Bring HDR Compositions to Life
What is your favorite subject to photograph? Landscape HDR photography is the first choice of many new digital photographers. HDR processing can breathe life back into a picture that would normally be dull and unappealing. But you can’t count on it to do all the work for you.
Professional landscape photographer Mike McFarlane Writes:
“I bought my first camera in 2002 and was so taken with this new way of
seeing that I gave up my job as an engineer to pursue the life of a
landscape photographer. It is not always easy and it is not always fun,
but I am making progress and I love the freedom to pursue my dreams.
What do you want the photograph to say?
Study your subject and then study it some more. HDR can reveal many
hidden visual aspects of your subject to the viewer, but it can not
reveal the soul of your subject. Only you can do that by studying and
knowing your subject and then composing appropriately to convey that soul to
the viewer.
As Ansel Adams said “The is nothing worse than a sharp photograph of a
fuzzy concept.” Perhaps in the HDR age this could be, “There is nothing
worse than an HDR photograph of a fuzzy concept.”
When you are taking HDR photos it’s easy to fill your camera with poorly composed lifeless pictures. Before you start shooting, check the cameras settings and then take the time to thoughtfully frame the subject. Mike has a page of composition techniques for photographers that he uses on his website, www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk.
What gives your photos their soul?
July 5th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Hey I love the new site and HDR. I hope I can start making my own sometime soon but I don’t have the programs. I think the best pictures are the ones with clouds. They are so unreal.