Hi guys. So this is my first post in here. Glad to finally join this network of awesome people.
Last week I went on a trip along the west fjords of Norway and photographed lots of amazing waterfalls. This image is an intimate scene shot on my 70-200 of the last waterfall I visited. I was immidiately drawn to the cascading waterfalls and wanted to capture that.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I have a couple of exposures with shorter shutter speeds freezing the water. Do you think that would be better for this image?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
I would like feedback on the edit. I am reasonably happy with the overall composition, but as always I think there are lots to be done when it comes to colours and some dodging and burning.
Are the shadows too dark?
Should I make the greens pop more?
First off, welcome to NPN, Frank! Glad to have you around and looking forward to seeing more of your work here.
I think you have chosen a perfect shutter speed for this image. Silky but with texture. I think this is how I like my waterfalls to look like. You mentioned about the shadows and the greens. I think the frame is a little dark overall and I think the greens could use a little more pop. And those seem to make the image a little “muddy”.
If you don’t mind, I brought this into PS to have a play, this is more along the line of what I am thinking:
Welcome aboard, Frank. That is quite the nice waterfall and nicely captured. I really like what @Adhika_Lie has done in her repost. I find the original a bit dark and murky and the repost pops nicely. Do you have any wider images showing above and below? I would be curious to compare, but only you know what lurks there. Looking forward to seeing more of your work and reading your insights into the work of others.
Hey Frank! Nice first upload here! I think I like this much better than just one big waterfall falling down, which we often are given at waterfalls! I like the used shutterspeed here, but that’s very personal. A faster one really changes the look especially with so many water streams.
I like this sense of movement with still details left in the water. In the brightest spots you could try to pull out some more detail, but they are not overexposed white spots as they are now.
The panoramic aspect ratio works well, it gives the scene a sense of size, and I enjoy seeing waterfall after waterfall after waterfall. The sound must have been fantastic!
Shadows could be lifted some, I agree with @Adhika_Lie and @Harley_Goldman that as presented the image looks a bit muddy and flat. Maybe try some subtle dodging of the lighter shadows, to give the rocks a more 3D look. It will add a lot of depth to the whole scene.
The spring greens can definitely have a boost in my opinion. Then dodging the brighter
parts of them, the trees, bushes and mosses to add more depth.
You have uploaded a big file and I could zoom in nicely. I noticed that the trees and bushes are moving with the used shutterspeed (of course, they are next to these massive waterfalls! ). Maybe this doesn’t bother you at all. If I don’t want this I take another exposure with a faster shutterspeed and mask it in. It gives nicer details in the leaves, especially in prints. But that’s just my taste!
Spectacular location!
I like the direction Adhika took this. However, I feel that since the rocks (basalt it appears) are black they should remain pretty dark. So, in this version the rocks remain black but contrast has been added to them. I also raised the luminosity in the greens and yellows and increased saturation to have the plants and moss stand out a bit more. I really like the composition of how the water is laid out and the plants as well. This is a really good image.
Welcome to NPN, Frank. A beautiful first post, but as you mentioned, it is pretty dark, but has a lot of promise. Of the reworks, I think @Igor_Doncov may have really hit the nail on the head. While getting used to the site, be sure to check out the “Learning with Experts” on the banner. NPN offers some really nice webinars and other learning experiences. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Thank you guys for valuable and encouraging input. You sure make a lot of sense and it resonates with my initial feeling when I posted the image for critique. I will now go back and edit a final version. @Bill_Chambers : Thanks for the “learning with experts” tip. I am still finding my way around this site and will make sure to check that out. @Igor_Doncov : You have made a very nice edit. I will for sure look at what you have done when finalizing the image. @Ron_Jansen : Always great to hear from you. You are right about the blurry trees. There waterfall above was so powerful and caused a lot of wind. I was in a rushed state of mind when I took this as we were heading back to Sørlandet and I simply forgot to nail down a shorter exposure. Thanks for your solid input @Harley_Goldman : I do have wider images. Below these falls there is nothing but birch trees covering the view. Above is huge waterfall. I can see if I find a wider composition for you when I get back home from work. Thanks for your feeback! @Adhika_Lie : Thanks for a wonderful feedback. I really like your edit and will most definately use that as a referance when I finalise the image. Thanks!
Welcome to NPN Frank, this is a great first post, and I look forward to seeing more of your images here. With vertical subject like waterfalls, one often thinks about using a vertical aspect ratio. But your choice of a horizontal panoramic is very effective here, because it emphasizes the left to right repetition of multiple small falls across the frame. To me that repetition of waterfalls is the most interesting aspect of the image, and you did a great job emphasizing it. I also like the tweaks that @Igor_Doncov made in his rework.
While I think the shutter speed looks good in most areas of the falls, here is something else to consider. If you have multiple exposures of this same composition, the water flow will look slightly different in each. Using layer masks in Photoshop, you can paint on the masks to bring in different looks to the flow in different parts of the image. For example the flow in the lower right corner (LRC) had the most light on it, and as a result the water in that corner has less texture than in other areas. you could mask in just the LRC falls from a darker exposure bracket to get more water texture there.
). Maybe this doesn’t bother you at all. If I don’t want this I take another exposure with a faster shutterspeed and mask it in. It gives nicer details in the leaves, especially in prints. But that’s just my taste! 