts!

In any case, I think you are moving in the right direction.

Regards, Frank

Here's a second go at it. I didn't use as many exposures (I think I used 4 vs 6) and I spent more time in Photomatix Pro before creating the HDR composite. I also tweaked it in PS a bit too. I know I have some ghost people in the background but this will never be printed and was just an exercise in HDR for me. I don't want to waste time cloning and cleaning up the tiny details of the people in the background when the shot will wind up just sitting on my PC.

Thanks for any feedback!

James

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This one looks a lot more natural without halos. You might try and up the shadows a bit - it looks a bit dark.

James -

IMO, yes too much cowbell...... I'd tweak it down a bit. I agree wit the other poster regarding highlights. Also, removing the girl walking on the left side takes away from the composition and the balance. - - my thoughts -- good luck

Too much HDR for me. I guess I'm a bit more classic.