I took this image in early October, as the leaves were beginning to change. I was with other photographers, and they were shooting from the bank of the creek or a viewing platform on the ridgeside above the creek. I wanted a unique composition, and found it by wading out onto a triangular boulder in the middle of the creek. Luckily, I was able to get in and out without my gear taking a plunge. Looking back on this I would probably use a little faster shutter speed… but I want your thoughts. All opinions welcome.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Any
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Other than cloning out part of the viewing platform in the upper right corner, only basic contrast, color adjustments, dodge/burn and sharpening were applied in photoshop.
5DmkIII, 24-70 F2.8 L, 24mm F11, 6 seconds
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
Andy, this is a real nice dynamic composition. Overall, it looks a little bright on my screen in the rock and brush. Water looks right to me. Otherwise, no nits here.
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Andy, I think this a really strong composition, and you made a very smart choice to get down low like this, rather than shooting from above. That center rock with the leaves is a wonderful anchor to this scene. I agree with @Harley_Goldman that this looks too bright overall on my monitor, and I would go a step further and add that it would also benefit from adding some vignette around the frame edges. I also agree with you that a shorter shutter speed would have been better, I think using 1 or 2 seconds here would have restored some detail in the water flow.
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Andy,
Can’t argue with comments so far. Love the strong composition; the way the water splits around the main rock at the bottom works very well. And even though we can’t see a portion of the creek in the URC, I still get sense of flow from that corner letting the eye comfortably follow the stream and explore all the rest of the details.
The UR quadrant and the rock surface at the bottom do seem just a tad bright - but not far off to be honest.
Often times I don’t mind when water loses detail as a result of the longer exposures. But there comes a point when it becomes “cumulative” and larger areas without detail are more of an issue (but to be clear it’s also a personal perception and value vs. anything right or wrong; if that makes sense.)
The only other suggestion is regarding the contrast. Not been mentioned yet, but for me the contrast seems a little high or hard. Hard to describe; but given it doesn’t look like any direct sunlight so I might think the contrast would be softer.
Let me know and I can post my version. Understand of course that we’re talking small degrees of personal preference. As presented, it looks good, with a couple tweaks.
Lon
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Thank you guys for posting feedback on this image. This is exactly the kind of thing that I have needed and I’m really excited to be getting it on this form. I plan on adjusting the image based on the feedback I receive.
Lon, if you would like to post your version of the image go for it! I would love to see it.
