HDR Mania or Just My Style?

One of the things that I had on my to do list was to learn to make HDR photos.  A while back I got Photomatix and played around with it to try to teach myself how to do it.  Some of the photos came out really well, others… not so much.

For example, I loved this one…

On the other hand, this one did absolutely nothing for me… blech.

Ugh, I mean it’s okaaaay but not one I’m particularly crazy about..

Granted, when it comes to HDR it’s all ‘overdone’ to some extent, just by doing it at all you are overdoing it, that’s the point of the whole thing.  It’s taking the photo a step beyond, creating something that looks sort of surreal.

I think I’ll always love the way out there type of HDR that a lot of people hate.  Like this one, which is one of the first I ever did…

Sure, there are a few glaring issues, mostly the halo, the lighter bit going on around the top of the building on the right.  Still, I love it… halo and all.  It doesn’t look at all REAL, but (to me at least) it looks REALLY cool!

To some people this is a complete bastardization of what photography is meant to be, and in a way I can see their point because this isn’t really just photography but also digital art.  So it’s kind of like apples and oranges really, but I enjoy the editing just as much, if not more than, the actually photography…

Not all HDR is as wacky as others though… Recently I started playing with the HDR toning in Photoshop (on PC’s found in Edit – Adjustment – HDR Toning, no idea where you Mac folks can find it!) and I can’t stop. I just CANNOT STOP WITH THE HDR! Argh…  It’s not the same level of HDR as in the ones I’ve done previously, especially like the cloudy one above.  Rather, it just gives the photos an extra pop that I really like, and I just can’t stop doing it.  Can’t stop, can’t stooooooppppp – HELP!

When I am editing a photo, I can’t silence that voice in my head that says “What would it look like with some HDR toning?  Go on Tammy, you know you want to… just a little, just this one last time”.

It appears that HDR is the new crack…

I went back through a few of my photos from different photography walks and outings I’ve been on, just to see how they’d look different with a little touch of the HDR toning.  With some, the difference is hardly visible, but with others it makes a rather drastic difference.  In 80% of cases, I prefer it with the extra touch and the only ones I seem to not like as much with it are macro type photos or portraits.

Here are some examples …

Let’s take this photo of the lighthouse from my recent trip to Texel as an example.  At a quick glance you may not even see the difference.  It’s not spacy or totally out there like some HDR might seem, but if you look closely you can see the differences.  The colors in the lighthouse, the detail in the grass and sand and how the clouds stand out just that little bit more.

Which do I prefer?  The bottom photo with the extra HDR editing, no question…

Another example, from my photo walk with friends in the Veluwezoom last autumn.

Again, the bottom photo has the HDR toning.  It also has some haloing as well (which I intend to learn how to correct ASAP) but this was just a quick example I did for this blog entry.

Not a massive amount of difference between the two photos, except for the lights are a little lighter, there is a bit more detail in the leaves and the trunk of the tree.  The light on the hill stands out more and the detail of the fallen leaves looks a lot nicer.  There are a few things I’d try to edit if I were to keep this photo.  For example, as I mentioned, I’d fix the haloing that is happening along the top of the horizon.  I would also try to fix whatever is causing that one part of the bushes to turn purple.

All that said though, even with those imperfections I would still choose the bottom photo.

Here is another example from my trip to Texel, which is a little more obvious.

This one has much more noticeable difference.  There are things I’d tweak if this was going to be a keeper as well, the bit of (*sigh*) haloing around the guy, the brightness / contrast in the sky etc but even just with the HDR toning alone with minimal editing beyond that, it’s still worlds better than the original (IMO).

So here’s the thing.  I’m an insecure animal at heart and I exist within a world of photographers that are head and shoulders above me when it comes to knowledge and skill.  I belong to a photo club with some people who take photos that leave me completely in awe, like literally… speechless.  I can’t help but always worry about what other people think of my photos.

Well, I can help it somehow, I just haven’t quite figured out the best way of going about not giving a shit yet.

Knowing that HDR and too much post processing will instantly get some people’s hackles up and make them hate your photos by default (this isn’t about my photo club but just some photography people in general), it holds me back from just doing what I want with my own photos.  I don’t want people to look at my photos and think they suck, or that I don’t know what I’m doing (I don’t really, but I don’t want them to KNOW that!)

This feeling really makes me angry with myself… mostly because I’m sure nobody cares nearly as much as I like to think they do.

Is this HDR thing just a phase?  I have no idea… is it something that belongs in every day post processing of all my photos?  Again, no friggin idea!  Maybe one day I’d look back at my photos from this period (the ones that I will do the HDR toning on, I mean) and shake my head and want to go back and do them all over AGAIN.  It’s likely… but it’s what I like right at this moment.

That’s what is most important… what I like, right?  These are my photos after all and while what other people think of photos will always matter to everyone (I think those who say they don’t care are lying, at least a little)… it can’t be everything.  Everyone needs to find their own ‘voice’, so to speak.  Perhaps this is mine and I need to continue to explore it.

Then again, it’s entirely possible I’m just a complete HDR addict and am trying to fit it in wherever possible.  Maybe my friends should consider an intervention.  It’s hard to say…