A Cool Pool (+revised)

Image Critiques
,
1

Revised Version

Revision 1 (latest)

Revised version
Revised version1800×1350 2.63 MB

What changed: Thanks for the feedback everyone. I adjusted the Orton Mask to extend less to the sides, reduced overall contrast, and used AI removal to eliminate the log jam. I don’t usually remove so much, and the effect is alright if you don’t look too closely. It’s all an experiment with the iPhone, and I saw an orton inspired image recently and thought, hmm, I’ll play with that when the light is funky anyway.

Added after receiving feedback from the community.

Original Version

A Cool Pool
A Cool Pool1800×1350 2.71 MB

Weekly Challenge

Under the Canopy
5/31/26 - 6/6/26
Critique Style: Standard

The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.

Feedback Focus: Technical Help

About This Image

This is a cell phone snap, using iPhone 13 Pro. I did choose raw, and then had a heck of a time getting it onto my PC in raw. I tried to do a little bit of an orton effect, but I used a google search for some settings to create the orton effect.

To me, the chromatic aberrations make this pretty tough to appreciate. The scene is lovely, and it was not the “destination” waterfall on this hike, though that one was much less interesting. Mostly I’m just participating in the weekly challenge with a lovely little gem of a shady spot along Kalama River in SW Washington .

Feedback Requested

As alwasy, I’m open to any and all feedback. I took this with my iPhone on a group hike, so my regular camera was at home. I do plan to go back as there are other interesting compositions along the hike. In particular, I’m curious about the following:

  1. Do you use your iPhone for photograhy, and if so, do you find that there are particular processing tweaks you always have to make? I notice this is f/1.5, so manually stopping down might have helped.
  2. Is this too saturated? Is the Orton Effect noticeable?
  3. Do you ever apply an Orton effect on any of your images? And if so, do you have a preset, plug-in, or do you manually create with masks and tweaks of clarity and texture, exposure, etc?

Thanks, as always, for the gift of your time and attention.

Technical Details

iPhone 13 Pro
Raw, shot at ISO 100, 5.7mm, f 1.5, 1/120 sec

2

Marylynne: A beautiful scene indeed and very photo worthy. Yes I do use my I Phone 16 Pro Max and used my 13 quite a bit before it. I don’t post or process those images much but I’m not afraid of the quality. It’s been years since I did anything with the Orton Effect. There was a fad at the old NPN many years ago where everyone was doing it and as I recall it was pretty tricky to apply. I don’t know how to do it with current processing which I suspect is much easier and effective and your image has piqued my interest. Overall I think you did really well; makes me want to go there. >=))>

3

Marylynne, this does indeed look like a lovely spot. I like the clarity in the water and the subtle color shifts. The glow in the distance looks good and the hints of that glow in the foreground look good. I notice some haze in the rocks on the right. Is that Orton or was there some mist from the falls. When I led photography classes, the first thing I told them was that it’s not the equipment that makes the photo, it’s the photographer and their knowledge of what their equipment can and cannot do. I don’t use the Orton effect, but I do a lot of dodging and burning through mid-tone luminosity masks. Those subtle adjustments in the midtones do a lot when it comes to emphasizing and deemphasizing specific areas of a photo.

4

That’s a lovely falls with what looks like wonderful potential.

I don’t have an iPhone, so I’m no help on that front.

I do think revisiting this waterfall is a wonderful plan, as the big struggle here, for my taste, is how strong the contrast is. An image with late/early light coming in from the side would be worthy to compare. Even though it is perfectly natural, I tend to try and minimize log tangles when possible, and if you return I’d also play with avoiding that stack at the bottom center of the image.

Your question about Orton is an interesting one for me, because my most common sharpening flow is to over sharpen just a little, and then to use Orton/Glow to soften it back. In most cases I prefer the result when compared to just sharpening by itself.

5

The original poster added a revised version of their image.

6

The original poster added a revised version of their image.

7

Hi Marylynne,
This looks like an idyllic location to just stop, chill and soak up the ambiance that the natural world provided you. I think your revision pretty much nailed it and I would definitely go back to this spot with the camera. I bet this would definitely sing if you were able to capture this scene in some early morning or late afternoon light. I also quite like the turquoise color of the water. I do not have an iPhone and I have never used the Orton Effect so I can’t help you there. Very nicely done.

8

Marylynne,

What a beautiful location - I can see why you might want to return, and you definitely should!

I don’t have an “iPhone”, but I have always been impressed by the quality of images! Far surpassing the Samsung, IMHO. So, no, I don’t use my phone for photography, more like I used to use a Pt-n-shoot camera, just for grab shots really.

You might know that I use the Orton Effect quite a bit. Almost always it’s at a very conservative opacity and the end result comes across really as just contrast enhancement. My goal is always to make an image the best it can be, but still maintain as much believability as possible (you can toss all that out with the abstract and ICM…) Oh, and to answer the other part of the question, I used to add the layer manually, but now there’s a button in the TK, Tony Kuyper panel that I use.

So I think your use here is very effective and not overdone. I really like the “glow” in the bg forest above the falls.

The AI replacement of thelogs at the bottom is pretty dang good! My initial thought was a crop, but this works too.