Burning water?

This is from a new project, I’m working on about catching rainbow-type refraction-effects with my camera, the naked eye doesn’t see. This picture is the last one of about 24 I got, hiking down the footpass to the Sos Molinos waterfall every day for two weeks. I did some experiments with CPL and ND6x, varying ISO and aperture too, to get me diffent exposure times. Shorter exposure times produced classical “rainbow-type” colors. Due to the movement of spray and spotlights through the leaves, longer exposure times gives the moving rainbow a more abstract color effect with a dominant red component. Fire on the water! This experimental photography is a new and quite exciting matter for me, so I would love your feedback to get better with this. Then, with better knowledge about what works and what doesn’t, I plan to return to that place andtry for some more. Where: Italy, Sardinia, Cascata Sos Molinos (waterfall of the river of the mills).

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Contrast was quite a problem, due to the CPL. Too much? Focus and DoF ok?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

How is the dark/light balance in combination with the red part?

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Single shot, Canon EOS 5D III, 100-400mm @210mm, f16, 3 sec, ISO50, CPL, tripod. I put the focus on the first stone down left. Only standard processing via Lightroom on a calibrated monitor, no additional saturation added - contrast and saturation are due to the CPL!

1 Like

Michaela, I’m thoroughly enjoying this mysterious view. It “feels” like a night time shot using a spot light with the bright water and the dark surroundings. It’s a very intriguing view. The colors in the mist look good and the mistiness works well. From your description, it sounds like you are using sunlight peeking through tree leaves to light this. If that’s true, you can move the rainbow (or mistbow) around by changing where you stand. The position of the rainbow depends on the position of the sun, so time of day and day of year will matter. Yes, a polarizer often lets rainbow colors show more strongly.

Michaela: Oh this is marvelous! I like that the subject is simply the light and the supporting cast is rendered just right for my tastes. Wonderful capture of a singular moment. >=))>

Thank you Mark!
Yes, I was chasing the sunlight peeking through the laurel tree leaves that cover the place. The water is coming down a narrow gorge. Down there I spent some days to figure out the right angel and time of the day, to get a glimpse of the refraction. Moving the tripod was limited by a) safety reasons due to the geometry of the gorge, b) I did not want just every rainbow showing up somewhere, but the ones matching in the photo in the “right” place considering the whole composition and c) I wanted the effect to be in DoF with the rest. That finally restricted the possible tripod positions to just 4 points each at a different time of the day and each with a “good” time window of about 30-45 sec. Till now, I didn’t go into the water. That might give more opportunities, it’s on my list for next week.

This makes me feel like I’m in a cave and light is filtering in from an opening at the roof of the cave. Very interesting photo.

Thank you, Chris!
Your cave impression fits quite well, I’m happy to read, that you got that idea from looking at the photo. This place is hidden in a narrow gorge in the volcanic Montiferru mountains, 64 meters steep . A secret hiding place :slight_smile: