I was doing housekeeping of my digicam's memory card when I chanced upon this picture that I have taken back in January 2008.
I am blessed with the eye to be able to spot beautiful things
So there I was after getting off the ferry from HongKong airport (transfer via ferry to Shen2hen). The boxes that the crane is lifting contained our luggage that it hauled from the ferry.
Somehow, everything was in place perfect for the picture in my head. The silhouette, the sun, the subjects, etc. Without hesitation, I whipped out my digicam and snapped it.
One of my biggest bane with missing great shot is my hesitant to be trigger happy. There are times at some places where I feel paiseh to be taking pictures. Alas, the split second of uncertainty will result in the the picture moment vanishing into thin air.
As I was looking at this picture, I thought why not do a HDR version of it too and here it is below.
Usually, I tend to favour HDR version of the picture as the colours and tones are more dramatic but somehow, for this particular photo, I can't decide if I like this or the original better.
What about you guys? If you were to choose only one of these two as your favourite, which would you go for?
p.s. Click here for the rest of my HDR Images.
- Voxeros
1. spiller left...
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 1:35 pm
HDR, as it reflects the actual light environment. Original is nice too, but it was darker due to the sunlight exposure. 2. JayWalk left...
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 2:50 pm ::
spiller: It looks dark as a result of the camera trying to compensate the brightness of the sun at the expense of all other objects in the composition. 3. Dowagr left...
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 3:24 pm
I prefer the 1st pict. In this setting, it's the light and the silhouette that matters, not the colours. 4. r3gular left...
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 4:19 pm :: http://r3gular.liquidblade.com/
The original. I'm a sucker for silhouette-ly pictures. 5. JayWalk left...
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 5:03 pm ::
Dowagr * R3gular: Yah. Some how there is this artistic element within the original which made it so hard for me to like the HDR one more than this. 6. Ed left...
In the HDR, the color of the crane can be seen clearly despite the sun besides it, so the picture becomes a little 'unnatural'.
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 8:43 pm
One more vote for original. In the HDR, the color of the crane can be seen clearly despite the sun besides it, so the picture becomes a little 'unnatural'.
7. NNPC left...
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 10:52 pm :: http://tehsisiudai.wordpess.com
Original one. Cause the HDR one make it look as if theres another sun behind u like that. 8. Chocolate gal left...
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 11:10 pm
Original. In this case, because there are too much details, thus the darker version hide them and allow the audience to concentrate on the sunset (??) and appreciate its beauty more. 9. JayWalk left...
NNPC: Essentially, I tonemapped this HDR to balance the exposure on all aspects of the picture rather than taking an average exposure setting of the overall picture.
Chocolate Gal: An excellent point there. You are right in the sense that all the lit up details distract us from the main subject which is the sunset as highlighted by the silouhettes in the foreground.
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 11:39 pm ::
Ed: The thing about HDR is not about the enhancement of "realism". Rather an artistic dramatisation of a composition. NNPC: Essentially, I tonemapped this HDR to balance the exposure on all aspects of the picture rather than taking an average exposure setting of the overall picture.
Chocolate Gal: An excellent point there. You are right in the sense that all the lit up details distract us from the main subject which is the sunset as highlighted by the silouhettes in the foreground.
10. eileen` left...
Thursday, 12 June 2008 1:28 am :: http://msvindicta.blogsome.com
i prefer the HDR one though, just cause the colors look so pretty. it looks almost like a painting. 11. Chocolate gal left...
And this is why digital cameras are always good in case you messed up the pic and still got time to take one more.. just one more.. film are like toooooooooooooooooooooo costly.. i used to take 3 photos of the same scenery using different exporsure, just to try out.. and all on film.. that kills me..
Thursday, 12 June 2008 7:13 am
Anyway, in choosing a favourite between the two, i always believe that a true photographer will choose the one that captures the feeling he want to protray to the audience upon taking the photo. That's the favourite.. And this is why digital cameras are always good in case you messed up the pic and still got time to take one more.. just one more.. film are like toooooooooooooooooooooo costly.. i used to take 3 photos of the same scenery using different exporsure, just to try out.. and all on film.. that kills me..
12. JayWalk left...
Chocolate Gal: Taking 3 shots is a good idea to sieve our the best shot but only if the subject is static. I am also in the process of honing my skills to get the perfect shot on a one-shot-one-kill basis.
I think you just solved my question as to why I was mixed feelings about these two shots. I took this shot at a time of not having the HDR in mind. HDR was something that I figured out only recently and that was before the shot was taken.
Hence, in this particular shot, the untouched original gets my vote.
Thursday, 12 June 2008 10:31 am ::
eileen: I agree with you on the concept of HDR where I interpret it as a method to painting-tise a photo. Hence, there will be times where it departs away from being realistic. Chocolate Gal: Taking 3 shots is a good idea to sieve our the best shot but only if the subject is static. I am also in the process of honing my skills to get the perfect shot on a one-shot-one-kill basis.
I think you just solved my question as to why I was mixed feelings about these two shots. I took this shot at a time of not having the HDR in mind. HDR was something that I figured out only recently and that was before the shot was taken.
Hence, in this particular shot, the untouched original gets my vote.
13. Chocolate gal left...
Thursday, 12 June 2008 1:00 pm
A daughter always need to help her daddy solve his troubles mah, using hands, head, etc etc.. Pardon me, this is the 5-yrs-old me, talking... 14. Cowboy Caleb left...
Thursday, 12 June 2008 1:09 pm
HDR lah. Chin Swee leh! 15. JayWalk left...
CowBoy Caleb: Ok lah... pian jiak still can lah.
Thursday, 12 June 2008 3:50 pm ::
Chocolate Gal: Thanks thanks. CowBoy Caleb: Ok lah... pian jiak still can lah.
16. aloe left...
Saturday, 14 June 2008 12:40 pm
the first one more natural. the second one more fake, like animation pic or something. i tink i prefer the first one :) 17. JayWalk left...
Saturday, 14 June 2008 1:07 pm ::
Aloe: Like I said, if you are going for realism, then original version is the way to go. HDR is a way of enhancing a photo artistically along the line of a beautiful painting. 
No comments:
Post a Comment