Well, I didn’t think HDR was my “thing”, and now I’ve tried it and removed all doubt. Not sure what I did wrong here, but when I zoom in all sorts of bad stuff appears that I don’t want to see – like green and magenta lines where green and magenta lines have no business being. When I figure it out, I’ll try to post something helpful about how to fix it.
almost a photographer 
Hey, just came across your blog and thought I’d drop a note. You’ve got some great pics to be proud of. HDR is hit or miss sometimes. I don’t know what software you are using, but adjusting some of the detail settings may help you. Also, I don’t know what kind of green and magenta lines you are talking about, but it sounds like chromatic aberration that is being emphasized by the tone mapping in HDR processing (the software wants there to be more color than there is, and so brings out the imperfections). What I usually do is take the brush tool (assuming you’re in photoshop) and set the mode to color, and pick the correct color it should be. Time consuming, but effective. If all else fails, see how it looks as a black and white photo.
Good luck with your photos!
Thanks for checking out my blog, and thanks for the note! I’m using PS6 – for the first time. I’ve been meaning to start using it more and I knew attempting and HDR photo would really make me get in there and learn some stuff. I usually use LR4 exclusively. I can see the lines on either side of all the white columns and around the tree branches. It looks okay from far away, but if I were to make it much bigger, it would really show. I think you’re probably right about it being chromatic aberration, and I’ll probably try to fix it since it will make me learn how to do it. Thanks for the help! I really appreciate it.
You got me – looks good from where I’m sitting
Thanks, Andrew. It looks good from far away, just don’t make it any bigger or zoom in on those white columns or the tree branches. : )
I’m not sure this one produced the desired effect you were likely going for Charissa. Not an overdone HDR which is a good thing, but not extremely dramatic either. Some subjects lend themselves very well to HDR but still the method and technique remain and a light touch can work well.
I can relate to a similar but unrelated issue I’m having. Some months ago I got a fisheye lens. A fun thing but it requires judicious use, I can’t go around fisheye’ing everything because it gets ridiculous eventually. I need the *right* subject. In any case, have fun!
I haven’t tried HDR yet, one of those things on my long list of things to try….lovely photo though, even if it has some imperfections 🙂
Thanks, Jennie!