HDR done well

[FrankS]

Much HDR looks like an acid trip.

 

[Sparrow]

Much HDR looks like an acid trip.

....... yep

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Much HDR looks like an acid trip.

Unfortunately, yes. HDR is an art when you don't want it to look like "HDR art". The "HDR art" look is very very easy to achieve.

No irony intended.

 

[hepcat]

Perhaps I should have been more detail oriented in the original post. HDR really isn't a technique I generally like. This guy's work is interesting in that, to me at least, none of it purports to be a literal representation of anything. He's taken images that are graphic, well lit, and colorful and turned them into something even more colorful and graphic. The have become abstract studies in lights and shapes... landscapes as abstractions... which I find interesting both in concept and execution. The HDR process is really only an aside as the way the art was producted... it's only important in the way which brand of pigments a painter would use.

 

[OurManInTangier]

... but my view is that HDR images
(99% of them) are not photographs anymore. They don't look
realistic, their treatment of light is always un-natural to me.

I think that some people expect the only value of HDR to be the extension of dynamic
range to a photograph, but I think most people who make HDR pictures (I don't by
the way) are using it not just to make extended range photographs,
but to take the image to another level (a higher or lower level is for the viewer to decide !)

"

I think you've made a good point Dave, perhaps we're now (or have been for a while) at a stage where a photograph is 'old hat.' People have the creative freedom to make an image with almost the exact same freedom once accorded only to painters. The 'photograph' being only the canvas one begins with, the plans of the architect.

If this is the case perhaps we should accept HDR and similar forms for what they are, enjoy or dismiss as we would any other artworks but at least be happy that, and understand that, they aren't attempting to pass themselves off as a document, untouched and accurate. Rather as a creation of the imagination.

I wonder if one of the greatest chagrins for many of us is that photography won't be shaped by us, the photographers, but by the general public and their 'photographic' needs, desires and creativity.

 

[pete hogan]

I can look at it, I don't have to buy it.

 

[biomed]

A lot of HDR images are too far over the top for my taste. HDR can be a useful tool in some cases when used in moderation. It is still a technique that I am trying to learn.

Mike

 

[VinceC]

One problem with HDR technique is that its existance casts doubt on those moments when patient photographers wait for and capture perfectly balanced light, such as right at dusk and dawn when the dynamic range of natural flattens and compresses to within the tolerance of film and digital sensors. Where photographers used to be rewarded for patience, persistence, and discovering unique light, they are now accused of over-doing the post-processing.

 

[shadowfox]

If you can tell it's HDR, it's usually too much.

 

[GaryLH]

If you can tell it's HDR, it's usually too much.

Yes if u can't tell that HDR was done it, then it was done right. On the other hand there are times I kinda like the look of some of these over the top obvious HDR shots because it is different abstract look to it. MHO.

When it is over the top, it is no different then something like a toy effect or a monochrom shot that let's reds come thru.. It's just for fun..is the way I look at it.

Gary

 

[noimmunity]

One of these photos was done with HDR. Both were taken with a Foveon sensor. What do you think?


Sunset by areality4all, on Flickr


Puy Chavaroche seen from Emblaud by areality4all, on Flickr

 

[mugent]

I see nothing wrong with HDR, I don't really like the over the top look, but photographers have been distorting reality since it's invention, I mean, the world is in colour, but it doesn't stop us shooting B&W...

I think HDR,used with care, can look great, it's just overcoming limitations of the digital sensor, but over processing of any kind looks pretty crappy IMO.

 

[Peter_Jones]

Yes, yes ... I think I grasped that concept with Peter Jones work

Lol - not guilty 😀

 

[Sparrow]

Lol - not guilty 😀

Ha ... sorry Peter ... this Peter Jones

 

[Turtle]

I think this is some of the better HDR (cityscapes only - I dislike the cockpit images) out there. The nature of the city lights etc lend itself better to this look. I still don't 'feel it' and regard it more as impressive photo-illustration work, but from a commercial perspective I think he has done pretty well. I can see some of this work going down well with clients in the advertising realm.

I would not shoot such work myself, but respect the fact that he has some good compositions and within the understanding of what this work is and what it is not (it is not meant to be 'realistic'), I can see why the OP posted it.

My greatest dislike is HDR used for natural subjects, people etc. Man made stuff seems to work better, because there is something inherently unnatural about it anyway and this quality is often played upon in popular culture, sci-fi etc

 

[Ronald_H]

HDR is a tool, that can be abused. In extreme contrast situations it can be a godsend.This is an early expriment. My Nikon D200 could not record the contrast extremes in this scene.


Chase High wheeler, HDR by Ronald_H, on Flickr

 

[Photo_Smith]

Ronald that is a perfect example of when it should be used, I only use it when I would have reached for a neutral grad–I like your treatment of the old wagon...

 

[flip]

Much HDR looks like an acid trip.

Y'all got the wrong acid.

I suspect that this is what happens when a generation is weaned to think of Velvia 50 as natural and they go in search of "pop".

 

[Ronald M]

HDR can be done well. Unfortunately these look like most all you see, over corrected and cartoonish.

Art is in the eye of the beholder, so if you like it , it`s ok.

HDR tone mapping is a bit hard to control. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

I usually just stack them in PS and hand blend with masks and you would never know they are HDR.

 

[jsrockit]

If you can tell it's HDR, it's usually too much.

Yeah, I think I feel the same way.