This is a bit over HDR for my taste. It was 3 bracketed shots put together in photomatix. It was dramatic to be there and the HDR expresses that but I think it is a bit overdone. Opinions?
I think that HDR serves a purpose, and here it served that purpose very well! This is certainly dramatic! My guess is your naked eye captured the back half, and you're noodling whether you like the front half of the image? I like it!
I sometimes wonder what people mean by HDR. There are so many options/levels in photomatix that its possible to balance the light so that its not overdone. I don't think this is overdone btw. I think its very dramatic without looking painterly.
I don't think it's overdone either. I think you get enough light in the foreground to get some detail and I don't think the colors are over-saturated. Its a great shot.
Yes, beautiful and dramatic...it does have an HDR quality to it but not so much that it takes away from the beauty of the scene. I suppose it's a subjective thing.
I'm not sure what the sandy beach looked like, but I like what the processing did to the clouds. I don't like what it did to the sandy beach and the water in the foreground.
It also looks like you might have a dust speck on your sensor in the upper portion.
I don't think it has that "hdr look" so it just shows the drama of the beautiful sky. However the beach looks a bit odd, almost like ash. Maybe the sand is too bright?
@rvwalker@webfoot@anwan Thanks for the thoughts. I think you are right that the white is too white. It is bleached coral not sand though. I think I will re edit this when I get home and have my usual way to do HDRs and maybe post it again. Suggestions though re what I might do differently to have it not be to odd/hot in Photomatix?
@jgpittenger Sorry I'm not familiar with Photomatix, but in Photoshop Elements I would be tempted to try the burn tool, or Isolate that section and darken it a bit with levels.
It also looks like you might have a dust speck on your sensor in the upper portion.