Rebecca Spit has to be one of the most interesting beaches I have been to and its right here in my backyard!
Well … almost my backyard. It’s about a 2 hour drive and a short ferry trip from my backyard which may be why I’ve only been here once before in my life.
In addition to the cool rocks, I have never seen such an accumulation of driftwood. Even on Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island in Georgia there was not as much driftwood as here.
Please click the image to view a larger version.
This is a hand-held HDR image made by taking 3 exposures, one for the highlights, one for the shadows and one for the mid-tones and combining them in post-processing.
Usually I try to make the image look as natural as possible, but sometimes I like to try something new in post-processing so this time I used some settings that are a little different for me.
I would love to hear your feedback on the result. What do you think? Kinda cool? Or overprocessed?
OOOOH! Very Nice!
Thank you so much Joe!!
How did you get the waves so crisp despite using several images to make the HDR?
Hi Tim, I set my camera to “continuous shooting” so it will use its fastest frames per second speed. My camera does 8 frames per second. Then, because I was hand holding the camera without a tripod, I increased the ISO so I could maintain a very fast shutter speed. I use the auto-bracketing feature in the camera settings too. That way all 3 shots were made within about a third of a second. You just compose and then bang-bang-bang its that fast.
Love it! Processed perfectly for an HDR. Sometimes making a picture look natural is making it look more like what everyone expects a normal 2 dimensional picture looks like rather than what our eyes actually see…..The wider dynamic range looks strange to our eyes because it isn’t what we expect in a photo. As always, your pictures are beautiful……
Thank you very much for your insight Deri. I like the idea that the HDR image is a little surprising to view at first when the expectation is different. Sometimes I think when people remember how something looked they think more of how their photo looked rather than what teir eyes actually saw and then an HDR image looks fake to them even though it is probably closer to what their eyes saw. Our eyes work so quickly to adjust to different light.
I agree with Deri. I like HDR because it reveals more of the scene than a single exposure would. Done right, it’s effective at doing that. I do sometimes struggle with noise in my HDR images, but this doesn’t look too noisy at all.
Hi Steve, yes, there can definitely be noise! I usually use the noise reduction tool in lightroom after making the HDR image. Thanks for your comments.
I applaud your effort to challenge yourself and try something new, I believe that is the only way to grow as a photographer (apart from taking lots of pictures of course!)
That being said I personally believe that there is a little bit too much overprocessing as you say, but this a very personal point of view. I see tons of very dramatic HDRs nowadays on the web, so apparently people like them. I guess that, as long as the picture is properly composed and exposed, the rest is just art, and there there is not right or wrong.
I love that your pictures are always so peaceful! Makes me want to visit all those places!
Thank you very much for your comments Berta. It’s true, it is art and it is all subjective whether a person likes a particular piece or not. But I am always interested in how people feel about HDR and processing. Sometimes I find when I am processing an image it doesn’t seem too over cooked at the time but then when I look at it the next day it looks way to intense and I end up doing it again and toning it down a bit. I always appreciate your comments.
Please don’t get me wrong, in general I love your HDRs, such as the super-moon one for example, because they don’t look like HDRs, to me they are just what I would be seeing with my eye.
There’s an ‘edginess’ to this that I think compliments the image. Adds to the sensation of desolateness created by the monumental amount of driftwood on the beach as if there has been a major natural disaster to wash all this up. Processing is sometimes about ‘horses for courses’and I think you’ve got hitched to the right horse for this one, Anne!
Horses for courses eh? Ok, I actually had to look that one up! 🙂 But now that I know what it means it totally makes sense! It is kind of odd that all the driftwood seems to pile up on this particular island. It must have something to do with the ocean currents. But it doesn’t seem desolate when you are there. The beach is alive with life! Thanks for your comments Andy.
Great picture. The processing give it an eery feel while being captivating at the same time. I like it.
Thank you very much Michael! It does seem kind of eery now that you mention it.
I like it Anne. I like the texture and detail in the wood…I feel I can reach out and touch it as it has a bit of a 3D quality about it.
Hi Edith, thank you very much, I’m really glad that the depth came through in the image.
good..
Thanks Kaz!
Anne, this looks great. I don’t feel like the HDR is overdone. The textures and detail really pop.
Thank you very much Ken, I really appreciate your feedback!
I like it and don’t think it is over processed at all. At first I wondered if it was too dark but then realised the darkness adds to the mood of the photo. Put it this way, you have done a lot better than I ever could.
Great shot! I really need to learn how to do HDR shots… you know, with all my spare time! LOL
Hi Bret, I don’t know how you have time to do anything!! I’m a huge fan of your blog and I’m always amazed how you continue to put out such in-depth articles consistently. HDR is great fun though and Photomatix makes it quick and easy so I would give that a shot! I think they have a free trial. Thanks for your comments.