Karlskirche

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
Just got back last night from a quick 3 day business trip to Vienna, Austria. The last day I stayed over. I visited a beautiful church and tried to capture the moment via HDR. It was cloudy and a bit overcast but I think it turned out okay. I'd love some feedback on whether I should crop a little tighter to bring more focus on the church.

Shot with a D300 and Sigma 10-20 at 10mm using Aperture Priority at f/11 and ISO 200. HDR was created in Photoshop CS5, mild color tweak with Topaz Adjust and frame added via Lightroom 3.

Karlskirche HDR.jpg
 
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karlyh

New member
Oh gosh..... Just visited your website and galleries... (I don't know how I missed that till now) I seriously believe I should just give up now...haha
Absolutely beautiful! I've travelled to most of the same places and could only dream of returning with shots like yours! Amazing!
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
@Karlyh I hope that you realize that my gallery only shows 1-2 images out of hundreds, right? I thank you for the kind words but the sentiment is returned when I viewed your gallery.
 

karlyh

New member
Oh I can only imagine at the hundreds of photos you have......I bet they are all equally awesome! Totally humbled by them... Looked at many that made me gasp but the bridge in the fog/mist was one definitely and the pidgeons on the wall was another just to mention a few. and the cities at night.... ahh stunning! Sorry... I may get into trouble for gushing on the wrong threads..... I love beautiful photos tho!

I'll be checking back to view the church!
 

karlyh

New member
Yep! and oh gosh... what a beauty! Really gorgeous! Church or Mosque?
I'd love to go back to Austria....... my quick trip was a fast ride through it ... running to a pre-booked ferry in Calais back to Dover.. Went through Innsbuck at night and it has haunted me since to go back!
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
Church or Mosque?

It is a church. The image below is the altar. They are refurbishing it now. Something that I found clever - they installed scaffolding and a lift so that you can go to the top. It costs 6€ but all of the fees are paying for the work. When they are done next year, all of it comes out.

Shot with a D300 and Nikkor 17-55 at 17mm using Aperture Priority at f/2.8, 1/30 and ISO 200. I used Lightroom 3 to add a graduated filter at the top of the image because the detail above the altar was washed out. LR3 was also used to add the frame and copyright.

Karlskirche Altar.jpg
 
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karlyh

New member
Beautiful! Well worth the fee when you see them keeping these things cared for. Went to Rome in December..... scaffolding was in a LOT of places, fountains etc. Shame not to see them while I was there but at the same time, glad to see that the relics are being looked after.

The turret(?) looked mosque like.. is why I asked. Don't you just love seeing these places! Really beautiful Eduard
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
That's a really sharp shot for 1/30 sec. Did you hand hold, tripod or use a monopod? I like to get this info on really good shots to add to my repertoire. Good shooting Eduard.

Thanks,
Joseph
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
Joseph, I handheld but did the old shooting trick that my drill instructor taught: take a deep breath, exhale half, pull the trigger gently! I made sure my elbows were tucked in tight, too.
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
Hi, Eduard! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I spent a lot of time in Europe (in my past) and miss so much of it . . . your photo gives me a nice, nostalgic feeling. Regarding the cropping, I really like the way the clouds seem to be pointing toward the church. The reflection is nice, but not the most important element in my opinion. So, my eye is first drawn to the church steeples in the clouds. You may want to try cropping out the reflection so that the horizon is not at the 50% -- more at the lower third, and leaving more of the clouds in the picture, and see where your eye travels first. Those are just things I would try. It depends on the effect you're trying to achieve. In any case, I think the pic is great and super job on the HDR.
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
The reflection is nice, but not the most important element in my opinion. So, my eye is first drawn to the church steeples in the clouds. You may want to try cropping out the reflection so that the horizon is not at the 50% -- more at the lower third, and leaving more of the clouds in the picture, and see where your eye travels first.

You absolutely nailed what bothers me about the image. I was unable to walk back any further and was trying to get the entire reflection. I've been debating whether to lose some of the reflection or not. Thankfully LR makes it easy to create a virtual copy and play around.
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
Thanks to the input from Helene and my lingering doubts, I tried a quick crop. It totally changes the "feel" of the image. Thanks for the input!

Karlskirche HDR v2.jpg
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
You're welcome. Nicely balanced now.

Thank God for Lightroom, otherwise I'd be wrestling with cropping decisions ALL the time.

I noticed you use Topaz for color adjustment? Could you share why (as opposed to LR finishing the process) ?
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
First, I want to express my jealousy. It's really cool that you get to visit incredible places like this!

Second, you've already addressed the main issue I saw with the image: The Rule of Thirds. And you were right, the reflection wasn't really adding anything composition-wise. Though I would imagine that I (and probably most others) would've done as you did and try to include it in our initial shot.

Last, I noted you said this is an HDR image. Perhaps this is more personal preference on my part, but I think a bit more contrast would help your photograph. I tend to go to extremes, such as with my grain elevator, but some of the tones here seem a bit undefined for HDR.
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
I noticed you use Topaz for color adjustment? Could you share why (as opposed to LR finishing the process)?

Great question. Couple reasons I used Topaz Adjust. First off, I was already in PS to create the HDR. As you'll see in my response to Anthony, I prefer HDR to be more subtle which is why I don't use it much. If I remember correctly, the setting in PS was "Photorealism". Second and most important, I like Topaz Adjust because the dialog boxes are easy for someone like me that doesn't live in PS. I'm not sure I would know how to recreate the effect without it. :eek:

First, I want to express my jealousy. It's really cool that you get to visit incredible places like this!

Lucky my friend. The only thing I did do was push back when the client told me that they wanted me to go for one day.

Last, I noted you said this is an HDR image. Perhaps this is more personal preference on my part, but I think a bit more contrast would help your photograph. I tend to go to extremes, such as with my grain elevator, but some of the tones here seem a bit undefined for HDR.

You are correct, personal preference. Generally, I think the high contrast works on "gritty" shots like yours but generally I'm not a fan. The only reason that I used HDR at all was because it was getting cloudy (it drizzled a bit later) and I saw that the reflection was a bit "muddy".
 
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