Lurker becomes poster - HDR urban examples

Hi Folks!

I've been a fan of Sean McHugh's work for a long time and have been lurking about this site for almost a year.

I'll be the first to admit that I push the HDR technique farther than most. I've been shooting a lot of urban night scenes with mixed color temperatures and neon.

Boosting the luminosity and saturation gives a more impressionistic look that I like, even if it's not technically accurate.

I'm still learning, but here is an image I think turned out well - I'd appreciate comments and suggestions.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3334/...9df4f831_o.jpg

Hi Dave,

Nice work.

As you say, it's not photorealistic, but so what - that's never stopped any of us before!

Quite unique style - different, but pleasant.

Only thing I'd change is to lose what remains of the bike on the left-hand side (by cloning, not cropping).

PS: "Welcome" to CiC - great to have another contributor :)

Hi Dave,

Yes I like that too.

I have to say I initially found the fire escape and the bright light above it on the extreme left distracting, but the image needs it; both for depth perception and to balance against the car, but I'm waffling, all I know is it isn't as good without it there, so I agree with Colin about the bicycle, don't crop it off.

Normally I'd ask a new member to pop an intro in that thread, but you've done a fair job here, so it's by no means as necesary in your case.

Welcome to the forums from ...

If you are trying to achieve the feel of the scene that it is pretty unsafe to wait till the guy returns to his car, you have succeeded Dave...
...and welcome to the active part of the forum

I am not usually one for PC (in this case political correctness), but please leave the bicycle wheel - its a nice opposite-end-of-the-spectrum touch against the 4 litre job (or am I undersestimating?)

I took this photo about 3 weeks ago and have since tracked down the owner of the car - he's a part owner of the bail bonds place on the corner.

Now I'm on the horns of a dilema - do I ask him to park there again or do I live with my happy accident of catching his car there alone? This street is very busy and there is NEVER an open spot for more than 2-3 minutes. I only managed to catch 2-3 sets of exposures before another car pulled in.

Absolutely LOVE this image ;).
The mood here is captured very well, and it really makes you feel that you are 'involved' in the space.

Sorry if this upsets anyone, but I wouldn't dream of removing the bike wheel - it contributes to a surprisingly large part of the images feel ( and this is coming from someone who is pretty heavy on the old 'post-process-removals' :rolleyes: )

As for what I think about the bright lamp - the interesting light playing all over the car and road automatically spurs us to look for it's source.
Without it, the eye does not travel properly, and the image can feels incomplete.

Good job :)!

If you don't mind my asking - what processes did you use ( exposures and processing wise ).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OldCrow

Now I'm on the horns of a dilema - do I ask him to park there again or do I live with my happy accident of catching his car there alone?

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I think I missed something here ... why would you want to do it again?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Colin Southern

I think I missed something here ... why would you want to do it again?

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To recompose the shot, maybe there won't be a bike on the left. I'd also like to bring a LENS SHADE along if I re-shot this.

Look at the "Horrible Hexagon" I had to remove from the image;

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/...fe2911.jpg?v=0

I left in some flare on the right, it seemed to make sense to be there. I'd also shoot more images to try and tame the bright sign on the extreme left.

Or I could instead be grateful for the image I captured and get on with life.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OldCrow

Or I could instead be grateful for the image I captured and get on with life.

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I sometimes go back several times to the same spot -- but I'm also mindful of the old photographic saying that "Images are never finished -- they're just abandoned by their owners at some point!"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OldCrow

To recompose the shot, maybe there won't be a bike on the left. I'd also like to bring a LENS SHADE along if I re-shot this.

Look at the "Horrible Hexagon" I had to remove from the image;



I left in some flare on the right, it seemed to make sense to be there. I'd also shoot more images to try and tame the bright sign on the extreme left.

Or I could instead be grateful for the image I captured and get on with life.

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I think you are being to picky with yourself - 'this is a GREAT image'.
Ha! I didn't even realize that was a sign :D.
To be perfectly honest I like the brightness of it - but that's just me :rolleyes:.

DUDE - the original photo is great - I love it. Perfect use of HDR.