The elephant in the room

I’ve got A LOT of HDR brackets that I’ve never taken the time to process, many of them because I believed, at the time I took them, that I did not yet have the skills to post-process them in a way that would allow my vision to emerge.Â Back when I shot this one, back in the summer of 2010, I was processing most of my HDR work far too evenly lit and, in some cases, too “cartoony”.Â These days, I am much more comfortable balancing light and dark in a way that is pleasing to the eye (at least to mine), and in a way that creates the depth that I saw when I was on the shoot.

Mmmm…creamy, delicious, HDR goodness. Love the softness here, Jacques 🙂

Amazing processing as always. You have the eye to see the beauty of decay. Stunning textures and light!

Really nice lighting here. I do think I’ve been in the position where I’ve had the foresight not to process and image due to lack of skill, but do have a few images that find I want to revisit as I see myself improving in PP.

Thanks, guys. I think waiting to process, when you feel you lack the skill or tools to get what you “saw” is a good thing, though I have to admit it can often be frustrating. Believe it or not, I almost deleted this set of brackets, before finally believing I would be able to process them today.

The soft blue tint, kissing the corner and the steps, leads your eye, both up and down. Good things come to those who wait until they’re ready!

Thanks, Barbara!

nice nice nice 🙂 Excellent shot and delicate processing 🙂

Yeah, the balance here is very good! Really like that railing and the brick! Great textures!

Stunning image, Jacques. I’d be curious to see this same image processed using your “old” technique. Sort of a “before and after” from a technical point of view. It might feel embarrassing, but it would illustrate your progression as an artist.

Thanks, again, guys. I wonder if I should take the result I had straight out of photomatix to show the difference between the final version, and the “blank canvas”?

Stairs. I love stairs. This is sweet.

I definitely agree with the concept of “waiting to process.” In my case it usually takes the form of processing it, hating it, then putting it on the back burner until i know what I want to do. Or how to do it.

Great work Jacques, I like the textures and how you worked the light.

Love this style…a bit dreamy…gorgeous work.

Nice image – great light as some of the other comments mention. Agree that its sometimes a good idea to hold off and wait for processing, then return when you know you can do what you want to do.

Cool title, liking the subtle blue glow over everything.

Very nice feel to it. Love the softness – like velvet on the eyes. 🙂

Very cool. Love the lighting!

This is a great image, Jacques. One of your best. I really, really enjoy it.

Man, you guys are just awesome. Really stoked you all dig this one, which makes me even more glad that I waited to process it until I felt I had the skills and vision it deserved!

i really love this shot. Everything about it!

Wow, this is totally amazing.

[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Christopher Stampar, Rich, crispycdm, Jay Taylor, Richard Flick and others. Richard Flick said: RT @fotofreq: Just busted out a newly post-processed #URBEX #HDR from Beelitz! http://bit.ly/hzoRRo […]