The Riverwalk....HDR Newbie

Shot #2

My final processing of this shot!!! Yep, I'm never touching this photo again. What's done is done. Finally figured out how to get rid of the ghosting in Photomatix...Yay me! Also replaced the clouds with a little tutorial from my daughter and I think my brain has shut down now...totally shut down!!!

Shot #1

Another attempt at HDR and for any other beginners out there like me, HDR stands for High Dynamic Range Photography and involves taking 3 shots of the same scene at 3 different exposures and combining them into one picture....phew that's a mouth full but basically HDR captures a "greater range of tonal detail." I probably would have been a little hesitant to attempt HDR but found out that my new Nikon has the auto Bracketing set up in my camera so that I can take a series of three shots without having to change the exposure for each photo myself. I just set one exposure and then my setttings in the auto bracket will take one underexposed shot and one overexposed shot. It's probably best to do this with a tripod but during the day you can still take a series of 3 shots just holding your camera and making sure you don't move and shoot in the same place. This shot was taken at the riverwalk and I have been testing out editing software for HDR photography. I used Nik Color Efex Pro Complete and it's really the first time I've used it. I really love the colors in this shot. Not sure though if I pushed the editing a bit too far making it look a bit unrealistic. I have some ghosting on the left side with the people walking by and decided not to kill myself trying to edit them out yet until I perfect the software a bit more. Opinions welcome... just remember I am just beginning with HDR but absolutely love it!!!