This is Tamawanas Falls northeast of Mount Hood. It’s a nice waterfall, plunging over 100 feet and accessed by a moderate couple mile hike. I’ve been there three times to photograph it, and have never been really happy with what I came away with.
This image was taken last year, and I again wasn’t too sold on it. I’ve been playing with some black and white images to post in Flora though, and that inspired me to try the same with this one; I like it much better in black and white.
Specific Feedback Requested
I’ve not worked with black and white as much as color, so any and all comments/suggestions are welcome.
It was a bald blue sky when I took the photo. When I got back to the parking lot some nice clouds had formed, and I took a couple images of those to play with compositing in that sky area. I did that, but after comparing I decided the plain sky didn’t bug me much since it’s just a darker backdrop to the waterfall. Does the plain sky detract?
Technical Details
NIKON Z 7II
NIKKOR Z 24-200 f/4-6.3 VR at 44.0 mm
1/15 sec. at f/6.3 and ISO 64, 0.4 sec. at f/16.0 and ISO 31, and 0.6 sec. at f/16.0 and ISO 31
Truth in Blending Statement: I blended five images for DOF, which were shot at f/6.3 for sharpness. I blended in two images at f/16.0 for water texture, one at 0.4 sec. for the foreground water and one at 0.6 sec. for the fall itself (I liked its creamier texture).
Not having seen the color version I can’t say I like this better or not but I can say that I think B&W works well for this scene. I have to say that I tend to like more texture in my water but I do like what you were able to pull off here with the blend. The texture in the river water is terrific. The composition is really well done. I like the angle of the water exiting the scene and the waterfall mostly centered. It works really well. The rocks in the foreground coming out of the lower left corner and angling up and to the right work perfectly here. There is one thing that pulls my eye and that is that to the right of the falls on the cliff, the texture of the rock is wet and rich looking but really flat looking on the left side of the falls. I’m wondering if you can bring out some pop on the left side as the upper left portion of the image is just kind of flat looking. The cloudless sky does not bother me at all.
The composition is solid as evidenced when you place it in a frame. My only suggestion is that the dark parts of the image seem a bit murky to me. I would raise the mini contrast through texture or clarity a wee bit. It would make those wet rocks glisten a bit more.
The image works well in B&W, the composition is great and I do not have any problems with the sky. In fact, it is good that it is plain since the rest of the image include a lot of textures etc (and even more so if you follow the recommendations given by David and Igor).
Everything looks great to me - I think the sky as seen is just fine (it always is).
The blend looks good - my only thought would be to blend in some water with a bit more texture to it.
I do wonder what color would look like though!
Hi John - Overall, I think this scene works nicely in black and white, and I agree with the other comments about the blending looking natural. Nicely done! I do not think the bare sky matters but as an alternative, you could crop out the section with the sky entirely and make the composition about the connection between the waterfall itself and the cascades. I tried this and thought it made a strong intimate landscape composition. Two other considerations: the waterfall isn’t perfectly straight, so you could consider a slight rotation to make it perfectly parallel with the edge of the frame. I know that might not be technically level but that is the first thing that caught my eye in looking at this scene. Also, I looked at the histogram and you have a ways to go before getting any pure white in the scene. For my black and white work like this, I often want some pure, bright whites because I like the higher contrast look. You could consider brightening the brighter spots of the cascades to bring some more contrast to that area of the photo. This is a personal preference of mine so I just offer it as a very subjective point of feedback. I would also consider cloning out or darkening some of the bright spots of rock around the waterfall itself.
Hi John, I think this is a great image. B&W works well too. I agree that some of the mid to dark tones could use some micro contrast.
While I think this is great as is, @Sarah_Marino’s suggestion to crop the top works quite well. No need to see the actual top of the water fall. As she said, it becomes a much more intimate landscape with stronger features. Either way works though.
I decided to start over again with the blend to try and incorporate as many of your suggestions as I could. I’m not sure if I got them all, but did my best. I’d love your pros and cons on the rework that I’ll post above to compare with the original.
For fun, I’ll post below the color, blended, version I started with. It has no edits other than what I did in raw, but it should give you an idea of what the camera captured.
Beautiful scene, John! I really think your choice for black and white was a good one. I feel like it emphasizes the flow of the water much better. And there’s so little of the sky showing it doesn’t really stand out at all, I mainly am drawn towards the water below the falls. Perfect composition!
Lots to like in this image John! First, I think the crop is a clear winner. This is a great lesson for me too! Even though there is “less” waterfall, it somehow seems to be bigger as the brain is free to assume the waterfall goes on and on! I love the added contrast in the second version except in the mid ground. For me, I would want the contrast in the foreground and background. Maybe just dialing back the whites in the mid ground could do the trick. I also think the large cliff on the left could take even more contrast to pull some of those midtones up a bit brighter. Tried to give it a quick crack below. Excellent image!
Wonderful image John! Hard to decide on the various versions, but I think @David_Wallace nailed it best.
Actually torn on the crop. The reason is silly really, but my first thought was “beam me up Scotty!” I think because of the creamy texture and without a top, it looks literally like a beam of light. But also, as David eludes, the imagation kicks in wondering how far up the waterfall extends - it could go on forever!
I also like the slightly higher contrast versions. Oh, and I like the uncropped version too - and the minimal sky is not a bother at all.
John, your b&w version does a good job of emphasizing the falls and the outflow. While the green in the color version adds some extra interest, it comes by reducing the viewing of the falls and the outflow. The extra contrast to the rocks on left works very well in your rework. Fascinatingly, in both versions the main falls looks parallel to the frame edge, while the stream on the right looks angled relative to the main portion.
