HDR tractor

Hi, I made these two HDR trials and was wondering which you prefer and why.
One is a one shot worked with CS5 HDR adjustment, and the other is a 3 shot, Photomatix and then CS5.
Thanks.

I like the first one better. It seems sharper and more realistic (true to a photo). The second seems more animated (not sure if thats a good description) but not as interesting to me. Of course HDR is more a matter of personal preference, they both look great and have individual qualities. I guess the best one is the one which best represents the artist's goal.

I like the first one. It just jumps out at me. Nice job, Marcel.

cnyram said:

I like the first one better. It seems sharper and more realistic (true to a photo). The second seems more animated (not sure if thats a good description) but not as interesting to me. Of course HDR is more a matter of personal preference, they both look great and have individual qualities. I guess the best one is the one which best represents the artist's goal.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your comments fotojack and cnyram, the second one got a cs5 "poster edges" filter that was then faded to about 53%. That's where the "animated" effect comes from.

Both are very good HDR. I like the second one better for it's composition.

I think these are both overcooked, Marcel. The first one is definitely the better of the two, but it could still use some toning down. There's already a lot of dynamic range in this composition without a heavy dose of HDR. The second one looks more like a watercolor painting or chalk drawing as opposed to a photograph.

I have to agree with Anthony on this one. The first one is the better of the two, but far too "busy" for that strong of an HDR. The second one looks fake and blurry, and its cropped a bit too close to the tractor on the right side. With the way the front end is sitting, it looks as though the tractor is going to fall right out of the picture. A landscaped shot of this, with the tractor all the way on the left side of the frame would have been perfect. Stick with photomatix, and tone them down a tad. Don't try to "do more" in photoshop, other than cropping. Photomatix does a pretty good job by itself. I do love the subject though and think its a perfect scene for HDR. You just have to find that happy level of HDR as there is a fine line between "just right" and "too much". Just my opinion.

I like the first one better for quality of a photo but I like the angle of the second one. Sometimes I like the little bit of overdone HDR... it's something different to look at.

I agree with Joe. Old tractors and barns are excellent candidates for HDR. Really, just about anything that's old, rusty, and grimy look really cool as HDR. I would like to see a redo of the first image, with a different composition. Stand in about the same spot, but get down low and shoot up at the tractor. You'll get more of the barn, tractor and sky this way.

Here's the original shot with a little help PP as usual.
There is no picture that can't be improved with PP.
For the cropping, there were things beside the tractor that I didn't want in the shot, and, I'm working with D700 and D7000. One has 100% view where the D700 has 95%. I guess I thought I had a little more than showed in the viewer.

Nice composition on this shot! I am likely in the minority, but I like the more surrealistic version as well as the original one. The reason I bought the D700 recently was to have more flexibility in capturing HDR photos.

I like the first one much better, it looks more real then animated. IMO