Join Now
Join ePHOTOzine, the friendliest photography community.
Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more for free!
- View Large
Upgrade to e2 to view large
Upgrade to e2 membership to see a large version of this photo. - Comments
-
stars dont always shine for me so ..up for crit
no trails... hey ho! so I bracketed thinking I could do an HDR (joke!) how hard is this to do ? any tips would be more than welcome cos I have loads of halos and other incidentals I hadn't expected
thanks for looking and critting if you can and all ...
Diana
| Camera: | Nikon d3s  Check out Nikon Nation! |
| Lens: | Sigma 12-24 |
| Recording media: | TIFF (digital) |
| Title: | where the stars don't shine |
| Username: | 
Diana |
| Uploaded: | 17 Nov 2010 - 1:52 AM |
| Tags: | Landscape / travel, Night / low light, Not shining tonight |
| VS Mode Rating |
100 (50% won) These stats show the percentage of wins and the rating score that your photo has achieved. You can go to the VS Mode by clicking on this icon. Signup to e2Signup to e2 to see which photo this has won or lost against in the vs mode |
| Votes: | Voting Disabled |
| Group Event: | Group: NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY/LIGHT PAINTING |
 | Critique Wanted |
| Modifications Welcome (Upload a Modification) |
Comments
Very striking - this would grace the cover of a mystery novel well.
Stunning shot I like this a lot, very well done.
Hugh
Everything is wrong, but it's very very good. Just shows how you can break the rules - almost all of them, and produce something worthwhile. If you did the obvious, correct verticals, colour etc. it would be a very ordinary scene.
great stuff - I even like the HDR.
Paul
really?
I better go recover all the ones I dumped into the trash can this weekend 
I do like to break the rules yes for sure
Si, thank you, your not too far wrong on that one
Fraser I haven't a clue what the histogram is supposed to look like tbh, but thank you
I get your point Frank about windmills facing out the frame but the trouble is, around the polders you cant really choose from where to shoot or you'd be falling in the water, thats what the mills are there for, to manage the water (it is Holland btw)
point taken about the horizon I just got so frustrated with the whole thing I put it up for tips and crits..
I'll do another one laters then and straighten the horizon up. Think I can do that much
thank you for looking and commenting, all really helpful
Diana
Halo's shmalo's! I think this image is stunning Diana.
I've done quiet a few hdr shots and generally just play until happy, unfortunately never seem to remember the exact process, settings etc as every shot is so different from the next so cant offer any constructive advice except just play!
Ricky.
Cracking piece of imaginative work Diana! Love the angles and the post work!
Andy
Can't criticise this, Diana, it's spot-on! Cracking capture.
TrevB 
Diana,
Do like the effectiveness of the HDR in this one, you have nicely sharp details with no sign of halo's or the noisy gremlins. My only real crit would be to watch that the reflection of the sky is much brighter than the sky itself in places.
From a compositional viewpoint it's true that the windmill breaks the 'rule' that objects should look 'into' the frame, creating a slightly unsettling feel to the composition, but actually that complements the bleak colour you have here. And the perspective distortion and skew horizon I couldn't care less about- it's entirely clear what we are looking at and this isn't a record shot.
Most importantly, for me, is that you've used HDR to help tell the story in the image, not as the point of the image itself. Sumptuous.
malc
OK I wont straighten the horizon either then!
seriously thank you, I thought someone was going to tell me how to do an HDR
oh well I am glad really that you haven't cos I guess it is better to discover things for myself
I'll drop this one soon, then i'll do another in my own sweet neophyte way and see what comes out at the end
thank you for the comments....
Diana
EDIT: Malc we posted at the same time I'll read your comments and come back in a bit
D
Malc that is useful crit thank you for that
the light water yes, it must be the white point thingy I used, I'll watch that next time then
I liked the Mill pointing away too 'cos it was bleak coming home again (back here I mean)
and I am not going to straighten then, so there!
I also love skewed distortion as you well know
sumptuous is good too so thank you so much for taking the time to comment for me, it is really appreciated Malc
I'll try some more now
Diana
It's a weird and idiosyncratic image so normal standards of crit don't really apply. To get natural looking HDR you need to start with natural looking images... which is clearly not the case here so for goodness sake stop worrying about that. As for the skew, it's a weird pic made even weirder by the angle so straightening it would be a sin.
