This is my first submission. I am very excited. Please be kind, but honest with your reviews.
This was taken at Lake havasu City, Az
I used HDR to get the effect
[Apr. 19th, 2011 06:48:48 PM]
I have gotten a lot of comments about too much HDR, or being out of control. I thought that it was obvious that this was the look that I was going for. I could have easily brought it back some. Thanks for the comments though.
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Place: 124 out of 127 Avg (all users): 4.1323 Avg (commenters): 3.4444 Avg (participants): 4.0536 Avg (non-participants): 4.1654 Views since voting: 1057 Views during voting: 307 Votes: 189 Comments: 14 Favorites: 0
Well, you certainly made an impact with this one and actually I think the overall scene you shot was a good choice for this challenge. I can even buy the centred composition with the trees eclipsing the setting sunlight.
However, your processing is a different matter entirely - sure it's obvious that this must've been the look you were going for but that doesn't explain the choice - the end result is ugly and more than slightly ruinous of your nice scene. I think people have little tolerance for seeing good shots ruined.
Your other comments are right, halos and fringing are pretty much pathognomonic of badly applied HDR. Having made that choice, you're living with the results.
Of course, if you like the look then carry on but if you want higher scores you'll need to accept that your images have an audience other than yourself and unlike you they do get to vote on your images.
Now, there is a whole subculture on DPC of supporting alternative and disruptive images and playing to that crowd can be fun but even there, with this shot - you'll struggle to win admirers.
However, as I said before - if you're just shooting for yourself then carry on, that's admirable in itself and after all, it is your image.
This is almost 3-D! I like HDR, but they don't always go over well here unless they are more photo-realistic. It really is the purple fringing and and halos around the palm trees that are objectionable. Maybe back off a hair to avoid these issues, but I think this was quite good for your first entry.
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