The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This image is from a recent trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. Its from the Wild Basin area of the park. It’d been a wet spring and all the falls and cascades were really going. I liked the way the light played on the water in this shot. I also thought it worked better in monochrome
Specific Feedback
I’m interested in general feedback, but I have a few specific questions. The highlights on the water are intentionally very bright. They’re not actually blown out, but they’re right near the edge. Are they too bright? I’d hoped that the highlights would draw the eye down the cascade. Does that work? I darkened the trees on the side somewhat. Do they look too dark?
Technical Details
Shot at 20 mm f/22 and 1/8 sec iso 100. I generally avoid such a small aperture, but I wanted the slow shutter speed and I didn’t have an ND handy.
Processed in Lightroom with monochrome conversion, general exposure and contrast and some local masked adjustments. There is also some color grading here with blue in the highlights and brown in the shadow tones
Will, your image takes me back to RMNP and those cascades that are so common in some areas there. I especially like your B&W treatment. This image evokes a wedding dress train in my mind. It’s very lovely.
With this B&W treatment, I am not sure that I would make the highlights any brighter. There are a few areas that appear to be blown out, but as you said, they are not. Had I done an edit on this image, I would still have reduced those areas just a tiny bit. I’m referring specifically to that diagonal line that starts at the LLC and goes at about a forty-five-degree angle to the area between the rocks on the right under that log. The highlights don’t bother me, but maybe a little reduction in highlights might have worked out better. I find that the darkening of the trees worked out well. There is still some definition that allows us to know what they are. They also add some mystery to the scene. In terms of distractions, the small log on the left side could easily be eliminated for less distraction. Again, it’s a minor thing and a personal choice.
I love the bluish/sepia tone in the color palette. This is indeed a beautiful image.
@Egídio Thanks very much for your critique. Its exactly the sort of information I was looking for.
I may indeed take the highlights down a bit. I already have mask layers on all of them, so its just a matter of tweaking sliders. I’ll take a look at the log too.
Oh boy what a powerful river. I can only imagine the roar and the wind. Congratulations on standing right smack in the middle to bring more immediacy and drama to the scene. I find that cascade and river photos need photographers to be in positions like this in order to bring the maximum effect.
That said, I am noticing your processing rather than the scene. Of course you want to find some originality in a popular type of photography, but that seems to have taken precedence over nature itself. Maybe if you hadn’t chosen a selenium tone look, the uneven highlights and luminosity in general would make me wonder at how it really might have looked.
So…if you want to stick with monochrome, I would try for just that without any toning. Then I would evaluate the existing luminosity values and emphasize the natural lines and geometry. Right now all my attention is drawn to that very bright bit of water and not anywhere else. The contrast in the trees and rocks is pretty low and seems forced. there is so much potential to sculpt the contours in the rocks and water that I’m itching to play with the raw file. I bet there is color gradation in the trees to highlight and use for framing as well.
It all comes down to intent in the end and if this fits your bill, you should be happy with it. It’s a dramatic scene that looks well composed and a wonder of nature.
@Kris_Smith , thanks for your feedback. As you said, it all comes down to intent, and for this image I have a specific target use and associated intent. I was really focused on the play of light on the water, rather than a faithful representation of the scene. I realized after the fact, that I should have requested an in-depth critique, since I knew what I was going for. I’m still learning the system at NPN.
I would add though, that my philosophy is different when I do monochrome images than color. With monochrome, I’ve already departed from a literal interpretation of the scene, so I’m willing to push the tonal relationships much further from what was there. With color, I try to stick pretty close to literal. And of course if I’m doing an abstract, color or monochrome, anything goes!
Actually, a few weeks ago, I did post a pretty straight color image from nearby this location. In that case it was much more about the power of the water and the details of the surrounding forest. I like that one too, its just different.
