The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Perched on a rock that I don’t think I’ve shot from before in a favorite section of the Prairie River. I sat for a while taking it in before deciding on a composition. To help compose I used the 16:9 overlay in the viewfinder. The colors were only starting to turn, but definitely you could feel fall in the air. Just glorious every time I go there. And I may do again tomorrow, but further upstream.
Specific Feedback
Yes I shoot this all the time. Just wanted to share mostly, but am open to ideas and suggestions.
Technical Details
Tripod and photographer on rock. CPL.
Lr for everything including a wb adjustment, lowered highlights, raised whites and shadows, added texture, masks to improve water texture & to direct/deflect attention in the scene, HSL panel to massage some colors, a small distraction removal and some sharpening & nr.
I like that this is underexposed. There’s a former NPN member who posts all his woodland scenes on social media underexposed and they really capture the sense of the places (Michigan). The green highlights seem to pop out better when it’s dark. I’m not a big fan of foam streak running water. You probably won’t like this but wouldn’t this make a lovely image?
Kristen, were you out in the stream? I want to linger and enjoy every detail—the touches of color spice up the green. What a beautiful place to enjoy nature. “Border patrol” has been drilled into my head by the leaders of all the workshops I have been on. Dare I mention a couple of observations? The light patch of water on the lower right corner keeps pulling my eye out of the frame. The light rock on the left and the bright, mossy green rock also catch my eye. Nitpicking, to be sure.
What a lovely composition of green forest and clear running water! The lighter tree top center is in the perfect spot. The degree of blur on the water works for me. Silky smooth is often wonderful but here I wonder if a slower SS would have obscured the rocky texture of the stream bed. I think @Barbara_Djordjevic had good points about the lower corners, and I might darken the trunk leading out the UR corner, but those are small points.
Thanks @Igor_Doncov, @Barbara_Djordjevic & @Diane_Miller - happy to have your input and ideas. Have put some into practice w/a new image in the OP. Fresh eyes are always a good thing and I think it works better.
I tried Gen Fill for the first time with this one and it worked nicely. The natural agitation in the water produced more white in that LRC and I wondered how I’d adjust that other than just making it darker or cropping it away. Gen Fill to the rescue. I hope it won’t become a crutch for me, but it is nice that I can “fix” a problem and still have the photo look realistic.
And the crop is a good one, Igor, and one I will have to try in the field with full pixels present. Cutting that much out of my already small sensor is a bit of a stretch, but is a good idea for future visits to this river. I’ve been trying to work with different perspectives already and did this the same day, but it’s not really ready for prime time -
Oh and I am also deliberately keeping my exposures low for certain scenes in certain conditions. On this day it was cloudy and sort of drizzling now and then and so cranking exposure up to simulate brighter sun would have just looked weird. No sense going out into weather if you’re not going to show it, right?
Wow Kris, this is gorgeous. I think maybe one of my favorites of your river/woodland scenics. Love this! Your processing is spot on; I can’t speak much to the underexposure based on a certain type scene, but your results speak for themselves. I like that your greens are measured and very natural.
I love the water! and even more so that you CA’d the ripple in the LR that Barbara pointed out. Well done! I’m having a hard time picking up the edits (except for the water LRC). I’m thinking you burned down the brighter rocks Barbara pointed out, but really hard to tell flipping back and forth. Hardly worth mentioning.
The only additional suggestion I could make would be to do something with the gray rock in the LLC. Not hugely distracting as it’s not bright, but I think if darker… or a slight 5% crop off the bottom as an alternate could lessen the eye draw. Very minor.
Thanks @Lon_Overacker - glad you like it. I feel sometimes that I repeat my water stuff too often, but it’s my weakness. Happy you mentioned the greens because that’s another thing I’ve been mindful of lately and wanted to be sure this was realistic. The rock…yeah, I thought about changing it, but think it closes things off without blocking the flow of the rocks and how they look, especially on the opposite bank.
