I've noticed a lot of people do this. I'm guessing its partly to attract people to the thread because its omigosh HDR but at the same time that will make some people not want to open the thread because its omigosh cliched HDR. You don't really see people put "Photos of lake (B&W)" or "Photos of daughter (Slightly sharpened, bit of levelling)". You shouldn't need to attract people based on your processing. It actually seems like quite a bad idea because the photo is then being judged as a "HDR" photo rather than simply being judged as a photo. Thats the most important bit. HDR shouldn't, imho, be seperate from normal photography. Its just a tool to process an image with. You HDR, then you black and white it and you're done. Post it on here and let people judge the final image, not because its HDR but because its a photograph. I try not to tell people I've HDR'd a shot because I don't want people to suddenly hate it because they hate "HDR" and I don't want people to love it simply because its been HDR'd. I want people to stand back and tell me if the photo works, thats it.
Reasons why you probably shouldn't put HDR, B&W, LDR, etc in your thread title
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nigelcampbell
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It's a good point - you'll notice the same thing happens in the wider world if you say "Digital Photography" instead of just "Photography". To some people the Digital tag means that it's not ligitimate.
You're not allowing your photo to be viewed by as many people as possible as you're scaring away people that don't like HDR before they've even seen the image. I've done a wide range of HDR and when people say they hate HDR to me it just means that they haven't seen it done well, or done in a different way. I don't think people should limit themselves like that. Like I said, you don't really see people putting B&W or Infrared or even Colour on their titles.
Mohain
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I agree with you Pete. I never put HDR in a thread title, can't see the point. What does it matter if it's an HDR photo or not?
On a realted note, I think the only people who get really het up one way or other about HDR are other 'togs. You're average Joe who likes looking at pics doesn't give a hoot one way or other (and probably doesn't even know what 'hdr' is).
On a realted note, I think the only people who get really het up one way or other about HDR are other 'togs. You're average Joe who likes looking at pics doesn't give a hoot one way or other (and probably doesn't even know what 'hdr' is).
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RobbieW
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I think you should put HDR in the title, everyone is entitled to their opinions and some people don't like HDR.
For example we put NSFW for not safe for work pics, and 56k warnings for posts with a lot of high quality pictures. This gives people the chance to choose whether they look at the post or not.
For example we put NSFW for not safe for work pics, and 56k warnings for posts with a lot of high quality pictures. This gives people the chance to choose whether they look at the post or not.
Brains
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Can see both sides of the argument....but people can put whatever they want in the title.
I don't see any harm in putting HDR in the title in the same way some people put Macro.....it doesn't make me open the thread any more or less....may be that's just your perception Pete because you are so 'close' to HDR. (?)
I don't see any harm in putting HDR in the title in the same way some people put Macro.....it doesn't make me open the thread any more or less....may be that's just your perception Pete because you are so 'close' to HDR. (?)
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Creed
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I would agree partly, there seems to be 2 types of HDR, one that looks like a computer generated image where you imediately think "thats been photoshoped" in which case yes put HDR in the title
The second are images that are subtle where people like myself who are new probably wouldn't be able to tell that it was an HDR image and just think "wow nice photograph" in which case putting HDR in the title would have me thinking about how you photoshopped it rather than the photo its self so I wouldn't advertise it freeley as an HDR image
its all personnal perference I suppose but that's my opinion on the matter
The second are images that are subtle where people like myself who are new probably wouldn't be able to tell that it was an HDR image and just think "wow nice photograph" in which case putting HDR in the title would have me thinking about how you photoshopped it rather than the photo its self so I wouldn't advertise it freeley as an HDR image
its all personnal perference I suppose but that's my opinion on the matter
Ok so where does it end? Everyone should put LDR on their images if they're a low dynamic range shot. Why aren't people putting B&W on black and white photos? Why isn't anyone putting colour on theirs? Why is it only the HDR people? NSFW has a valid reason as it could get you fired. 56k is less valid these days but it saves people on slow modems being bogged down. Like I said, HDR has such a wide range of options that it shouldn't be pigeon holed into "HDR".
Lets have an example.
That is a HDR photo. Now if I had put "HDR" on the title I might not have received the comments I did. I said I used HDR but went for a classic silhouette shot.
and for me it's far better for it
As I said, it *IS* HDR. But it has elements of LDR on it because thats the look I wanted. So why should I have warned people? Why should I have said "Run away! HDR!" Its entirely possible some people may have skipped it because they have a preconceived idea of what HDR is. For me, that seems like a bad thing to be doing, warning people that they may have their bad ideas confirmed.
Maybe it is, but I've seen plenty of people say that they flat out hate HDR. Why should you scare them off when you could instead show them something that might change their mind? We have a macro forum and no-one in their points out their shot is "Macro".
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RobbieW
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Why can't you accept that some people don't like HDR, let people choose!
People hate black and white, yet no-one's warning people away from that. I also find the idea of someone hating high dynamic range a bit odd. I mean you don't see people running round screaming about their vision being too detailed do you? People hate "HDR", but used well they might like a photo as I've just pointed out.
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I see a couple of threads on the first page with HDR in them..."Ant Macro"..et al
EDIT: I also see people putting B&W and IR in thread titles.
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Which is the bit I was really referring to when I said it looks better for it. That shot to me would be ruined if the typical HDR treatment had been applied.
I don't care if people put HDR into their titles or not. I'd still open the thread and decide whether or not I like it based on it's appearance.
nigelcampbell
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I'm going to contradict myself now and just say that if it wasn't for the threads with HDR in the subject line - I wouldn't have posted my HDR is wrong thread - which in turn would have meant that I would not have spent time looking at Pete's images and being proved wrong (or at least qualifying my argument that Bad HDR is wrong!)
