Sculpture

I had a wander around Cardiff bay earlier today, looking for inspiration for this fortnights competition. I have one shot which is a maybe at this point, but I also took this whilst there. It's a memorial to the merchant seaman who died during WWII in the foreground & the Pierhead building in the background. I feel I've slightly overdone the HDR effect but I do like the composition, so thought I'd share.

[IMG]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q105/RR76/facedown4.jpg[/IMG]

I'm no fan of HDR but this is pretty good apart from the rather overly red building that looks a bit foreign to the rest of the photograph. The composition looks really good and you have got both a good sky and good exposure on the steel work.

Pity about the railings.

Mike

I like the image (apart from the municipal railings) but how about a B & W version :

Surely B&W would diminish all the HDR benefits? That sky wouldn't be so good I'd have thought and while I'm not that keen on the way the red building is working it would be rather drab in mono?

Mike

I thought that rather than being drab, it might look dark and moody in feel :

I did try a B&W Hyram, but I wasn't keen on it.

I kept the strong reds so that the building could share the limelight with the larger (in frame) memorial. It may look slightly unnatural but it really is very very red in the "flesh" so to speak.

Cardiff Bay is full of modern art & architecture, all surrounding the Pierhead building that was actually built in 1897.

The trouble I have with the red as is (and I realise it probably is that red in the flesh) is that the building seems to float above its surroundings which is a typical red thing to do. What's it like if you desaturate that area a little?

I don't know why I'm suggesting any of this as I fear your competition entry may be similar and better!

Mike

I don't really like HDR, but this is the second one I've seen which I love. Maybe I'll be converted yet.

As a metter of interest how many shots was this made from and did you use a tripod?

Mike

Well, I just put it through LR, and in b&W the reddish building doesn't look drab at all.
And the sky looks equally great. In this case both versions look very good to me.
But......as a " mono " lover, I"ll guess you know my preferences, by now

Martin.

You can do B+W HDR

That's right. It would be; The Ultimate Zone System, I"ll guess

Martin.

I'm not a fan of colour HDR either - the colours always look far too unnatural to me. But as a black and white I think it works, and I think that's because it's a look that we're far more used to. With the wide dynamic range of B+W film, they were practically HDR images anyway.

Not too keen on the haloes around the sculpture either, but then that's one of the other things about HDR I don't like.

Good composition though.

Dan

Like I said, this is a little overdone by me, I'm still getting to grips with HDR. Actually I'm still getting to grips with photography, this being my first serious camera, bought at the end of Nov last year. It's great to get some positive comments to motivate me & constructive criticism to help me moderate & improve my images.

I absolutely agree that HDR can be executed brilliantly in B&W, it can also help hide the fringing & halos that are produced by tonemapping.

Mike, although this is a play on perspective it doesn't really fit the brief for the fortnightly competition.
I used a tripod, just about as low as it would go. I took 5 exposures, each 1 & 1/3 stops apart. Combined & tonemapped with photomatix pro 3.
A little work in PS to increase contrast & sharpen & try to reduce the halo & fringing effects.

Can't see why this shot wouldn't fit the fortnightly competition. I'm relieved to hear that you used a tripod as I can't see how poeple manage to take three or more shots hand held that will HDR well. I know teh s/w edge hunts etc. but I'd have thought you'd still have 'issues'.

Nice work.

Mike