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Post by john101477 on Sept 16, 2009 18:46:36 GMT -5
I took this a while ago and most of you have probably seen it. I recently cropped it down a little. would like to know what you would have done diferent, what works and what does not. This is a semi local place that my wife loves so i will be going back. Attachments:
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Post by NCPhotoTrekker on Sept 16, 2009 19:55:26 GMT -5
This is going to be a difficult critique, and I might end up rambling a bit...I'm sorry.
What I like...
The waterfall is great, and the colors at the base are fantastic!!! I like how you are using the two trees to frame the picture. The way that the trees are, you have forced the focal interest of the waterfall to a single element which is neatly placed in the right third of the frame. This gives a certain needed visual tension to a waterfall of this size.
What I don't care for, and how I would change it.
While the framing is nice with the two large trees, there is too much clutter with the branches in the middle. It isolates a part of the waterfall which is good, but really detracts from the rest of the falls. This reduces the overall visual impact of this falls. I don't remember the original crop on this one, but I would have brought down the top a bit more to decrease the presence of the blown out sky. Another option would be to use an ND Grad (soft) to control the sky's exposure. This will cut out on the bleed over into the tree branches.
Exposure is good, but could be much better with less light. Either shoot this on on a cloudy day so the highlights in the water are less pronounced, or early morning or evening. I get the idea that this one would be great to try at dusk with a long exposure. The point is to get that direct light off the water, and diffuse it.
I would like to see you get closer and maybe shoot from the side avoiding the trees. Obviously we are talking about a wide angle lens around 16-18mm with something this size. Try putting a shoreline, or rock in the foreground to give a visual anchor.
When you go back, I see a great composition on the bottom right where the water is coming off of the bank at a diagonal angle. Using this section along with the vertical drop to the left will give a lot of visual interest with the converging angles. A shutter speed of around 2-3 seconds should do the trick to give that silky effect if that is what you are aiming for.
This waterfall is a lot like the one close to home on the North Deep Creek. It is a wide falls with lots of individual cascades. You would probably do better to seek out the individual elements of this waterfall for successful images. With North Deep Creek, the ones that I picked out with my 70-200mm turned out so much better than those captured with my 10-22mm or even the 17-40mm. The best shots were the detail shots.
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Post by Steve (FloppyDog) on Sept 16, 2009 21:35:00 GMT -5
Excellent feedback from Greg, and when he talks waterfalls I definately listen. I'd also second what he said regarding the smaller trees in the center. These add some frustration to the image since it seems like I'm trying to look through them to see the whole show.
I do like they way you framed it using the trees on the sides. Opportunities like this are often available but many photographers seem to miss them.
Having sunlight present makes photos like this difficult to decide an approach. On one hand, it adds some warmth to the color, but also makes exposure difficult and long exposures are nearly impossible. A nice cloudy overcast creates a perfect condition and basically makes the sky one giant softbox.
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Post by john101477 on Sept 16, 2009 22:16:08 GMT -5
so as far as the setup your saying something closer to this with a 2-3 second exposure done late evening. One thing about the location is the falls from this position look almost due west (setting sun) will that hurt or help? Would a morning shot look any better? Attachments:
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Post by NCPhotoTrekker on Sept 17, 2009 6:04:24 GMT -5
A couple of things John...first, I like this second picture much better than the first one. The perspective is better, there is more drama, as well as more visibility. This was what I was talking about when I suggested moving to the side instead of straight into it. I also like the blue sky as opposed to the featureless white of the original image.
I would try both a sunrise and sunset shot here to see which is better. I would prefer the sunset with the diffused sun providing very soft and muted front light. The issue would be what is behind you that will cast shadows. As long as shadows aren't an issue, this will probably work the best. If you are lucky, you will get some clouds above that will reflect the warm tones from the sun, even after it dips below the horizon. The low light will make it easy to slow your shutter speed without the need for an ND filter.
If the sunset doesn't work, try sunrise, but you will need a 3-stop ND Grad at least to control the sky. The waterfall itself will be much darker in relationship from being totally in the shadows. The best thing to do here would be shoot before the sun really starts lighting the sky. Your exposure will be around a minute or so, which will still be ok, but will give you an extremely silky look. If you are in a position to use your car's headlights, you could try that to illuminate the falls while the ambient light is still way down.
One final suggestion on this second photo. Try cropping a bit from the right to eliminate that tree that appears to be leaning in (due to the wide angle lens I am sure). Your other option would be to do a perspective correction though your image editor. You would lose a fair amount from the left side by doing this, and isn't highly recommended. The cropping will counteract your compositional placement of the falls, but will remove the only visual distraction from an otherwise great image.
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Post by NCPhotoTrekker on Sept 17, 2009 6:16:02 GMT -5
Oh, almost forgot....yes try for a 2-3 second exposure here. Everyone's tastes are different so you may not like that effect. Play with your shutter speed and look at it in detail on your LCD review to determine how slow you want to go.
The keys in waterfall photography showing the nice blur of the water is low ISO, Narrow Aperture, Polarizer, Neutral Density (at times), and slow shutter speed.
One more thing, when you are trying this waterfall in the total shade, you might want to use an 81A warming filter as well to counteract the blue color cast. Watch for vignetting when using the wide angle lens though.
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