A Lingering Monent (+revised)

holly1 · July 14, 2026, 4:03am

Revised Version

Revision 2 (latest)

What changed: The contrasts were lessened and I lightened the rock in the upper left. I also brought down the whites in the water to help even out the tones and cooled the temperature. Did I do too much?

Revision 1

What changed: Thank you so much for the suggestions! I cropped a bit and I feel that just that little bit helps not only with the soft moss rock but also the intimacy of the scene. I also took out the plant in the upper left corner.

Added after receiving feedback from the community.

Original Version

Critique Style: Standard

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

Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive

About This Image

Hello Everyone, I’m new to this forum and very excited to be a part of it!

This small river is part of a forest trail and is rocky, yet peaceful. It was later in the day so the shadows were really getting long. For this image, I’m wanting to convey a peaceful feeling; a feeling of serenity.

Feedback Requested

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as I’m still learning and haven’t worked with water all that much. I’m wondering if the tranquil feeling comes through. Is there anything I need to do to increase that feeling. Also, I’m wanting the viewers eye to follow the water down the path. Is that effective? Any help with exposure, shadows, highlights would be welcomed. I know the aperture should be more open, but in other images, the whites were blown out and I wanted to keep my ISO lower because of the darkened conditions to avoid noise. Thank you!

Technical Details

Camera: NIKON Z 8
Lens: NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S
Focal length: 120mm
Shutter speed: 1.3s
Aperture: f/20
ISO: 32

Lon_Overacker · July 14, 2026, 5:37am

Holly,

First of all, Welcome to NPN! We’re so glad to have you here. And what a beautiful first post!

You most definitely have captured the flow; my eye moves through the frame very easily and effortlessly, following the water from top to bottom. In my view, the longer shutter speed also certainly creates a tranquil, peaceful vibe - although we all know the rushing water is making noise which often is more about power than about serenity… but again, slowing the water down with the long shutter speed really helps with that.

Now, regarding exposure and such. Many folks think and may comment they would like to see texture in the water rather than silk, or milk. Personally, I like all versions and very much depends on the situation and mood you wish to create. You mentioned you know you should have shot more “open” - and you mean by a wider aperture like f/8 or f/11? That might give you better sharpness with less depth of field, but if you want things in focus and sharp front to back, you’ll need to consider focus stacking. Your camera does that very conveniently. But back to the exposure, let’s say you wanted a bit more texture in the water and wanted to shoot at f/11. Well, the wider f/11 allows more light in, but the fast shutter cuts down the light. In fact if my math is correct, an equivalent exposure of f/22 @1.3 sec will give the same result as a setting of f/8 @ about .15s, which would have given more texture. Anyway, sorry for getting down in the weeds as I don’t know your level of experience.

Anyway, back to your image. Great job with the processing. The colors, contrast and saturation look great all the way around.

The only suggestion really would be a focus stack (if you were ever able to return.) I looks like the front rock is in good focus and perhaps your focus point was up front. But what happens, even at f/22, there’s just not enough depth of field to make that moss covered rock in the background be in sharp focus. Now, that is NOT a deal breaker with your image. Everything except that rock in the back is in good focus, so I think you pretty much nailed that aspect of it.

There’s really nothing here to fault. This is a fabulous image. The comp is intimate and well done. Good eye!

Congrats and thanks for posting! We look forward to more images from you and to your participation, comments and critiques.

Welcome!

Ed_Lowe · July 14, 2026, 10:44pm

Hi Holly,

First off welcome to NPN and I think you will enjoy the company of like minded individuals. This is a wonderful first post as @Lon_Overacker so eloquently explained. and my suggestions mirror his about trying a focus stack next time to get everything sharp from front to back. Today’s cameras do a wonderful job on reducing noise. I have a Z7 and shoot at ISO 400 and 800 when I need that faster SS and it keeps the noise to a minimum. My eye does flow through this scene beautifully and I hope to see more of your images as well as your participation. Beautifully done.

holly1 · July 14, 2026, 11:25pm

Thank you @Lon_Overacker and @Ed_Lowe for your comments. I have been working with focus stacking and will continue.

Kris_Smith · July 15, 2026, 1:48pm

Hi Holly and welcome to NPN. This is a beauty of a shot and totally something I would go for, too, and have many times. Tranquility as well as a feeling of freshness comes through. The cascade has a nice through line as well. I particularly like the soft light with enough presence to bring up modeling and textures.

So as not to echo the already good ideas from the others, I’ll talk about how I’ve approached flowing water pictures over time. The biggest game changers are using filters. Maybe you did here, but given your notes and the camera settings, I’m guessing not. Mainly I use a polarizer to manage exposure with moving water. This does two things, cuts some of the light and also reduces reflection and glare on rocks and plants.

The other useful tool is a neutral density filter. There are LOADS of choices out there, but I use a set of magnetic filters that can be stacked and also include a combination ND & Polarizer in one, which makes field work less of a chore.

With filters you can optimize a couple of things - first the sweet spot of your lens, meaning where it is sharpest and has the least amount of optical faults like diffraction and chromatic aberration. You can also better control ISO and shutter speed by using a filter. Typically I go for between 1/2 and 3 seconds since it usually leaves the most contour in the water - texture in water always wins me over.

Anyway, I think you’re on the right track with this kind of photo. The contrast between the sharpness of the surroundings and the softness of the water is really pleasing and that light is lickable.

Marylynne_Diggs · July 15, 2026, 4:04pm

Hi Holly,
Welcome to NPN and what a lovely first post. There is much to love about this image: the light, the composition. I am a fan of milky water, especially in scenes like this, where the water texture is less important than its lines and the textures and colors of the surrounding rocks sculpting its movement through the scene.

I have to admit that the softness in the background rock was not a problem for me. I had a Canon 40D, 7D, and 5DIII that would rarely get more sharp than this (or rather that I could rarely get more sharp than this). Several folks mentioned focus stacking, and that can be the only way to get near to far sharpness, especially when shooting close up. Personally, I find that tedious, but I don’t think my camera has a built-in stacking function, so my aversion is based on experiences with software ten or more years ago. No doubt, it’s much easier to do now.

Here are some other thoughts on how to maximize sharp focus throughout the scene:

If possible, back up a few steps and crop to achieve the same composition. Even zooming out by 5mm on that lens might give you more sharpness in the part of the image you want to use. If the camera has enough pixels, leaving some room to crop can help you not only with sharp focus in the area you want, but also options in case you later have second thoughts about where to cut off the scene.
Choose a focus point about 1/3 of the way into the scene. It’s a complicated calculus (hyperfocal distance) that depends on lens, focal length, etc. But in general, that will maximize the sharpness in the foreground and background. I generally try to ensure the foreground is tack sharp as a little less sharpness at the back is less noticeable and more expected.

I also might be inclined to crop a bit given the focus issue. Maybe just half of the bright green rock a the top. I keep being drawn to the top of the water, and wanting more of it. If you have a version with more up top, I’d love to see it.

I hope all of this isn’t overwhelming. You have landed in the right place to hone what are clearly already impressive skills.
ML

system · July 15, 2026, 11:40pm

The original poster added a revised version of their image.

Marylynne_Diggs · July 19, 2026, 10:44pm

I like the revision a lot, Holly. It puts our eyes in a more central part of the scene.
ML

David_Haynes · July 20, 2026, 8:38pm

Hi Holly,
Welcome to NPN and so glad that you’re excited to be here. We’re excited to have you here and congrats for taking the leap into our world.
What a great first post. Many of us on the site love water movement and this will get the blood flowing from many of us.

It certainly does. I think removing most of the texture in the water creates a very tranquil scene. I tend to like a little more texture in my water scenes but you wanted tranquil and I think you achieved that.

My eye also follows that reverse S shape in the water guiding the eye through the scene. Well done.

It appears that you tried to lengthen your exposure by closing down your aperture and lowering your ISO all the way to it’s lowest setting. That definitely works when the sun is out and you are battling bright spots. As @Kris_Smith mentioned you can use magnetic filters to help with all of this while retaining better control over your other settings. And, a polarizer takes the edge off those harsh mid day sun spot while also cutting some of the light.
I like the crop in the rework but I would dodge or brighten the flat rock that is very dark along the top edge in the Upper Left Portion so it doesn’t look so cut off. Also, the blacks are a bit blocked up and whites are clipping just a little bit. I think evening the tones could make this appear even more serene and less contrasty. I also cooled the image slightly as I felt there were some warm tones that were catching my eye. Here is a version of what I’m thinking. I likely went. little too far simply to showcase what I was attempting but you get the idea. YMMV. :))

Again, welcome, Holy. Let us know if you have any questions. We’re here to help.

holly1 · July 25, 2026, 9:48pm

Thank you for the suggestions about the contrasts @David_Haynes. I made soe changes and added a new revision at the top.

system · July 25, 2026, 9:50pm

The original poster added a revised version of their image.

system · July 25, 2026, 10:47pm

The original poster added a revised version of their image.

Jonathan_Cothron · July 25, 2026, 11:22pm

Great first post Holly! I really like the image, and yes my eye follows the curve from front to back very easily. I don’t want to repeat what everyone else has already said but I would touch upon a couple of technical points.

You shot this at a telephoto focal length, which does a nice job of compressing the scene, but makes it much more difficult to achieve a wide DOF. As a result the rocks and moss in the back are a bit soft. That isn’t a deal breaker however, the image still works in my opinion.
I suspect you didn’t have much choice in focal length at the time, as often happens in streams. Another thing that can help some is look at the closest object in the foreground that needs to be in focus. Plan your focus point for about 2x the distance to that closest object. This is sort of a rule of thumb, but it might help you maximize the depth of field in a given situation.
At f22 you are well into diffraction territory, but it sounds like you know that. Focus stacking is certainly a possibility in an image like this, but that isn’t always feasible with water shots in my experience. Although I try not to, I will go out to f/16 if needed, and use the rule I mentioned above.

I think the long shutter and water texture work for this image. I typically like to see a little more texture in the water but for this image I think it works well. I love your composition and processing. Your latest revision looks a little too cool to my eye, but that could be a personal preference. I can see from Revision 1 where you might want to cool it down a bit, but I think it went a little too far.

Great image, and welcome to the community!