The bottom line is that even if you don't know what you're doing in some areas, you do always know when you 've got an image and that's the most useful talent of all.
Eric
thank you again for the great critt and tips on here and by PM, really appreciated
I like weird Eric thats such a compliment
I wont sin then cos I may not be forgiven and that wont be nice
trouble is I was standing on a floaty jetty for these and some are a bit wobbly, I mean some of the blades are hazy cos of the wind and the movement of the jetty in the water and the long exposures, hence the 'halo shmaolos' I think
I'll see if I can find three sharp ones and have another bash
at least i didn't fall in, but it was a close one... in the inky
Diana
I nhave to confess I thought the compositional rules were intentionally broken so I didn't raise them in my post. Diana, The historgram tends to show as an irregular triangle between two vertical axes. The data towards the left hand side represents the dark areas of the image and the data to the right the light areas. A "correct" histogram has all of the information inside the axes and, ideally, just touching the vertical axes. If the chart extends beyond the left axis the image is underexposed and beyond the right it is overexposed. If you adjust the "Amount", "Luminosity" , "Gamma" and black and white point sliders in your HDR programme they all have an effect on the histogram, spreading or compacting it horizontally. To get a more natural image you want the histogram adjusted as I have described above. But, then again, the rules are made to be broken......
Fraser
Im late coming to this shot Diana, and have had the advantage of reading all the comments above.
For me this is a magical image, with just the right amount of perspective distortion to make it akin to a dream, or a scene from a graphic fairytale.
I agree that the very brifht spot can be toned down, - and the horizon straightened, and Ive done a fair amount of work in the mod on composition, etc, - BUT, - I think this has perhaps lost the magic component?
regards
Willie
firstly im going to say that i love this image!! im a great lover of hdr in all its forms and this on stands out!
ill also say though that good HDR doesnt need to conform to normal so-called rules of photgraphy (comp, lighting etc) hdr in itself can hide a multitude of photographic sins (which is why i use it alot lol). if anyones going to critique an HDR image in a way they might critique a "main stream" image is futile. HDR is a style in its own right - you either love it or hate it! personally, when done well, like this image is _ I LOVE IT!
Hya
thank you for those extra and most unexpected crits and comments
Fraser thank you for coming back to this, well I guess I work to my own rules
I mean, I don't think "is the windmill facing in the frame" before I shoot it, I just want to capture the moment really.
and thanks for that about the histogram, but it probably wont sink in to my brain though. I'll just play till it feels right.
Willie thank you for that, I am liking all the dream interpretations, I tried to tone down the highlight in the next one but it was not easy.
Then I tried that hateful clone tool, Jeez I hate that thing…..didn't work.
The mods you have done Willie, thank you for those too. dya know, you're right I think, I love the slanted horizon it does add to the magic.
A lot of my shots of late are on the slant but I'm not so bothered now about that
I like mod 2… for that extra bit of zing you have given it.
I sharpened mine too (now theres a first)
Paul the HDR specialist !
thank you too for the mods, (bet you bashed those out quickly)! I just love the colour of mod 5 Paul. I managed one like that but forgot how I done it now 
I am so touched by all the comments and critts thank you so much all of you
I better go back now and shoot some more, perhaps I'll wait till it snows
Diana
thats another great mod thank you Lesley with great instructions on the upload too, I understand about the wackiness and your feelings about it and I respect that
just that my brain wont allow me to shoot level at the moment and its driving me pretty damed crazy …
so I'll have a go at those ideas and thanks for the PM too really appreciated
and yep it is photomatix I have been playing with
Diana
Quote: Paul
I just meant you're so good at these you can do them so quickly
where do the filters come from are they in photoshop?
and hey, I'm getting to like that light patch in the water now too
thanks too Source
hi di
go look for adobe lightroom - youll love it!
Diana
Diana
Add a Comment
ePHOTOzine, the web's friendliest photography community.
Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more.
Related Content
Awards
Current Competitions
Olympus 'Portraiture' Competition - Win £1000 Worth Of Gear!
30th April 2013 - 31st May 2013
This month, to celebrate the launch of Olympus' new micro site Olympus Image Space, Olympus are giving you the chance to win £1000 worth of Olympus gear!...
Featured e2 Photo
May's Photo Month
Check out ePHOTOzine's inspirational photo month calendar! Each day click on a window to unveil new photography tips, treats and techniques.
