Bordwalks and a bird

I have a terrible habit of not planning on doing HDR, then making HDR from the same file with different EV changed in RAW. These shots are no exception

I am sort of new to HDR and I was so pumped to find this sub forum that I wanted to share some of my attempts from yesterday. All criticism, comments and tips and tricks are more than welcome. Thanks.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/stonemaster/7​337707812/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/stonemaster/7​337720332/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/stonemaster/7​337729258/

As I'm sure many will tell you, in a very wide dynamic range scene one end of the range will be unrecoverable by RAW adjustments on a single shot. Learn to turn on your auto exposure bracketing without thinking too hard. The third shot is unexpected and pretty interesting.

The third was actually very expected. It was a dark path with trees, and very sunny so I exposed one shot trying to get that exact path to heaven look. Then after hdr, I moved the levels to keep the end blown out, so the HDR was more for the walkway wand trees. I think I need to just start bracketing instead of getting home and being like "I think I will HDR this one". Her is always an after thought for me.


In the bird one, is there a way to make the bird pop more, or should I say a certain area or color range have more....umph? I like that shot, but it is just not right, like the bird has no separation.