Camera Labs

OK, these are my first HDR's and some of the happiest I've been with my pictures. Some were as few as 4 exposures, the last was 8 exposures. I would welcome all comments, please note these were done on a laptop monitor and some of you know I'm color blind. Besides HDR and crop I adjusted the Saturation and Vibrance on a few. The last I did not make and color adjustments. here is a link to the set on Flicker http://www.flickr.com/photos/sherpa1d/sets/72157627629430435/ so you can see larger versions.

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

Some excellent shots, Mike! The second one is probably my favorite, I love the way that you included the road and the fence, the composition was nothing short of outstanding,

If I had to be critical, I'd include a little less sky on the last, but other than that, they're excellent photos! I'd love to see some more.

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-Evan

Gear: 7 Nikon Nikkor AI-S and AF-S lenses, SB-700 flash, Nikon D7000, Nikon FM, variety of accessories

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
- Ansel Adams

Compositionally the 3rd one is best - maybe the sky could be brought back a little and the clouds are looking a bit clipped

On the 4th shot the partly cut fencing isn't helping the image much - I'd either make it a foreground feature in full or leave it out altogether.

The partial cloud isn't helping much either. It shows that ideally you'd time the shot and use the clouds as part of your composition. The fact that there's only one little cloud, partly cut from the frame doesn't help - I'd be tempted to clone it out.

Mike, they don't look like HDR to me, they still look natural, good job.

Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

That's why I especially like these shots, particularly the third one. I always thought the original purpose of HDR was to provide an greater contrast but to maintain a natural look - it's only in recent years that post-processing has been done for an artistic effect.

I think you've done a really good job with these, Mike.

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

Thanks for the comments, it was a lot of fun. Hopfully on Friday I'll be up there again. The second photo, the moutain top that is center focus has a trail up to the top, that's were I plan to go.

I may re-crop the last photo. I was trying to be "artsy" with the crop but if it doesn't work I'll adjust. The fence was just one little odd section and I was trying to think of away to make it look more part of the scene. The 3rd one, if the clouds look clipped, that was the first one that I HDR'd and was playing with the Highlights and Shadows slider so I must have messed them up there.

The more and more shots like this, the happier I get, and the more frustrated my wife gets with me

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

Which software are you using?

I'm still on the very bottom of the learning curve of PhotoShop CS5. I used to use GIMP but I'm not going to learn PhotoShop if I just make the leap and dive in.

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

Oh you know, now I see some big issues with the clouds on the 2nd pic, looks like ghosting from the HDR. I did these exposures manually instead of setting it up thru the camera, I guess it took me a bit on making the changes and the clouds had moved, it was a little windy.

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

This is a re-crop of pic #4. See that odd section of fence I thought I could do something artsey with it. This is the one, I took so many exposures I did not have to touch the color settings at all.

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

I like #1 and 2 - those peaks would look amazing during sunset!

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Flickr

With our orientation we get them at sunrise, they are east of town

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS