Weekly Competition #347 - HDR Competition

The judges comments:

Pentax User Weekly Competition HDR Ending 09-03-2014


This was difficult to judge with some really fine entries. HDR work is very much down to personal taste and results of HDR processing can range from the very natural look right through to images with a wildly surreal and colourful look to them. The judge in this case tends to favour a natural look that still shows it is an HDR image. So please remember results and comments are just the thought of one man.


Winner Ripon Cathedral

Second Into The Valley

Third Gnarled Hawthorns


Highly Commended Doha West Bay
Thinking



Birmingham Library - Very nice composition and great piece of modern architecture just made for HDR. It certainly looks like a fantastic place. I think this is a single shot HDR image. Bracketing three or more shots would mean more detail could be extracted from the building and the sky. I especially like the gentle colour treatment on this image.

Chain Reaction - Another subject well chosen to show the potential of HDR. This genre now generally looks for a more realistic approach than when HDR first became popular. Whist this image has plenty of pop the colours appear over saturated. A very fine and praise worthy effort however

Doha West Bay - This is obviously a very professional piece of work and beautifully executed. If it was shot for a client and they requested such a bold use of colour then im sure they would be very pleased. The judge tends to favour a more natural look to HDR work but fully appreciates how well taken and processed this is.

Forth Bridge - Not sure what HDR software you have used for this as you did not say. Its actually a great shot with superb POV. It has got an awful lot of digital noise in the sky and has either been over processed or over sharpened. A great shot to put back through the PC and rework.

Gnarled Hawthorns - Perfect HDR combined with great composition. Im guessing this is a multl bracketed shot using Photomatix or similar which has allowed details to be extracted from both the shaded and light areas. Trees are not the easiest of things to process in HDR software but these are perfect.

Into The Valley - Another fine piece of true HDR here with plenty of detail in all areas. This is my second place photo but it was a very close run thing. I think a tighter crop may help this image losing some of the distraction at the sides.



Ripon Cathedral - This image shows all that is so good about using HDR in this type of situation. It has brought out detail in the bright windows without blowing the highlights and extracted detail from the areas that would be in shadow using a one image "normal" shot. A worthy winner indeed.

Thinking - If content and composition were the only factors to take into account then this is the winner. However in terms of HDR the clouds are too blown and the shaded areas need to show a little more detail. All easily fixed in Photoshop or similar. This would make a superb photo.

Top Gear - I appreciate the difficulty of taking this shot and it is a good fun photo. Probably would have to say its not sharp enough and it looks like its had too many different treatments applied to try and improve it.

Valloires Abbey - Im assuming that this image was created in camera using creative mode. The composition and POV are splendid. The software has left large flat areas of grey in the sky which multi bracketing and HDR software would resolve.

Banana Split for Breakfast – A good attempt at an HDR look. Your composition has cut many items and POV generally not the best. Also the blue cast could be removed in Photoshop etc.

Green Oak – For a first attempt at HDR this is excellent. Subject is well chosen with plenty of textures to explore. Not sure what software you used but you have a good shot here so go back and re process it to remove the blown areas and get more detail into the timber. Nik or Topaz filters can help with this.

Orange Mushroom – A good study and fine attempt. There are probably better subject for HDR than this. The judge is not a believer in the HDR process being used for everything. It should be able to enhance and bring out detail in light and shaded areas. The soft focus in the foreground here is a little distracting.

The Fish Fryer – This is a stunning photo full of interest. Where ever did you find a fish shop still using enamel mugs? A great find indeed. I really just so wish you had posted this in colour. I remain unconvinced much of the time that HDR and black and white are a good mix. I would like the opportunity to see this in colour.



I hope this is acceptable

Kind Regards

Steve Worland (billyspad)

Many thanks for sending me your judging Steve, I've posted it for you above. It's always appreciated when judges are so prompt with their comments as it means the new competition can follow on quickly, giving everyone more time to enter.

Many thanks also for the win, I'll post a new competition after breakfast!

As John has said, thanks for your comments. It's one reason I enter the competitions, to get another view on my images.
The shop is part of Beamish Open Air Museum, using beef dripping, the chips are yummy. I'll see what I can do about a colour version

Congratulations to John and those others mentioned, all well deserved.

Congratulations John, on a very fine image, fit for a postcard! Wow, fantastic details. And also to pipinmels and Ellida and the HM's Aliengrove and Andrew. Thanks Steve for an interesting subject (my first HDR really) and for judging. Appreciated.

Ripon Cathedral is superb...
as are the Fish Fryer [personally I liked the B&W look... I might look for suitable subjects myself for this treatment]
and the picture of the Fifth Bridge...

Although, as stated with my entry, I am not an HDR user...
and I wasn't going to enter this week...
I decided to show what the Pentax alogrithms do to a picture...

I agree totally with the blue cast comment.
The picture is exaxtly what the WG-2 created with it's internal "HDR" effect filter...
.... absolutely no Pottyshopping...
it is so totally over the top.
It treats whites as "overexposed" and tries to correct true blacks!! It is certainly one filter that I shall not be using again... not on the WG-2!!
I shall, however, give it a try again on the PK7... none of those seemed as extreme... I just didn't have anything in camera that was interesting.

I'm in agreement with Barrie... it is the judges and others constructive criticism and tips are what makes these competitions so worthwhile.

I would be interested to hear what others think of the "infernal" filters supplied in the little computers we hang round our necks nowadays.
Now to carry on looking for interesting "Diagonals" for the monthly comp.

Well done to John and other mentions
Thanks to Steve for comp and judging and I agree my entry is way over processed and pretty naff really
All the best ...Jim

A great competition this one!

Well done to John and all those others placed.

I'm going to have to play with this subject more as I only used the HDR program options within the K30.

I'd welcome some more advice on programs to use and I'll check out the Nik and Topaz filters.

Thanks for all your kind comments re my judging which I hope was not seen as harsh. Its very difficult because we tend to like different things but that's what makes our hobby so diverse and interesting I think.

Personally I love HDR and find the processing of images fascinating. Most of my stuff's HDR including my portrait last week.

In answer to a question here the most popular software for HDR is Photomatix. Its not as complicated or involved as Photoshop but does take a little practice to master. From there the photo is taken into PS or Lightroom for the final touches often using Nik or Topaz