HDR-free Week!

I'd like to propose a HDR-free week here on DD.

I guess (if you really stretch your imagination) there's a time and a place for HDR shots, but can we have just 7 days at some point where NO HDR images are posted... 7 days when REAL photos that don't fake lighting to the extreme that all remnants of reailty are removed from a shot, can be celebrated??

If nothing else, can I at least stimulate some debate on here about the merrits of this highly overrated method??

Tags: hdr

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by DAVID HOBCOTE on December 7, 2009 at 5:54pm: Week !!!! ......Make that a year ........

Permalink Reply by Masey on December 7, 2009 at 5:56pm: Well I didn't want to get greedy the first time around! Haha!

But good to see you on board with me on this one old chum!

DAVID HOBCOTE said:
Week !!!! ......Make that a year ........

Permalink Reply by Matt Johnston on December 7, 2009 at 8:01pm: Sounds good to me. I know it helps my shots ahead of time if I tell myself I'm not going to go nuts on the post processing. More of a challenge and more rewarding.

Permalink Reply by Masey on December 7, 2009 at 8:02pm: Yeah overdone is probably more accurate. But this is more often the case than not...

It's rare you see a tastefully done HDR.

Permalink Reply by Don on December 7, 2009 at 10:16pm: Great idea !! :)

Now.. if only I had something to post. LMAO I've been too damn busy !!

Permalink Reply by GabrielC on December 8, 2009 at 7:58am: Tricky suggestion IMO! After the moment the annual tax cut deep in the members number diminishing the posting per week, if you impose this we'll have a veeeeery quiet week and even less featured photos! ... (LOL)

Permalink Reply by VJEKO on December 8, 2009 at 11:21am: This debate is not productive.Photographs who made HDR or HDRI are good or bad with processing,like photographs who made REAL photos are also good and bad.And from that point how about a week without a bad photos or composite.
Why you not give a critic on this "overdone HDR".Are you even thinking about that this photographs make overdone HDR with purpose just because they like it this style.Are you really thinking that this people don`t know how to made REAL photo and latter decide to use overdone HDR as they new style.Who we are to judge them?

Permalink Reply by GabrielC on December 8, 2009 at 11:32am: I am amazed you jumped to such a wrong conclusion. What I just wanted to say is that HDR won a lot of adepts and I've seen a lot of good HDR photos lately on D2 and elswhere. One week without HDR will therefore be one week with less photos, as I just said.

This is a second discussion where if I post an HONEST opinion I receive immediately an offensive answer. This makes me think some of my opinions are not "in line" with other's on Digitallly Devoted and simply by presenting them I bother some of you. As I have high esteem and friendship for D2 and for all the members here, I will henceforward limit posting my opinions as much as possible - I don't want to become a bother for you all!

VJEKO said:
This debate is not productive.Photographs who made HDR or HDRI are good or bad with processing,like photographs who made REAL photos are also good and bad.And from that point how about a week without a bad photos or composite.
Why you not give a critic on this "overdone HDR".Are you even thinking about that this photographs make overdone HDR with purpose just because they like it this style.Are you really thinking that this people don`t know how to made REAL photo and latter decide to use overdone HDR as they new style.Who we are to judge them?

Permalink Reply by Michael on December 8, 2009 at 11:50am: Okay, I've never been one to shy from a good debate. And I understand that the difference between an argument and a debate is "In a debate you attack the issues. In an argument you attack the person". So I am attacking the issue not anyone personally. Before I begin let me say that I don't think HDR is overrated, but I do think that amongst new photographers trying to cut corners in their learning process and produce the quality of photos they aren't yet able to create it is being overdone. And done BADLY.

So tell me how this week moratorium on HDR would work? If a person uploads an HDR in that week it would be rejected? Or maybe just not displayed in the gallery?

I was curious to see just what the ratio of HDR photos to non HDR photos submit was so I went to the gallery and looked at the first ten pages (how since members are likely uploading while I am writing this it may be different when you look at it) and here is what I found. There are 20 photos per page so 10 pages = 100 photo. Of those 100 photo 13 are HDR and 9 of that 13 are from the same person. A member who is fascinated by the HDR process but hasn't gotten it down just yet. But having commented on his photos I can see some improvement. Now since we can submit up to 6 photos per day he submitted 5 on one day and 4 on another which he has every right to do. In that 10 pages (100 photo) I submitted only 2 photos and 1 was an HDR.

Maybe I'm alone on this (but that's okay I'm a big boy I can take the heat) I don't think 13 out of a hundred is excessive. Particularly when 9 of those are from the same person.

