Crystal Cascade

It’s been a while since I have posted here, due to to an unusually heavy schedule of travel/shooting over the past few months. But I have finally started to dig out of the large backlog of images from my recent trips, and plan to be back posting here regularly again.

This image was taken in mid-October 2019 at Crystal Cascade in New Hampshire. Crystal Cascade is my favorite waterfall in New England, and I have shot here many times (mostly because I just enjoy seeing it). But only rarely have I seen it in such perfect conditions. I caught it at absolute peak fall color, and on this morning the waterfall was also shrouded in a light fog. And despite having a dry summer which dried up many waterfalls, Crystal Cascade always has a good water flow because it is located on the slopes of Mount Washington, the tallest mountain in the northeast.

I spent a couple days shooting autumn in New Hampshire with @Alan_Kreyger, before he left for a workshop in Acadia. And he was fortunate enough to experience these wonderful conditions at Crystal Cascade on his first visit…

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any critique or comments would be welcome.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

Canon 5D MkIV, Canon 24-70mm f2.8 at 38mm, ISO 200, 1.6 sec. at f16.

This is a composite of two images, one for a good exposure of the overall image in general, and a second at a different shutter speed/exposure to obtain a more pleasing (to me) look/texture in the flow of the water.

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
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Ed - Welcome back!
First, thanks again for the great time shooting in New Hampshire, your knowledge of the area was so helpful. As is evident from this post we had great conditions, peak color and a wonderful weekend. This was a spectacular morning and we were so fortunate to be there and have this to ourselves in stunning conditions. I have been waiting for your post of this scene, my take on this one will be on the wall.
I am interested in your choice to post the upper and a portion of the lower falls? I am undecided if I prefer this version or just isolating the upper falls and croppping the bottom at the pool. Regardless, both are stunning and the processing looks wonderful.

Ed, welcome back, you have been missed. I always enjoy your beautiful images, and learn a lot from your critiques. What a shot. Love everything about it. I can image you and Alan really enjoyed the moment, and so glad you came away with some really good shots as well. I think the fog was just icing on the cake. I sure would be getting this printed for the wall if it were mine. :+1::+1:

Great shot, Ed. Wish we’d known you were around. We could have met up somewhere. We probably passed by you somewhere. We were going to head to Crystal, but never made it. Bad decision on our part, I guess. I’ve shot this in the spring and actually prefer it without the lower section, but in the fall it looks like this is the way to go, including the nice swath of color in the LRC to balance out the ULC.
:vulcan_salute:

@Alan_Kreyger, @Shirley_Freeman @Michael_Lowe thanks for stopping by to comment, I appreciate it.

@Alan_Kreyger , you raise a valid question about inclusion of two vs. one waterfalls. In the end it’s pretty subjective. On one hand, not many waterfalls in New England have two tiers like this, so that’s part of why I chose to post this one. But on the other hand, the numerous mini-cascades in the upper section are fascinating, and showing both falls does place less emphasis on them. I think part of what I like about this one is what @Michael_Lowe mentioned about the yellow in the LRC, it creates a splash of yellow in all four corners. When I shoot just the upper falls, I prefer to switch to a horizontal view for a better balance in the composition. This waterfall is so nice that I think both work pretty well.

Mike, I actually did most of my autumn shooting in Vermont this year. I had met Alan at a David Kingham workshop, and he had never seen New England in autumn before. He asked me about the merits of doing a workshop in Acadia vs. shooting in New Hampshire. He signed up for the Acadia workshop, but I agreed to meet him in New Hampshire for 2 days prior to the start of his workshop in Maine. I knew that you and Ed were planning to visit New Hampshire at some point too, but since Alan only had a couple days to see NH, I thought it was easier to keep it simple, rather than trying to coordinate a larger meetup.

Beautiful, Ed. Great scene in great conditions. I was playing with a crop of this then saw yours. I like both a lot, but prefer the cropped version by a small margin. It really showcases the upper falls. Great to see you back, too.

Welcome back, Ed.

The cropped version works for me by a significant margin.

Ed, Looks like you had some wonderful fall colors and what a beautiful falls. Both images are very nice but I do prefer the second one over all. Looks like an amazing place.

Great Work Ed! I guess I am in the minority here but I prefer the original crop as seeing the start of the the lower falls just adds to the grand nature of this image. Looks like you guys got some great conditions in New Hampshire this year, I wish i made it over that way but settled for two weekends in Vermont.

Welcome back @Ed_McGuirk…good to have you back around. While both shots are smokin’ hot, the vertical is my preference. I’ve always had a tendency to prefer verticals when water is falling if it works out and I agree with the framing of color here. The apex is really inviting with the red and fog. Just tremendous. While the water “falling out” of the frame is just a bit curious to me, it’s more than made up for by the entirety of the image. Great shot and thanks for sharing.

Ed, the colors are terrific, with a nice glow in the golds. I like the “long view” of the original post, with the clarity in the bottom blending gently into the mist at the top.

Ed, both the original and the horizontal version are stunning. You certainly did get great color this year! I love the spacing of color along the edges of the vertical, and while I don’t love the water falling out of the frame, this is still an excellent comp.

@Harley_Goldman @Igor_Doncov @Nick_Bristol @Craig_Moreau @David_Nilsen @Jim_McGovern @Mark_Seaver thank you for taking time to comment.

I go back and forth on 1 vs. 2 falls and vertical vs. horizontal here. Craig, regarding the water falling out of the frame, if you haven’t been here, you have to shoot from a viewing “platform” on the side of a very steep cliff, and there is no clean view of the bottom, this is about as good as one can do in that regard. In the end I like both images, to me this image is about the peak color, and the fade-away to fog.

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Welcome back, Ed! And such a beautiful image. The composition works well for me especially with the waterfall running through the image. I am not quite sure about the horizontal composition but mainly because of the overhanging rock on the left hand side. But I do like the rest of the image on the horizontal comp. The golden leaves are just so pretty, what a fresh take to waterfall images!

Great to see a new post from you, Ed! What a lovely waterfall - I really like all of the graceful lines in the cascades and you have framed it nicely with the autumn color. The fog adds to the mood of the image. I will have to add this to my list of must see places when I go up to New England for fall color…maybe next fall.

What a wonderful capture. I prefer the first image, but wouldn’t mind having either in my portfolio. I hope to visit this fall next autumn. Glad to see you posting again.