Battersea Park.

Clown · 6 Apr 2013 at 23:11

I went to Battersea Park today to keep myself occupied.

I've been experimenting with a different processing style after seeing some VCSO presets in action. I think I might have gone overboard with the grain.

These are all HDRs. I tried to make it less obvious because generally I think HDRs are tacky.

Battersea Park. by Clwn, on Flickr

mrk · 7 Apr 2013 at 16:23

Can't tell they're obvious HDRs which is a good thing and the clipped colour processing works I reckon. VISCOUS have some interesting filters but I've decided not to buy the set because I won't be using all the presets, only a couple I'm interested in so am looking at free alternatives to tweak and make my own

Clown · 7 Apr 2013 at 16:28

Try making your own, it's half the fun

Columbo · 7 Apr 2013 at 16:31

Composition, subject and location are absolutely spot on.

However there is far far too much grain / noise for my taste I'm afraid and I'm also not a fan the slightly de-saturated, un-contrasty look of the processing style.

mrk · 7 Apr 2013 at 16:35

Clown said:
Try making your own, it's half the fun

That's what I did years ago and have been using ever since. Just now really fancied trying something different and having a base to work with.

An Exception · 7 Apr 2013 at 16:44

Clown said:
The grain is actually distracting in some of the shots. Why did you do that?

Clown said:
I'm sure the whole forum gave him feedback when he posted massive grain the size of bananas on his post processing.

Aside from the OTT grain, the processing looks dull and dingy.
I tried VSCO, but went back to doing my own thing.

Clown · 7 Apr 2013 at 17:33

I thought of you when I added the grain

. I just got lazy and bored of these so I stopped processing them and put them up as they were.
If I get bored again, I might try and process them without experimenting and see what happens.

I think the dullness was partly due to trying to avoid the 'everything is shiny' HDR thing!

sid · 7 Apr 2013 at 18:03

I quite like the grain, it gives a good texture to the sky.

For HDR photos, I think the shadow areas are quite dark actually. In some ways, they look realistic though

Clown · 7 Apr 2013 at 18:21

I processed some of those street shots we did at London Bridge this weekend, using this still using this experimental preset. I'll put them up later for some criticism.

2StepSteve · 7 Apr 2013 at 23:44

I like these, especially the last one. The grain is too much IMO though.

Can I ask the steps you took for the HDR?