A secret through the ages

[Kris_Smith (Kristen M Smith)]

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

You guys know I don’t do a lot of abstract and I’m still not sure this counts so feel free to move it if needed.

This was a shot I really wanted to finesse on site more, but didn’t have the opportunity because the workshop leaders wanted to move on. It was the second time in the trip that I was rushed off a site and so I might never do another with them. Anyway…the waterfall itself was hardly flowing at all so larger views from other angles weren’t doing it for me. So I went behind the water to see if anything grabbed me. I was the only one who did thankfully because there wasn’t a lot of room to set up or maneuver.

The two logs made for a great diagonal behind the water and I love the two “cup holders” carved out by centuries of relentless hydrology. The pool is very shallow here so you can see leaves and things on the bottom which I think adds interest. What say you?

Specific Feedback

There is a bit of digital trickery here, but not much. It’s one of the more creative shots I managed to achieve during the trip. At least I think it is. It was one of the first I processed anyway. Curious to see how others react to it - I didn’t show it to any of the workshop folks as we didn’t have a processing session following the field work.

Technical Details

Tripod w/CPL & 1 stop ND

Lr for basic RAW adjustments including a slight exposure reduction, negative dehaze, increased texture & vibrance and a slight rotation and crop. In Photoshop I removed some distractions and then also added some “leaves” to balance the canvas that was left. Added some blur where there was too much detail.

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[Mark_Seaver]

Kris, while at least part of this was clearly a waterfall, I was thinking a triple composite before reading your description. The mix of splashing water and worn rocks in the lower left and falling water to it’s right works well. The leaves in the “background” add well to the scene. This is very nicely artistic. I do see some places where you don’t see the falling water as it crosses the logs. That adds to the sense of “how was this done?”.

[Dennis_Plank]

Hi Kris. This is an interesting image. I really like the waterfall and what shooting through it does to the leaves in the background. For my taste, the logs seem to introduce a jarring note in the midst of all the mist due to their size and what seems to be a relative lack of mist in front of them. The little rock holes are great.

Your experience is one of the reasons I tend to avoid group tours, though our camera club outings aren’t usually too bad as everyone pretty much does their own thing.

[Shirley_Freeman]

Kris, I thought it was pouring rain when I first looked at this image. I have never gone on a group photo anything, so I appreciate the heads up of how it can be. I really like your creativity in this. Those “cup holders” are cool too.

[Kris_Smith (Kristen M Smith)]

Thanks @Mark_Seaver, @Dennis_Plank & @Shirley_Freeman - for taking the time to give me some feedback. I haven’t had an issue with this workshop company before, but I think it might be time to part ways since I don’t think I’m the right fit. What I think I need are guide services more than teaching services. Anyway…glad you found the photo interesting even though I consider it more of a sketch since I think I could have worked a better arrangement given the time.