I was really bummed out about not being able to make the trip to Maine and NH this year for the lupines in June and the autumn foliage in October. My brother and I decided to try and time some rainy weather with peak foliage in WV; which is only a four hour drive. Everything lined up for two days last week so off we went. We stayed in Garrett County, MD because it is very rural and has had a very low rate of Covid-19 so I felt relatively safe.
This image was taken downstream of the lovely Douglas Falls in WV. It was my first trip there and I have to say that I hope it is not my last. As always thanks for taking a moment to leave a thought.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
All C&C welcome
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
All C&C welcome
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D800, Nikon 17-35 @ 24mm, f 16 @ 1/4 sec, ISO 200, CPL, cable release & tripod
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Lovely photo! My only nit is that the leaves on the rock in the lower left are bright enough that they are distracting: they draw the eye there rather than into the rest of the photo. I would darken them a bit.
Like your brother’s recent post, you captured some great color here. I like the fallen leaves on the foreground rocks. The composition does a nice job pulling the eye up to the waterfall. Shutter speed looks good to my eye.
The lower left rock and the main section of water are very similar in tone. I’m wondering if darkening the entire rock just a bit would help distinguish it a little better.
One small nit is that the squarish rock on the right side just touches the edge. I don’t know if you cropped, but if you have more room on the right, that may help. If not, a slight crop there would probably work too.
Beautiful setting for photography and I love the image. I do agree that there is not quite enough contrast between the water and the rocks. I think darkening or cooling down the color temp of the rocks would provide just enough pop to really lead the eye up the water to the falls.
Great shot, Ed. Beautiful work. While I usually agree with @Igor_Doncov’s opinions, I like the water flow from the upper falls, through the cascade in the middle to the exit in the LR. My only small nit, and this is strictly personal preference is that the image is a little too warm for my taste.
Great fall image! While I do agree with some of the comments above, I don’t think the shot should be changed. The quality of light is excellent, the composition is good, and the scene captures that wonderful, seasonal feeling. Nice work!
If you had been able to get to New Hampshire this year, you wouldn’t have found any waterfalls that looked this nice. We had such a severe drought this summer that many water features were totally dry. For the first time ever in my memory both Silver Cascade in Crawford Notch and Coffin Pond in Franconia were completely dried up !!!
I like this image as presented, with the exception of wanting to burn down the rock in the LLC. I do not think the image is too warm, the whites in the water look clean to me (and not too warm), and the warmth of the rocks plays very well with the fall foliage. I am not bothered by the water leading out of the frame in the LRC, because I think the rock and leaves in the LLC is such a strong entry point to the image that it does a good job pulling my eye to the mid-ground and background . And I think you nailed the shutter speed, the water flow looks great throughout the entire scene.
Many thanks to @Tony_Siciliano, @Craig_Moreau, @Terrance_Alexander, @Igor_Doncov, @Michael_Lowe, @Marc_McCann and @Ed_McGuirk for taking the time to leave your thoughts. Here is a repost incorporating your suggestions. I darkened the FG leaves and rock a little while cooling the midtones just a little. I personally prefer the water leaving the frame in the LRC so I compromised and just cropped a little off to see what folks thought. @Ed_McGuirk: Unfortunately I did not make it up to New England this year due to not wanting to stay in a motel with covid still going strong
Boy, that’s nice @Ed_Lowe. I love it from top to bottom. (Must have taken you a heck of a long time to place all those leaves; yes, that’s a joke).
This is just a thought, because it makes the image less true to the scene, but I sometimes play with color contrast. The yellow is stunning in the image, but if I add a touch of blue to the less yellow areas I like how it enhances the areas that are more yellow. There are multiple ways to do that, although I usually just make a color adjustment curve using the b channel as a mask. Here’s a visual that illustrates the point.
