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
This is Bad Branch Falls, which used to be one of my favorite places to photograph. Several years ago we had a bad ice storm in Georgia, and as you can see from the image it came with a large number of downed trees. This is actually better than it was 3 years ago but there is still a lot of debris. I decide to make do with what I had and see if I could come up with something interesting.
Feedback Requested
I felt like the angled trees created a certain type of artistic effect. I’m not sure what I would call it but I thought the angles formed to the waterfall were interesting. I’m curious as to what other’s think. Does this image work for you? Inspire any particular feeling? I don’t think I was aiming for something specific, just making the best I could with what I had at the time.
Technical Details
Camera: FUJIFILM GFX100 II
Lens: GF20-35mmF4 R WR
Focal length: 31mm
Shutter speed: 1/2s
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 125
I feel that energy of these angles, Jonathan. While this would be a lovely scene without blow down, I think you captured something unique for the location, and something you and others will likely appreciate as a variation on what might otherwise be a well-recognized waterfall.
To me, the only thing that is a little distracting is the sky at the top. I’d be curious to see what others think, but for me, it doesn’t add, and I think the photograph would be stronger cropped down from the top just a tish.
I attempted to do that using the visual critique tool box, but I don’t think I have gotten the knack for this function yet. It seems to disappear when I hit “finish crop.”
Taking another stab at cropping using the tool. I cleared my cache. It seems to have worked. It’s not as precise as I hoped, but I’ll get used to it. I might come down even a little lower, but keep the sides and bottom.
ML
Visual Notes
[Crop] This cuts out the sky, which I find distracting and not adding to the image.
It’s a very interesting place with high potential for experimenting. I like triangles in your image and the shutter speed you used. I like Marylynne’s crop however I would consider black and white with even tighter crop and editing adapted to it. I’m showing an example of the direction I would go. I have turned up the waterfall and darkened the ULC.
@Marylynne_Diggs@JacekZielinski Thank you so much for the comments and input. I actually had another frame of the same comp that I hadn’t processed yet (but was intending a black and white version). I processed that one taken your suggestions into account and added it as an additional image. I did quite a bit with this image in an attempt to highlight the water itself, as well as the diagonals created by the fallen trees. I went so far as to spend time masking the fallen trees as well as the background (minus water). I enhanced the trees with a little clarity and more sharpness, and reduced contrast in the background. I needed to arrive at a more medium tone for the background that fell between the darkest areas of the trees, as well as the lightest areas.
I also cloned out a few distractions that contradicted the diagonals of the trees.
I think you have done well to capture the feel of the place, and I love the mono with your adjustments - the white raw power of the water dominates the narrative for me - B+W really works here IMHO
Hi Jonathan, I agree with @Huw_Thomas The black and white is really cool and highlights the angles of the branches and makes “pop” better for my eye. Great shot!
