A small shopping mall, sigma 10 20, hdr alternative

[rhermans]

Normally when trying to get a picture from something with a large dynamic range, I use multi exposures, make a hdr, tone map it ... and ...
none of them ever come out the way I would want them.

So here's a shot from this weekend.

It's not just one shot it's a combination of 2 images, the first one I fixed the ex on the glas dome,
then placed the camera on the floor - took the shot , then without moving the camera turned the ev back to auto and took the second shot,
later in photoshop, replaced the completely blown out glass dome.

Instead of wasting my time with hdr this will propably be the way that I'm going next time, unless you guys can point me to a better solution ..

Ronny

ps: the picture is taken in a small mall in Roosendaal, Netherlands. They have gone a bit over the top with the decoration, somehow I do like the look. (for a short while)

pps: really love the sigma 10-20

[gfurm]

I think HDR looks too cartoonish, even the good ones. I prefer the old fashion way, ie: what you did with that photo. great job.

greg

[Wingman]

Very nice Ronny...this one belongs in a magazine!!

Jay

[interested_observer]

Wonderful job. The prespective really adds to the image, and the depth of field along with the color is great!

[snostorm]

Hi Ronny,

I like your solution better. I've only used HDR sparingly, and like it for the some of the effects it can give, but usually find I'd rather do a lot of PP functions "manually" as opposed to many of the automated methods.

Nice job on this shot!

Scott

[bilybianca]

Really well done, Ronny. Smart solution to a real problem.

Kjell

[Lyrics51]

Thanks for the tip, Ronny. That came out really nice. The color and the two exposures all well done.

Glenn

[mtngal]

I've never actually done the tone mapping etc. method of hdr, but I've seen some wonderful examples done by one or two others. The only time I tried it was with CS2's hdr and it didn't work at all.

You method works really well for shots like this, where there's a hard edge that you can crop to. I've done that successfully a couple of times, but I wasn't so successful with scenes that are more graduated. It can also work for scenes where you aren't using a tripod so the two scenes aren't quite the same (but almost), by cropping. That won't work if you change the angle but is OK for when it is a little off either up or to the side.

[NonEntity1]

Looks great to me too Ronny. I have not tried HDR but IMO it is the results that matter, not the method, and you can't complain about your results.

Tim

[danielchtong]

rhermans wrote:

[size="2"]
Instead of wasting my time with hdr this will propably be the way that I'm going next time, unless you guys can point me to a better solution ..
Ronny

Interesting perspective from a wa lens. I got to learn some hdr thing for my Zenitar. If you are going next time , see if you move a bit forward to avoid the column on the left. Everything is so perfect and you did really well.
I would imagine the mall is kind of overdone in artwork as you said. You are like an artist and the fact that it is less than artistic does not show up in your image.

Daniel