Abiqua Falls is one of my favorite waterfalls in Oregon, and given that we have as many waterfalls as Utah has arches, that is saying a lot! My photo buddies and I made a trip out there at the beginning of October before the rains started. The flow from the falls and water in Abiqua Creek were as low as we’ve seen it. We were hoping for fall color, but we were too early. I decided to try this as a monochrome to bring out the texture and shapes.
Specific Feedback Requested
All feedback welcome!
Technical Details
Three images shot at ISO 64, f/11, 2 secs were focus stacked. I blended in another image shot at ISO 800, f/11, 1/6. All images were shot with a Nikon D850, Nikkor 106-35mm @ 25mm using a circular polarizer. Processed in ACR and PS.
A lot to take in here, but it is an arresting photo. The open sky at the top adds to the line of the falls themselves. And the texture of the water on the rocks is really great. Trouble is, I don’t know where you want me to look.
Hi Patrick,
Wonderful image. I love the black and white conversion here and the to al range and textures.
I agree with what Kris saying that there is a lot to look at. My first instinct was to crop down from the top to help us stay between the gals and the foreground. Um not sure that’s the right answer or even that most viewers would feel torn as your first two do.
I think if you can simplify and direct our eyes where you want them, this image will have even more impact.
First off, what a terrific scene. Would love to see the color version of this even without fall colors and I wonder if it would feel less busy? I agree with both @Kris_Smith and @Marylynne_Diggs about there being a lot to look at and I’m not sure where to go. There are so many highlights throughout the scene that it renders it a little bit harsh and busy. I do like the flow of the water in the lower section of the image and maybe a strong vignette would help direct the eye and keep the viewer in the frame. If this can be simplified just a little bit I think this could be really good. Maybe reduce clarity and texture a little bit to see if some of the crunchiness goes away. I don’t think it needs much.
At first I thought that the highlights from the sky along the top of the frame was distracting and pulling my eye but the more I look at it the more I think it looks like an upper falls with mist.
I like the complexity of the view. The creamy textures in the outflow are very attractive, then there’s the transition to the highly textured rocks at the base of the falls and the columnar basalt of the sides. The falls makes a fine counterpoint to the basalt. It all makes for a lot to look at, which means you can look again and again.
I’ve been playing more with BW more myself, including waterfalls. I find BW to be a bit of a head bender, because lots of “rules” that color brings to realism go out the window. I really like what BW brings to our PNW waterfalls, especially when there’s not a lot of vegetation to sweeten the deal.
I hear what the others are saying about focus, so I played with a version to head in that direction. I arbitrarily chose the water, and especially the waterfall, and tried to knock down the contrast and luminosity of the rest. I added a bit of a vignette to further draw the eye in. I also slightly toned the image, because I think it adds a slight silver quality to the water that further accentuates it. I also cropped just a tad to again keep the focus more central. Feel free to toss it in the garbage bin; just banging ideas around.
I’ve never been to this waterfall; thanks for posting, because it looks like I need to correct that!
@Kris_Smith@Marylynne_Diggs@David_Haynes@Mark_Seaver@John_Williams Thanks for all for your comments and suggestions! I agree that the image is very busy, and thus suffers from a lack of a main focal point. I was so enamored with all the textures and shapes I kinda lost sight of that. Here’s take two, after I played around with vignetting, the crop and adjusting the highlights a bit.
Can you please explain the toning process you used?
It’s somewhat near Silverton, OR, so a trip for you, but worth a visit sometime. The flow varies widely by the season. You’ll need a high clearance vehicle to drive all the way to the trailhead. Despite that, expect to have some company no matter when you visit. Also, on this trip there was a wasp nest next to the trail at the bottom of a tree attached to a rope needed for descending into the canyon. Pulling on the rope stirred up the wasps and I got stung several times!
Thanks for the info! I’ll need to make a run at it the next time I’m down that way. Silver Falls SP was on my list this fall, but I didn’t make it. Maybe next year with fall color…
Most commonly, I’ll use a curves layer set to color mode. For an image like this, I find that a mix of cyan and blue works best for my taste. I usually add cyan by a point in the middle of the curve, but add the blue by editing the brightest part of the curve. That often gives the effect I’m looking for, because it makes the midtones more silver-like and the whites slightly more blue; that seems to “brighten” the whites which looks good to my eye with water. I often go slightly farther than what I think I want, and then adjust the opacity of the layers to taste.
Here’s a couple examples of the curves:
Hopefully that is what you were looking for, but let me know if I can clarify.
Patrick,
I love the revision. It just needed a little bit of softening in the highlights and contrast and both your rework and particularly @John_Williams rework is sensational. Amazing how a little goes a long way. Well done!
This works better for me, Patrick, but I think I like the toned down rock wall near the falls as in John Williams approach. The tree at the top of the falls still grabs my eye too, but for some, it might help establish scale.
I really like this, Patrick. I love how the rock walls almost look like waterfalls themselves! I personally don’t have a problem with everything that’s going on in the scene. I do like your edit where the sky is less. But overall I really like all the different textures of the water and rocks. And I like that you chose black and white.
@John_Williams , thanks for the explanation. To be clear, are you adding a curves layer to the monochrome image? What is the typical opacity you end up with? How do you get cyan with a curves layer?
That depends on how much the curves change the color. Usually I overshoot just a little, and the opacity is often ~80%.
Cyan is the opposite of red, so if you reduce the red in an image it is the same as adding cyan. If you look at the curve in my prior post, it is reducing the red = adding cyan.
Here’s take two, after I played around with vignetting, the crop and adjusting the highlights a bit.
