To The Moon and Back

The last few rays of light were illuminating the old dockside crane, and I

thought hmmm HDR ......yeah why not. So I bracketed 5 shots and this

is the result. I think it looks a bit surreal, but then thats what I was

aiming for. Your thoughts and comments are always very welcome.

Thank You

This is excellent HDR Alf,the only sign is the detail and a bit of noise in the darker areas of the foreground.well worth though,you have a magnficent sky and lovely evening colours.the composition is spot on as well,i like the position of the moon and the shadow of the crane on the warehouse.beautifull work,regards,Harry

I agree with Harry, Alf...this is very well done! Congrats on an oustanding image!

Nice shot.  I like your composition with the lines of the crane and cable converging towards the moon.  I wouldn't have necessarily picked this one as a HDR had you not mentioned it so the effect is quite subtle.  There seems to be a little noise in the reflection of the crane (result from HDR i assume), but that seems to add a bit of texture rather than taking anything away. The shadow (of the crane) on the hangar is a nice touch. Regards - michel

Alf, you really got to master this technique! Neat composition and wonderful painting-like effect without the overdone textures of HDR shouting at the viewer!

Best Regards,

                          Tibi

It’s beautiful. Wonderful separation between the foreground and the background. The yellow light-effect is eye-catching. The colorful reflections have made a dramatic mid- line. Very good HDR photography. Should we reduce the brightness of yellow a little to enhance the importance of the moon ? Best regards.

It is surreal, and your HDR work is excellent.  Some folks seemt to like the harsher look, but this is exquisite; the lighting and detail so beutiful.  You certainly know what you are doing.  Congrats, GAil

Excellent composition, with awesome colouring....Regards

Wonderfulful work from you....again. Excellent composed and captured with a very interesting scene. Beautiful lighting and the colours are amazing. Can`t find any noise on my screen. Once again you prove what a wonderful eye you have for setting a scene and then go to work at it and with such amazing result. So pleased that you shared this with us. Take good care Alf and all the best to you and the family from your good friend in Stockholm. Jannica

Alf,

  Wonderful image with beautiful lighting & colors. Great job. Take care, Patsy

What else could i had?  Great picture

Very well done leading to a very aesthetic image. I mostly prefer the 'natural' look with HDR processing and from my perspective this looks very 'natural'. I mostly do 3 images for my HDR experiments but I am thinking now that i should move to 5 images. For what it is worth, there is an interesting fan-like appearance on the mid section of the roof which gives additional appeal. Best regards,

Beautiful work with very nice lighting, Alf!

The lighting on this is out of this world. It brings such warmth and glow to the image. As always, great work Alf. Take care.

Best Regards,

Holger

i love that moon and i love the sky too.... very nice reflection on water

Very convincing and attractive final result. Colors, light and contrast with bg fit very well. Less sharpness on the upper arm cross members but that's maybe my monitor. Compliments Alf, nice work.

Magnifica composicion. Excelente luz, tonos y reflejos asi como un estupendo detalle.

Un cordial saludo -Tolo.

Alf... This is superb HDR.  I'm not usually a fan because most are overdone, but this is so natural.  Great color and detail and excellent... Mike

Humble Apologies to all for the slow response, I have been away for a few days.

HARRY

Many thanks for your kind comments, thoughts and observations, I really do appreciate them.  I'm nto quite sure about the "noise" you refer to. If it is in the shadow of the crane, I think it could possibly be the texture of the water stirred by the wind that does look a bit like noise. Cheers Harry!

Regards

Alf

THADD

Sincere thanks for your visit and kind comments!

