DSLR Photography Forum

This image of boats, on the harbour wall at Dysart, is an HDR image created using Lightroom 6.5.1. With the HDR merge function in Lightroom all it does is merge the images. You cannot adjust the tone mapping or such like. This is an amalgam of three images. They were not taken with HDR in mind. I took them in manual mode and handheld. I took the first, then checked the histogram, adjusted the aperture and took a second. After that I again checked the histogram and made a final adjustment to the ISO before taking the third exposure, which was the one I intended using. However, when I saw the three images side by side, I decided to try the HDR approach. I very much like the resulting image. What do you think?

Dysart Harbour 20-4-2016.
[attachment=6219]
Nikon D80, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR lens, Manual mode, 1/400 sec, f11 & f5.6, ISO 250 & 200, 105mm lens equivalent. Raw images, merged in Lightroom 6.5.1 and processed using Nik Software.

First thing, it does not look like HDR, most are over blown, this is just right. Top marks.
On my monitor, it's a bit contrasty, may be as you wished, a few minutes in Shadow/Highlights made a difference to me. Cheers. Ed.

I like contrasty images and make a point of pushing the contrast during final sharpening.

(May 1, 2016, 12:16)EdMak Wrote: [ -> ]First thing, it does not look like HDR, most are over blown, this is just right. Top marks.
On my monitor, it's a bit contrasty, may be as you wished, a few minutes in Shadow/Highlights made a difference to me. Cheers. Ed.

It's a nice image but I agree with you, Ed.

Cheers.
Philip

Reprocessed the image without boosting the contrast at final sharpening. Is this more to your liking, gents?

[attachment=6235]

There doesn't appear to be much difference in the contrast to me, John. The second is a slightly different crop and a bit sharper, perhaps now a bit too sharp. I would just like to see a bit more from the shadows and a bit less blue there. But, of course, what you like is all that really matters.

[attachment=6236]

Cheers.
Philip

My favourite type of HDR, in that you cannot tell it is HDR. Nicely done.