Photos of The Day – Pier A Park from Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken With Thunder Clouds Forming
Submitted by TheBoken on May 30, 2012 – 8:00 AM 9 Comments
Today’s Photos of the day were taken last night before a thunderstorm from the 2nd Floor of the Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken overlooking Pier A Park. The HDR technique I used enhances the ominous nature of the clouds with portended a deluge later in the evening. For some the rain provided a degree of relief as the humidity has been high as of late.
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Snooping out the best that Hoboken has to offer for food, drink and much more! Twitter Feed: @TheBoken Facebook Fan Page:The Boken Online YouTube: : The Boken Online
Hey, I think you might want to re inspect those photos. The halo effect around everything is pretty distracting. When you’re tone mapping it, pay attention to that. Especially in the third photo, like how it is lighter around the W. HDR should be subtle, it should illuminate shadows and not over expose highlights, like how we see things with our eyes.
Comment by Joey — May 30, 2012 @ 9:08 AM
Joey- Thanks for the feedback. I did try to minimize the Halo effect in Photomatrix but you are correct it does show in the third photo but not as much in the first two. For some of my photos, not this one per se, I intentionally use the halo to highlight features. I take it you are a professional photographer. I have only been doing this technique for a few months so I am looking forward to the process of continuing to refine these photos.
- TheBoken.com
Comment by The Boken — May 30, 2012 @ 10:30 AM
Good call, I was just thinking that. The halo is one of the 1st signs that things still need to be finished up. I had to use HDR for some client photos (trade show booths), but it helps to even paint in a layer that had the best exposure for certain zones. It takes a while to learn, but lots of tutorials out there. There is Mr. HDR himself, Trey Ratcliff, who has some tutorials on his site, <a href="http://www.stuckincustoms.com” target=”_blank”>www.stuckincustoms.com if you want to check that out. He has hours of videos for sale too, but you can start with the free ones and look at his images. I had bought the videos when he had them on sale.
Comment by Anthony — May 30, 2012 @ 10:40 AM
Thanks Anthony- I use Photomatrix Essentials and based on web searches this halo effect is a fairly common problem. Currently the tone mapping choices available don't readily address this but the solution appears to be to to do touch ups in Photoshop outside the matrix. That's fine but I have a blog to run and stories to cover. I can't worry about perfection unless I plan to do an art show. I know these photos are not up to that level so you will mostly get cool but imperfect HDR on this website until I get more writing help.
Comment by The Boken — May 30, 2012 @ 11:35 AM
Not a problem, just a critique on things as I get from others, and wasn't sure if you were aware. Photomatix is definitely powerful. I use that a bit and Nik HDR Efex. But as you mention, it's followed up in Photoshop typically for final adjustments, though any software that allows masking can help, even the simpler Photoshop Elements.
It sounded like you're taking it personally when we are pointing out what to look for, but take it from those of us who went to school for this, post on pages and forums, etc: if you're sharing things for mass audiences on popular sites to check out, you're going to get comments. As so many of the photographers have said on G+ (critiquing is high there), no one wants to just post and hear "good job" all the time. It does us no good in the end at improving, even for hobbyists. That said, I always look forward to your photo and HDR updates since you're able to post so many, and seeing a lot of Hoboken most of us don't. Anyone giving a comment of what to improve should also give comments on what's so great about them! Thanks for continuing to update whenever you can.
Comment by Anthony — May 30, 2012 @ 10:32 PM
Anthony- I did not take any of your comments personally. You are a pro and I look forward to any constructive feedback. Joey is an annon poster and he had a point. Big difference The Halo effect in HDR is particularly problematic with trees and skies. With buildings it is much easier, I will typically just cut the best sky non-HDR source photo and paste it over, overlay and voila – no halo. It requires manual work though. I thought Joey was over the top with respect to the photos halo effect but that is subjective. Yes the halo there in the others but really only prevalent in the W Hotel one. For his comments to have any real meaning to me he would have to show his work and how superior his photography is.
The instagram version of these photos got over 20 likes on the instagram in 3 hours so while I certainly know there is much room for improvement, clearly I am on to something with Hoboken readers.
PS- I tried to HDR the fish tank at Teak and it is nearly impossible. The fish move too much between shots and the glare from the chandelier ruins the shot anyway. There are many failures along the way that help me refine the process. Thanks again for the feedback.
Comment by The Boken — May 31, 2012 @ 11:12 AM
No problem, I guess I wasn't sure whose feedback you were responding to in part of it, even though we both noticed similar aspects. As usual, you've proven to be part of the discussion and actively participate, which is where most sites fail. I can't tell you how appreciative I am to see active commenting like that.
Instagram is its own beast. I'm not really a fan of much of it, but I am a fan of how it's spreads photo viewing beyond what FB, Flickr and other sites use. It's quick, simple and gets people out there, even if I don't think it'll trump things in quality, it has such a tremendous social value. It'd be nice to see how TheBoken grows on that, and I will get on that somehow and try to be less picky!
Yeah, fish and such, higher shutter speeds, even if it means you need to shoot your ISO up a lot. Reflections, if you can't find a way to really reposition yourself, look into a circular polarizer. Not only does it minimize the reflective surfaces (glass and water reflections) so that you can see through them, it cuts on minor ones allowing bolder colors to really pop (as well as oily skin glare).
I had posted a review on it (can't find it now), but it was on one of these: http://www.adorama.com/NK77CPLN.html#pr-header-NK… and sort by 'most helpful' in the reviews. You'll see samples. Won't be 100% but it should help.
Comment by Anthony — May 31, 2012 @ 2:04 PM
Oh, I found it. I'm listed as Tony there. Sort by "most helpful" and you'll see 2 sample images I posted back in 2007. I seriously only turned my wrist on the filter, that's it: http://www.adorama.com/NK67CPL.html
Comment by Anthony — May 31, 2012 @ 2:07 PM
Anthony- We now have over 400 followers on our instagram account that I created in March. It pales in comparison to our almost 2100 Facebook followers and almost 8,000 Twitter followers. There is no doubt that the quality diminishes with this tool but its social impact is great. It has made photography fun and accessible for amateurs like me. They key is to have an understanding on which filter to use and how to set your photo up so the contrast is right when you apply the effects.
I had come to conclusion that I would need some type of filter and perhaps a lens with a lower focal length and jack up the iso. If at first you don't succeed try try again.
Comment by The Boken — May 31, 2012 @ 2:14 PM