Kind Regards

Alf

MICHEL

Many Thanks for your thoughts and feedback, it is really important that I get honest opinions and I do appreciate it. I think this one suited the "natural" look and so I made most of the adjustments in Photomatix Pro 3 and after adjusting the contrast I desaturated it slightly in photoshop. I'm thinking the noise you refer to as possibly being an effect of the wind on the water. Usually if there is any noise present I find it in the blues of the sky, but I can't find any in this one. Thanks again Michel

Kind Regards

Alf

TIBI

Sincere Thanks for your kind comments and observations. I know what you mean about the obvious HDR look that some images have. I think there are certain subjects that suit that kind of look, but I guess thehard part is knowing which ones.

Cheers Tibi

Alf

SUMON

Many thanks for your visit and feedback, very much appreciated. I did desaturate the image to some degree, but I think thats an interesting point you have raised about the dominance of the moon in the image, should it be more? ..........well maybe, but I concentrated more on the warm light of  suns last rays on the crane and building. I suppose if it had been a full moon in a darker sky it might have been a different story. Thanks again Sumon!

Kind Regards

Alf

GAIL

Many thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, I realy do appreciate it. I suppose it's all subjective, as you say some people prefer the more raw kind of HDR, and I have to admit that in some scenes I do too. I like the reference to it being "surreal" too, this is something I like to capture in a lot of my images.

Cheers Gail

Alf  

KEITH

Sincere thanks for your visit and very kind words!

Kind Regards

Alf

HEJ JANNICA

Many Thanks for your visit and very encouraging words. I'm glad you didn't find the noise also, I was beginning to think it was just me : - ) It is always good to hear from you Jannica.

All my best to you and your family Hej Da and Warm Regards from your good friend in the UK

Alf

PATSY

Sincere thanks for you rvisit and very kind comments, much appreciated!

Kind Regards

Alf

RICHARD

Thank you, very much appreciated!!

Regards

Alf

TONY

Many thanks for your visit, your feedback and comments are invaluable to me! The fan like pattern you refer to I think might be an effect of the ribbed texture of the roof, I know when I adjusted the contrast it kind of moved about.

I once did the same as yourself, used 3 bracketed images 2 EV stops apart, but have since found that 5  images I EV stop apart seems to give better detail. I also convert the RAW files in photomatix rather than converting the RAW files to tiffs first as a lot of the text books recommend. It seems to work for me in most cases, but I guess there is no right or wrong way, just whatever works best for you.

Thanks again Tony

Regards

Alf

RUUD

Many thanks for your visit and kind words, much appreciated!

Regards

Alf

HOLGER

The last and first light of the day is usually the best, and the HDR accentuates it here. I'm really pleased you liked it Holger, Many thanks for your visit and kind words!

Kind Regards

Alf

NIKI

Thank you I'm very pleased you liked it!

Kind Regards

Alf

EL

Many thanks for looking in and taking time to comment, very much appreciated. I think you might be right about the cross members not looking as quite as sharp, but I'm wondering it its something to do with the way I've processed it.......Hmmm I'll have to re-visit the RAW files to see. Thanks again EL

Warm Regards

Alf

TOLO

Sincere thanks for your visit and very kind comments, much appreciated!

Kind Regards

Alf

MICHAEL

I know just what you mean, some can appear hideous, but if I'm brutally honest with myself I must confess to "overdoing" one or two myself. I think there are instances where a more pronounced HDR look can be effective, but I suppose the trick is knowing which ones! Many Thanks for stopping by and for your very kind words Michael.

Kind Regards

Alf

What can I say that has not been already said by many who are much more accomplished photographers than me.  Except to say that you have given a sense of majesty and grandeur to this crane, Alf.  One feels that it has been waiting for you to come along and capture it in the 'best possible light'.  Gosh, - I do wax lyrical (but honestly so !)  Cheers, Jim

Very beautiful! Warm regards

Great shot Alf, superb lighting, great colours and wonderful sky. Lovely work.

Regards.....John

Fantastic light and colors , wonderful composition , great job ...................... Best regards.

I really like this one!  Great work!

Excellent image Alf! Superbly photographed, and great HDR work, make this image a real winner. The sky makes an excellent backdrop to this old relic. Well done Alf.

All the best,
Neil