I understand the important of learning how to take good photos without having to use post processing techniques like HDR to try and rescue a poorly taken photo. Or to make something uninteresting look more interesting by using HDR and other post processing techniques. And I totally agree that there are some TERRIBLE HDR photo attempts being submitted. You likely think I'm guilty of submitting some of them..LOL.....But trail and error is how some of us learn.
Tasteful is a matter of interpretation. I have seen a lot of HDR photos that I loved and thought were very tasteful. And as I get better at it I will be able to create some like those. Is it really to much to ask for constructive critique on them from those willing to critique them, and patience from the others until I get there? Isn't that kind of what a site like this is for?

It's funny to me when a friend will say to me I like looking at things the way they really are. "So why did he go out and buy that HD Plasma TV and Blue Ray disc?" And why does he love black and white photos so much? I see in color, not gray scale. And then there is using a selected lens and aperture to effect the DOF. Again I don't know about you but my eyes don't create any bokeh in the background when I look at a flower of bird or anything else for that matter.

Okay, with some of that I was just being silly but to me viewing photos here and elsewhere is metaphorically like watch television "If something comes on I don't want to see I just change the channel". I don't contact the network to have it removed for a week.

Permalink Reply by Masey on December 8, 2009 at 12:13pm: I'm a straight shooter mate. I think HDR is a LAZY way to take photos. There's no skill involved. You shoot three bracketed shots and feed them into some application to take care of the rest for you.

It's just my opinion which I know is shared by a lot of other people whether they publicly admit it or not. You don't need to agree with me... I just thought I would poke the fire and see what happened.

VJEKO said:
This debate is not productive.Photographs who made HDR or HDRI are good or bad with processing,like photographs who made REAL photos are also good and bad.And from that point how about a week without a bad photos or composite.
Why you not give a critic on this "overdone HDR".Are you even thinking about that this photographs make overdone HDR with purpose just because they like it this style.Are you really thinking that this people don`t know how to made REAL photo and latter decide to use overdone HDR as they new style.Who we are to judge them?

Permalink Reply by Masey on December 8, 2009 at 12:16pm: Oh Gabs... come on mate. You have a thicker skin than that, surely. Discussion forums are about sharing your opinions and learning about why people believe passionately in an opposing view.

Don't get your back up over someone challenging your posts. Just accept that someone else disagrees with you (do you really care if they do???)... and move on. I'm a bit of a shit-stirrer myself, so you'll probably see me start up discussions that are going to get people arguing!

GabrielC said:
I am amazed you jumped to such a wrong conclusion. What I just wanted to say is that HDR won a lot of adepts and I've seen a lot of good HDR photos lately on D2 and elswhere. One week without HDR will therefore be one week with less photos, as I just said.

This is a second discussion where if I post an HONEST opinion I receive immediately an offensive answer. This makes me think some of my opinions are not "in line" with other's on Digitallly Devoted and simply by presenting them I bother some of you. As I have high esteem and friendship for D2 and for all the members here, I will henceforward limit posting my opinions as much as possible - I don't want to become a bother for you all!

VJEKO said:
This debate is not productive.Photographs who made HDR or HDRI are good or bad with processing,like photographs who made REAL photos are also good and bad.And from that point how about a week without a bad photos or composite.
Why you not give a critic on this "overdone HDR".Are you even thinking about that this photographs make overdone HDR with purpose just because they like it this style.Are you really thinking that this people don`t know how to made REAL photo and latter decide to use overdone HDR as they new style.Who we are to judge them?

Permalink Reply by GabrielC on December 8, 2009 at 12:46pm: I think some around here misunderstood what I firstly said in three lines only, not being offensive and NOT expressing any position towards HDR. It is logical that as several photos posted here are HDR, if you impose a week without HDR the MATEMATICAL result will be less photos posted in that week and subsequently less photos will be featured.

I said NOTHING PRO/CON HDR in my statement and I must say I was VERY surprised of the wave of passionate grumpiness provoked. And I must also add ... somehow amused, too.

Same thing happened in Mao's discussion about her new to be camera, where I intervened only to somehow ballance the Canon assault on the poor young lady and shift the discussion towards logical arguments. Everybody jumped at me - more or less directly - defending Canon ( a system I admire, appreciate and very close to be in myself).

This also happened several times before on D2 when I tried to present logical argument and information and cool down some debates hotter that they should have been.

About the skin - I must say I have a reasonabily thin one myself but it is doubled by a strong well argumented and analytical mind. An in Romania we have an old saying : When two people tell you you're drunk, better go to sleep... in another room (LOL). Translating this to the present situation, is better to avoid this kind of debates and as it seems some of my opinions are at least in contradiction with the overall feeling, it is better to keep them for me. I was not AT ALL upset, I am just more ... pragmatic (lol)

Masey said:
Oh Gabs... come on mate. You have a thicker skin than that, surely. Discussion forums are about sharing your opinions and learning about why people believe passionately in an opposing view.
Don't get your back up over someone challenging your posts. Just accept that someone else disagrees with you (do you really care if they do???)... and move on. I'm a bit of a shit-stirrer myself, so you'll probably see me start up discussions that are going to get people arguing!