Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House, sun and clouds

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[honez]

On a recent trip to Sydney, the only chance I got to take any photos was a quick walk after lunch. The position of the sun was terrible for shots of the harbour and I was really on a time limit, so I had to take what I could get. So, in for a penny, in for a pound I decided to go against what I really wanted to do and decided to shoot into the bright sun and try to rescue the shot with HDR.
I didn't have a tripod so this shot is a three shot handheld stack. The conditions were really blustery too, so there's some softening due to camera movement.
To be honest I was pretty disappointed with what I got on the day, but this is the best of a bad bunch.
C&C on this welcomed.

[jessea]

I don't understand what you are looking for,after so many excuses and a result with which you are not satisfied,but you posted it anyway.
What I like:the colors,the clouds
What I would like to be corrected or enhanced:
-I don't appreciate much a non-circular sun,but it happened to me and I posted it anyway
-the perspective:in this case,I would try to get the bridge as "normal" as it can be by reducing the size of the shot bottom,while leaving the top untouched:I suppose that you leaned your camera up to get a fair share of sky
or because your shoes weren't that elegant on this day?...(note:I don't want to be sassy,I just want to make a joke)
 

[DAVE RHUBERG]

I think the composition is fine, but find the obvious wide angle distortion/up angle on the left compared to the apparent lack of the same on the right curious.
Was this a crop? or just the unique look of the Opera that deemphasizes the distortion?  Nice choice of HDR to fill in the details while holding the sky exposure.

[honez]

There is distortion on the right, but as you have rightly surmised, the Opera House does disguise it somewhat, although the left is probably emphasised by a slight horizon straighten (clockwise).
Unfortunately, the position of the sun in the sky means that I really can't perspective correct the verticals without badly affecting the compositional placing of the major elements.

Why did I post? Well, more of an example of an extreme dynamic range that can, to some extent, save an otherwise hopeless situation. The DR in the scene really meant that there was no way I would have been able to get anything useful out of the shot without HDR processing. Yes, it's nowhere near my fave shot, and, but all things considered the detail between the highlights and shadows worked out to be a lot better than I originally feared it would be.

Incidentally FWIW this was post-processed in CS5's HDR processor not Photomatix.

[jessea]

ok,you answered fully my question:you got something much more pleasant than you expected,so the post.hdr is really something!
By the way,reading your posts,I learned 2 words I didn't know:"blustery" and "surmised".

[honez]

I originally thought I wouldn't be able to edit the sun out of this shot, but, after lots of playing around I managed to get something that looks pretty natural.
Given I was in a photoshopping frame of mind with the clonestamp, I also removed the curved walkway at the bottom right and, with the sun out of the way, was able to correct the bridge perspective somewhat.
The only thing is it looks pretty empty now. I don't think this is ever going to be a "good" photo, but it's been an interesting exercise nonetheless.

[jessea]

I tend to prefer the second version:it's more "peaceful" and the shades of blue are very natural.
I would say:one shot=a few seconds and the process,sometimes,a few hours.But it's worthwhile!

[mblomq]

I really prefer viewing the second image. The sun in the first one is to distracting for me. I didn't really like that one... Now when the sun is gone I can see the bridge and the opera house. But I must be honest with you, I'm a big fan of the Sydney Opera House, hopefully I'll visit Sydney someday, so I'd really like a HDR with only the Opera House...