10 Reasons Why Your HDR Photos Suck

Have you noticed that HDR photography is often criticized on the web? That’s because it’s hard. From shooting to processing, a lot can go wrong, and it usually does.

The sad reality is that photography critics seem to be on the hunt for HDR photographers. Believe me, I’ve been their victim many times. They are like the grammar trolls of photography, pointing out every detail and mistake.

So, how do you shoot good HDR Photography? You can start by avoiding the following 10 reasons for bad HDR.

One of the secrets to learning HDR photography is learning what not to do.

Reason #1: What you’re shooting sucks to begin with

Just because you’re shooting HDR photography doesn’t mean going out and shooting a tractor or construction site will generate an image anyone cares about. Remember, people love sharing stunning images, regardless of how they are processed, so focus on that.

Remember, when shooting landscapes or travel photography, being in the right place at the right time is everything. So, plan your attack.

Reason #2: You’re overdoing it

One of the many tricks I’ve learned in my professional career as an editor when it comes to color is to do your color correction and then dial it back by up to 50%. You’ll be amazed at how helpful this is. Most of the time, our images out of camera don’t need nearly as many processes as we think they do, especially if we’re shooting stunning images.

So, when you’re doing HDR, turn that strength way down. This will give you cleaner images with fewer halos, grain, and hyperreal colors.

Reason #3: You’re rushing it

I’m guilty of this, and I’m sure you are. What I mean by this is that you should not spend more time processing your photos but allow yourself a break before posting them.

I always find that it really helps to walk away from your photo for a few hours or days. Coming back will open your eyes to a whole new perspective. It’s easy to get lost in the colors and saturation, becoming numb to what you’re looking at.

So get your photo to a good place, then walk away, and finish it the next day. Don’t just post it online after 15 minutes of working on it because it probably sucks, and you’ll see that the next day but it’s too late. The HDR trolls will be feeding on it like a frenzy of sharks.

Reason #4: You don’t have a plan

Another thing we’re all guilty of is tinkering with sliders and presets until we find something we like rather than going for a predetermined look.

Instead, create an ‘inspiration’ folder on your computer or Pinterest, and start building a collection of images you find to be stunning. You’ll find what you start to collect will reflect your taste and your style.

Now, when you process and shoot your own HDR photos, compare them to your collection. You’ll immediately notice the flaws in your HDR processing and most likely know what you need to do to fix them.

Reason #5: You’re oversaturating your images

HDR tends to hypersaturate everything, lifting the blacks and then adding artificial contrast. In reality, darker areas should have less saturation.

Use a luminosity mask to select only your shadows and reduce the saturation in areas that don’t need it. You can also reduce the saturation of only some colors.

Reason #6: Your skies are too dark

Look outside, you see it? Yep, the skies are typically a lot brighter than everything else. Often times HDR that sucks will have skies that are the same exposure or darker than the foreground, which leads me back to Reason #2, you’re overdoing it. Keep those settings turned low, and you won’t have this problem, or brighten your skies manually with Lightroom or Photoshop.

Reason #7: You’re shooting HDR when it’s not necessary

I got into the habit of doing this when I was first learning HDR photography. I would be addicted and would shoot everything HDR even when it was completely unnecessary. I would get a nicely exposed stunning image, then proceed to take several exposures of it and completely smash all the colors and tones, making the image look unrealistic.

Sometimes, you don’t need all three images to tone map it. Just run that single exposure through Photomatix to give the colors and saturation a small pop. This really helps when taking landscape photos during that midday sun.

Reason #8: You’re using the wrong applications

There are a handful of HDR programs and plugins out there. Photomatix, Nik’s HDR Efex, Photoshop’s HDR tool, SNS-HDR.

If you’re finding that your photos are sucking, try switching applications. Some of them suck, which will make your photos suck.

Reason #9: You’re picking photos that are not worthy

When I first started HDR photography, I was extremely guilty of this. This has to do a lot with Reason #1.

I was so anxious to get any ‘art’ out there and online that I started combing through my libraries repeatedly, hoping to find something I missed. And I usually did. But it sucked. Or wasn’t worthy of greatness? I’d process it and then post it only to clutch up my portfolio with junk.

It’s always better to go out and shoot new content without looking back. You might find a gem in your old collections, but don’t get desperate. Always focus on capturing stunning images. There’s no reason to rush your portfolio.

Reason # 10: You’re not inspired

This is now the number one reason why my photos turn out bad. I’ll be in a funky mood or over-tired. Like today. I’m not processing any images today because I know they’ll turn out bad, and I’ll have to redo them when I’m in the mood.

Here’s what I like to do to get inspired. I drink too much coffee, or I’ve been drinking yerba mate tea with coconut milk. Blast some music, and start browsing that inspiration folder.

Conclusion

Processing HDR photos isn’t easy and takes some getting used to. However, by avoiding these pitfalls and incorporating some of the techniques I discussed, you should be able to improve your HDR photography and produce stunning work.

Here is one of the better HDR photos I took years ago. What’s interesting is like mentioned in Reason #9, I always went back to this same day of shots hoping I could find more great photos, but this was the only shot that ever turned out any good, everything else sucked despite it being the same weather and the same location. I was just in the perfect place at the perfect time.

Camera: Canon 5Dmkii
Lens: Samyang 14mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/90sec middle exposure.

What habits have you learned to avoid that helped you improve your photography?