which do you prefer?

[rdking647]

the cow parade is in austin.. I went out and took some pics of the cows,both normally and using HDR. so which do you think is better?

normal





HDR




normal


HDR



normal




HDR

[Blue_In_AK]

1. I like normal

because I'm just a normal kind of person. :)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. me too

HDR has it's uses, but well lit scenes are not one of them, IMHO

[Blue_In_AK]

4. I haven't ever used HDR,

but I can see it being useful in low-light, high-contrast situations, sunsets and whatnot. In bright light, it's overkill.

[ManiacJoe]

3. The HDR treatment of the cows is fun, but

the HDR treatment of the backgrounds causes them to compete with the cows for attention.

[alfredo]

14. Using the blur tool on the BG might help.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

5. the normal colors are more pleasing to these old eyes

[KC]

6. I

like normal best.
I like HDR sometime, but I think it can be overdone

[Mira]

7. Normal is the favorite for me, yet I would put in just enough additional light to make the

cow faces a bit more distinct in examples one and two. I really like the artwork on the cows.

[Stevenmarc]

8. Layers are our friend

When I first started using HDR I tended to use it in an all or nothing sort of way like you've done here but once I realized that Layers allows you to have your photographic cake and eat it too, did HDR cross the line from gimmicky effect to really useful tool.

Creating a cow layer and a background layer gives you the flexibility to apply as much or as little of the effect to each. I love the cow punched up, the background, not so much.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. yes, I agree although the background in the first HDR is fine to me

it is simple enough not to distract. I do like the cows "punched up" though.

[CC]

10. I like the natural ones

better as photos though if you were just trying to get the detail the second ones work for that. You might want to adjust the color and saturation on them unless they are showing the colors better than natural ones. Stevenmarc is right, layers are your friend and it is well worth learning how to use them. (That on layers is for everyone.) Maybe a light touch on the adjustments would have been a better mix of the two. (?) So much is a matter of taste. I tend to like things looking realistic most of the time so I tend to prefer a very light touch to compensate for what the camera can't do.



I hate trying to type. Here is an example of what I would do. (Begging your forgiveness after the fact.)

[rdking647]

11. reprocessed

i reprocessed the hdr versions..

[CC]

12. A lighter touch does wonders.

I do like the cows though. They did elks here one year. Have an uproar over the one done by the Red Hat society. People thought it was too risqué. Wish they would do some again. In Baltimore they did crabs once, would love the crabs done state wide. Unfortunately I have no photos.

[Mz Pip]

13. I like these

HDR can makethings look pretty garish if not handled subtly. These came out well.