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From the archives, a shot of Boston’s Zakim Bridge, from under the expressway.

This was taken long before I was interested in HDR and a couple of camera bodies ago (an odd way to measure time, I know),

When I finally started to learn HDR, I went back to older RAW files to convert them. I thought, “hey if this looks good NOW, imagine it in HDR!” Some of them worked, some of them didn’t. This is one that didn’t, so you are looking at the original image, with some punching up in Lightroom.

I don’t recall if I expected great results with the HDR conversion attempt on this, or if I was simply experimenting. Either way, its a reminder to me that HDR does not make the image, the person behind the camera does.

I love HDR and believe that it is here to stay. I also believe that the wheat will be separated from the chaff in terms of style and implementation. Its composition first. Its knowing when, where, and how to use it.

I admire and follow a good number of HDR shooters (you know who you are) and learn a lot from them every day. Technique, sure, but I look at the composition of the image first.

The technique may grab you, but its the composition that will hold you.