9.03.2015

I found a mysterious menu item in my camera called, HDR. When I enabled it....


...the files I was shooting with my snappy lens and my snappy camera starting coming out all flat and lifeless. Fortunately I was able to save them in PhotoShop by adding contrast and color back in. Can't imagine why they have this menu on the camera.

An image taken during a morning walk around Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. I got out there around 10 am and it seemed like everyone else was gone. I guess working. I strolled under the old Lamar Blvd. bridge and I was admiring, for the zillionth time, how the bridge creates one half of an arching frame that now encompasses the condo towers across the river. My attempts to make a good photo of this composition have been mostly thwarted by the dynamic range between the highlights on the buildings and in the clouds, and the deep, almost black shadows on the underbelly of the bridge.

I had time and leisure so I decided to give the HDR setting in the menu a grudging try. I was using a Nikon D750 and the Sigma Art 50mm f1.4. As I never bring a tripod along for a casual walk around the lake I handheld the combination. In the menu there are various things you can set but "auto" looked good to me.

I tried my best in post to not make this look like technicolor vomit but I'll leave my success or failure up to the many critics of the internet.

I will say that today's clouds, all over Austin, are gorgeous and dramatic. This afternoon would be a great time to skip out of work and capture some stock clouds. I'm skipping out right now....



The video.  Go see it again! https://vimeo.com/137964319

3 comments:

Tinderbox said...

My own rule about HDR and similar effects is that if you can detect in the finished product that HDR was used, then too much HDR was used.

David Sutton said...

Some photos just seem destined for black and white......

Ken said...

Now we need you to compare it to the HDR mode on the EM5.2.