What would you change? Landscape

im venturing into more strobist and post processing work, instead of straight out of the camera work..

i dont really do landscapes and most of my PS work is usually just fixing technical errors

this image was ran through LR for changing exporsure for a makeshift HDR via photomatix pro, then processed through PS for colors, levels, curves, some cloning

am i headed in the right direction? or what would you do differently ?

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I honestly think that that is absolutely gorgeous, but just a tiiiny nitpick. Could you maybe try to make the sun, the circle, more round? it just seems like there's a little bit of that sun trying to get out of the circle on the left side :P but that's just a nitpick and it really doesn't unnerve me that much, i just honestly can't find anything else to say other than this is gorgeous!

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This would be a perfect illustration for Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber series. You know, the one where the characters would be taking a walk and gradually they would be transported to a different planet/reality. On the left you have a sunset. On the right it looks like broad daylight. The only thing missing is the malevolent alien.

What puzzles me is from where you got the green in the lawn. I don't see any color at all in the original.

This is not directed at the original poster. Is it just me or should we consider consigning the "HDR effect" for single images to the bin that also holds lens babies, selective color, and upside-down pictures of things reflected in puddles?

@GDane123: Insults without constructive criticism are ill-tempered and not helpful. Why don't your offer some constructive criticism that may coax the original poster in a more productive direction? Or say nothing.

gdane, please understand, as stated in my 1st sentence, i generally shoot with your view point in mind as well, for the past 6 years its all ive done, plain jane work that everyone and their brother can do as long as they have a camera

there is nothing to fear about post processing, as i read your other post, thats just the feeling i get from you, i respect your strong standpoint, but i suppose im open to both sides, and you are on the extreme side of anti photoshop

joedh, i was suprised my self when i turned up exporsure in lightroom that i got detail in the foreground, thats what pushed me to do a single image HDR, since there was soo much missing

shooting into the sun, and metering for it will always give you a pitch black landscape.. i took the orignal and moved it +4, 0, and -4, none of the colors were "added", only saturated

Im not up to par with the single image HDR/ proper HDR argument, but i find it hard to distinguish, now, this IS my first HDR and i dont know if ill do any more

i appreciate the comments, it helps steer me into a direction of realistic desires in photographhy, you never know until someone tells you eh?

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Nice composure, but for me, the colors are too intense for a natural look (oversaturated?).

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Fureinku wrote in post #10894458
gdane, please understand, as stated in my 1st sentence, i generally shoot with your view point in mind as well, for the past 6 years its all ive done, plain jane work that everyone and their brother can do as long as they have a camera

there is nothing to fear about post processing, as i read your other post, thats just the feeling i get from you, i respect your strong standpoint, but i suppose im open to both sides, and you are on the extreme side of anti photoshop

joedh, i was suprised my self when i turned up exporsure in lightroom that i got detail in the foreground, thats what pushed me to do a single image HDR, since there was soo much missing

shooting into the sun, and metering for it will always give you a pitch black landscape.. i took the orignal and moved it +4, 0, and -4, none of the colors were "added", only saturated

Im not up to par with the single image HDR/ proper HDR argument, but i find it hard to distinguish, now, this IS my first HDR and i dont know if ill do any more

i appreciate the comments, it helps steer me into a direction of realistic desires in photographhy, you never know until someone tells you eh?

That's just it...there's no such thing as 'single image HDR' (if there were, you'd get the shot in a single image and there'd be no need for Photomatix). True HDR is supposed to reflect reality...what the eye has seen. The eye is capable of approximately 3x the dynamic range of a digital sensor, which is why multiple images are needed to properly reflect a scene with a high dynamic range. Single images don't cut it, for the simple reason that no matter how many "plus/minus exposure" images you extract from the original, you won't ever exceed the dynamic range of the original capture. What people usually consider HDR these days is more in the realm of 'digital art'...nothing at all to do with HDR whatsoever except using Photomatix.