dam in spain

puddles22

a dam in spain taken last week, converted to hdr using nik hdr plugin

magicbastarder

it looks completely unrealistic. not for me.

shemwhistler

I love the subject matter, I know it's all a matter of taste, but the HDR stuff I've seen on here just doesn't do it for me personally.

For me the over-stylised colours seem to detract from what's underneath, I'd love to see the original shot for comparison.

puddles22

I'd love to see the original shot for comparison.

original shot

BlastedGlute

This distortion is killing your shots with that lens. Either it's a wide angle or a zoom that comes back quite a bit. The building on the bottom left is really blown apart. If you want to pp your stuff learn some stuff in light room. I don't know how to use light room but I've watched some videos and it's a nice controlled environment that should yield much better results than any plugin or do-it-all piece of software. Every photo is different and can't apply the same process to everything you shoot!
Also are you using a Polariser, I'm confused by the vignetting on the top of the original image if your not using one!

shemwhistler

Thanks Puddles, that confirms it, I personally prefer the original, but that's just a style/taste thing.

And on that topic of distortion, it's only the building in the bottom left that grabs the eye for me, but not enough to kill the shot.

It's ab absolutely beautiful location and I'm most jealous.