[smarti77]

Hi everyone - Sorry for another random infrequent post.

I found a special place that sparked a bit of inspiration. This is a special wing of the state library of South Australia. Its a very quiet place which is on one of the busiest streets in the city of Adelaide (North Terrace).

My aim was to capture the incredible atmosphere and simple beauty of the library. As usual I've used HDR to capture the very wide range of light.
This was taken at 18mm. This is my widest lens and once again I wanted to go wider....(must save for 10-20mm!!!).



Comments and critique appreciated.
Shane

[Pavel]

Hello Smarti, I admire the natural tonality of your HDR. A really nice photo. I am getting Tokina 11-16 (any day now :mad. This lens gets good reviews (see photozone.de for example). I tried to use photomatix 3.0, but got dissapointingly artificial results. If you use this software, what settings would you recommend as a starting point? Pavel

[matthew]

I really like this, the HDR is subtle and doesn't throw the tones out of balance. I wouldn't have guessed that it was used. I agree with Pavel, my results (in my case with photoshop CS3) have never looked anywhere near this good.

The building itself looks wonderful, and while I can understand the appeal of a ultra-wide lens, I'm not sure it would have made for a better photo. The perspective and relationships within this frame look natural and normal, and it still captures the grandeur and dignity of the scene.

[blowup]

Shane,
I like this photo. Although I haven't been to this library, I think that you've succeeded in capturing the old library atmosphere. In addition to the positives mentioned by Pavel and Matthew, I also like the composition. The symmetry and classic perspective are...well, classic! I agree with Matthew, that there may not be much to be gained, here, with a wider lens. Except, that I would be tempted to take a photo with the camera overlooking the railing in front. (Thus, taking that railing out of the photo.) In fact, I would be interested to see that shot, even with your 18 mm lens.
Keep up the good work.
Gary

[smarti77]

I tried to use photomatix 3.0, but got dissapointingly artificial results. If you use this software, what settings would you recommend as a starting point? Pavel

I use an older version of photomatix but it does everything I need (I hope these settings correspond to 3.0):
My settings depend of the image but I always use high microcontrast and high smoothing (high smoothing is the key to realistic results / not overdone). The colour saturation is normally always left at 50% (oversaturation also looks overdone).
I use the black and white clipping to get the histogram to just reach each side of the histogram - sometimes pushing the black a little further.
If you get everything else right the 'strength' can be kept up between 75-100% and the luminosity slightly moved up or down from zero to taste...
I hope this helps.

Shane

[smarti77]

Except, that I would be tempted to take a photo with the camera overlooking the railing in front. (Thus, taking that railing out of the photo.) In fact, I would be interested to see that shot, even with your 18 mm lens.
Gary

Gary - Thanks for asking me revisit my images taken 'over the rail'. The reason I didn't like this one at first is the exposures had a strong yellow cast from the lights (I started with auto white balance....). But I think the composition and perspective is stronger in this image and it makes a decent black and white.... I like the lighting above the individual chairs but the stained carpet bothers me so much that I might have to clean it up in photoshop...

[blowup]

Wow! I really like this one, Shane. The stains don't bother me. In fact, they add to the character. I like those lights above the chairs, also. You can try it again, when you get the 10 - 20, but this one is a winner, now.
Cheers, Gary

[Pavel]

Shane thank you very much. Your advice is very valuable to me. I just noticed that you posted in a critique forum and I assumed it is a showcase, so I did not give you a proper review. However Gary did a good job I think and made some good suggestions. My one complaint about HDR is that the shadows are suppressed too much. To me, light and shadow is very important in photography and particularly to those that are ancient enough to have started in B & W. I like HDR from fairly realistic to some very bizzare ones, but I really miss the presence of (controled) shadows. Your photo is prety good in this respect, but having a less uniform lighting would appeal to me. I am yet to see HDR which achieves that. I find this particularly troubling in old churches, where lighting is used craftily to achieve spiritual effect and while HDR shows perfectly each nook and cranie of a church, it does not capture the spirit. I agree with Gary, that this photo does a good job of it for the library, but I think that with more of light shadows the sense of reality would be enhanced.

I also see how you would like to go wider. This photo would in my view be enhanced, if one could see the entire handrails on both sides and a bit of a floor in front of the rails. On the other hand, I really do like Gary's idea of taking the photo diagonally downward without the obstraction of the ballustrade.

Nothing I said should detract from the fact that I think this to be one of the most satisfying HDRs I have seen and a very good photo regardless of techniques. Pavel

[Pavel]

Shane, I like the composition of this one, but to me the photo lacks strong blacks and perhaps a bit more contrast (perhaps another hangover fromn B & W days). In the colour photo, the lightness of the shadows was not all that troublesome, but this photo illustrates well what I mean. I agree with you and Gary, that the composition is stronger in this one - no question, you feel it. However the other issues I mentioned make me prefer the first photo. Pavel

[matthew]

Gary - Thanks for asking me revisit my images taken 'over the rail'. The reason I didn't like this one at first is the exposures had a strong yellow cast from the lights (I started with auto white balance....). But I think the composition and perspective is stronger in this image and it makes a decent black and white.... I like the lighting above the individual chairs but the stained carpet bothers me so much that I might have to clean it up in photoshop...

Wow! That's a really nice treatment, and a very striking photo. It shows a lot of character of the building.
(I'd want to straighten some of the angles, but I'm a little overly sensitive to that.)