Slightly OT but I finally realized what it is that bugs me about bad (and what I like about Pete's stuff) is that he knows the value of a good black shadow - and a lot of HDR seems to eschew shadows or silhouettes in favour of full details throughout - which is not my cup of tea.
Slightly OT but I finally realized what it is that bugs me about bad (and what I like about Pete's stuff) is that he knows the value of a good black shadow - and a lot of HDR seems to eschew shadows or silhouettes in favour of full details throughout - which is not my cup of tea.
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To be honest though, thats the macro forum. If that post didn't have macro on it and you opened it finding a macro, would you really be shocked and RTM it?
Exactly. So its entirely possible that there are people skipping your photos because they expect nasty icky overprocessed HDR photos when they see the label.
Yeah I'm not about to stop opening threads either. Its just an observation I've made and wanted to air my views on it.
Thank you
I knew I wasn't going crazy
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RobbieW
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Pete - why are you so against giving people the ability to see if its a HDR before they open the post? We have different forum areas for General, Animals, Macro, Nudes etc, whats your problem with putting HDR in front of it.
At this rate anyone who isn't keen on HDR will just see a post by you and they may think oh its another blooming HDR I won't bother opening it. By putting HDR in the title or even B&W it gives people the chance to decide for themselves.
People maybe short of time and not want to look through posts which don't appeal to them. On the otehr hand there are people who like HDR and there may only want to view it.
At this rate anyone who isn't keen on HDR will just see a post by you and they may think oh its another blooming HDR I won't bother opening it. By putting HDR in the title or even B&W it gives people the chance to decide for themselves.
People maybe short of time and not want to look through posts which don't appeal to them. On the otehr hand there are people who like HDR and there may only want to view it.
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God Pete is good.
There we were quietly moving along sharing pics and talking about good/bad service, copyright rip-offs and so on when Pete decides that a good old HDR bust up is needed! And then we all join in!
With leadership skills like this Pete I think you should give up photography and join a trade union or something!
There we were quietly moving along sharing pics and talking about good/bad service, copyright rip-offs and so on when Pete decides that a good old HDR bust up is needed! And then we all join in!
With leadership skills like this Pete I think you should give up photography and join a trade union or something!
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RobbieW
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God Pete is good.
There we were quietly moving along sharing pics and talking about good/bad service, copyright rip-offs and so on when Pete decides that a good old HDR bust up is needed! And then we all join in!
With leadership skills like this Pete I think you should give up photography and join a trade union or something!
Don't trade unions believe in democracy?
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Very true. If I'm short on time and there are two threads in front of me with one marked "Street" I'd tend to skip it in favour of the other one. Worse than HDR they are
Um every point I just made
I expect to see descriptive titles after all your posts now or clearly you agree with me HDR was an example as its a major one people do, but putting B&W is just as valid imho. Why limit yourself to one stereotype?
:razz:
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When it's done properly and with some self restraint, you can barely tell it is HDR, so why should everyone need to label it based on the processing they've employed.
People don't label when they use the Orton effect, something I personally hate in general.
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RobbieW
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Um every point I just made
:razz:
I would prefer not to be seen agreeing with you, so I will make sure my posts do have descriptive titles!
But are you going to do the same?
Creed
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Had the same question but go have a look in the tutorials section of the forum and find the thread on HDR guide there is an exceptionally well written website link in there that explains it all and has really helped me understand what it is and how it works
Um? What am I meant to be doing since I already don't add my processing to the thread title?
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Does any of this really matter?
Take a photo, if you like it post it! Call it what ever the hell you like and people may or may not look at it.
End.
(Or have I missed the major life altering effect the title of your post has)
Take a photo, if you like it post it! Call it what ever the hell you like and people may or may not look at it.
End.
(Or have I missed the major life altering effect the title of your post has)
The point was that you could be scaring people away due to preconceptions about what your post may contain, and that no-one else is really putting their processing list on their thread titles. It only seems to be the HDR crowd.
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If Im honest, I think its because its a relatively new style of processing, one that's taken the world by storm, in that most people are just 'giving it a whirl'. That's why.
You'll find if it's out of someones 'norm' they'll add the new style to their thread titles.
And HDR is out of most peoples norm, hence you see it more often.
Personally though I'm not bothered if I'm scaring people off, although on the scale of bad thread titles, putting a processing style is right at the bottom of them, thread titles like "How?" or some such cryptic stuff come top instead
I've always been one to actually think about my thread titles, to get it to appeal to the most people.
You'll find if it's out of someones 'norm' they'll add the new style to their thread titles.
And HDR is out of most peoples norm, hence you see it more often.
Personally though I'm not bothered if I'm scaring people off, although on the scale of bad thread titles, putting a processing style is right at the bottom of them, thread titles like "How?" or some such cryptic stuff come top instead
I've always been one to actually think about my thread titles, to get it to appeal to the most people.
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RobbieW
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I think the award for the best titles goes to janice
Just had to check my spelling then - in case I got a slap
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I think the award should go to Photomad
Chuckurbarla
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Out of about 350 posts on General Photo Sharing and Landscapes and Scenery there are
1 B&W
5 HDR
4 56K
1 Proud Dad Warning.
I think most folk are already doing what you suggested originally Pete.
1 B&W
5 HDR
4 56K
1 Proud Dad Warning.
I think most folk are already doing what you suggested originally Pete.
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Some of us like HDR, some of us don't. (I'm not the latter btw, but I do still think people are entitled to an opinion).
davidbridges
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It seems like its HDR vs nearly everyone, But i agree with the first point, HDR shouldnt be put in the title it is still a photograph, but if someone asks how you did it tell them its a HDR
