View of the internal bridge in Liverpool Anglican Cathedral

Took advantage of the lull between Christmas and the New Year to

acquire and then work on this image...am I making any progress?

Constructive comments and kindly worded criticism appreciated as

always!

I like the framing and this looks like a great location to shoot.  There are portions of this shot that I like and then there are some, not so much.

There is some barrel distortion that you can fix in PS, but that's not a huge deal.  It's most apparent at the top of the main columns.

For me, I think the shot is over-exposed by maybe even several stops.  The windows and several other areas are completely blown out and the stone patterns leave the tones very even and flat.

The area behind the bridge is exposed about where I would like to see the main area and the columns.  I think that would allow you to get a much more contrasty and punchy image where the central bridge and the two side passages would stand out more giving the photo a lot more depth.

I would also like to be able to see the lights hanging over the bridge better.

This shot looks very much like a mid day shot and depending on how much of the lighting is sunlight and how much is artificial, the time of day that you shot it at could be a huge factor in the end result.

great details... hdr?

Yes, 5 exposures +2 to -2, using Photomatix 4.2

Happy new Year! 

I think you have done a fine job here for the most part.  The symmetry is well observed and the verticals look good too.  The small amounts of distortion are easily remedied as Mark has indicated. I would add selective contrast to the stonework and it might be worth just making a not to meter for the light at the windows when doing a similar shot, then take another frame after the 5 bracketed shots. This can then be used as a layer in PS and blended to allow the detail in the window to be revealed. 

Was there any additional work done to the image after Photomatix? 

Best Regards 

Alf 

Alf, Happy new year to you too!

Thanks as always for your comments.

After photomatix I did some work to remove various unwanted items of camera equipment (we went in a small group and the foreground and steps were littered with tripods, cameras and rucksacks!) Other than this just a little sharpening using PS's Unsharp mask.

Thank you for your response.

I would respectfully suggest a slight increase in contrast in PS. I always found that photomatix could leave an image looking a little bit flat. 

Best Regards 

Alf 

Nice work on the composition, but I'd agree that the lighting looks a little flat. The blown highlight at top centre is also a little bit of a disappointment given you obviously did a lot of work in performing multiple exposures.

As a comment, much of what makes a photo like this work is contrast between dark and light areas as they can help to lead the eye around the image, and I think things at the moment are far too uniform. Don't be afraid to let certain areas disappear into shadow as it gives rise to a much more emotive and interesting look.

Thanks for sharing though, it's certainly an interesting result. BW Mark.