After photographing a meadow higher up in the Sonora Pass country, Lon and I wondered down into the canyon where our camp was located. I have always loved this set of small falls and have on many occasions attempted this wider view without success.
On this day, the light was just about right, so I plopped a 3-stop soft ND grad on the lens to balance things out. I did make an attempt to lower the brightness of the sunlit granite in post, and managed to bring it down to a decent level that did not look forced. I would have liked a more even blue across the top, but I took what I could get.
Preston, this is quite a nice image, especially so for blue sky day It looks like a mega location too!!
I have not major nits with the processing, but maybe a liitle more contrast in the foreground shadows.
For me the left had side of the image has less interest than the right. I think there may be too much of the rock included on the left and not enough of the water that I feel is the most prominent subject in this shot. I may have dropped about 1/3rd of the rock face on the left and added that in compsotion to the right. This would have picked up more of the flow of the water. It would have also cut out the strong highlights in the trees in the upper left which do draw the eye.
Preston, for me this is the best you’ve had from this location of Eva’s Falls as you’ve named it in respect for her as I recall.
Normally I seek out horizontal comps but this one fits perfectly as a vertical. The overall processing looks excellent to me, but as always one can work on subjective ideas there over time.
Nice work with the grad too and it seems to have made the brighter areas dampen down to a post processing workable level…
Nice take on Eva Falls. Processing looks good to me, nice job handling the bright areas. I could see cropping out a bit of sky. A nice tribute to a fallen comrade.
Wow Preston, you captured this beautifully! Very impressed what you were able to do with this extremely high dynamic range - and in one frame! I recall you commenting on pulling out the split ND and how infrequently you used it - and I’m sure quite happy you did here!
Colors and processing are outstanding. The sky is especially true and I think the greens really add a nice touch.
The only small suggestion - and really only if you were to print this, would be to tone down/deal with, the brighter evergreen along the left edge that TJ already pointed out. Not the upper branches there but right at the midpoint. Not a big deal, but a slight eye magnet.
I am a retired fire fighter. I spent my career in Tuolumne County, CA. I named this waterfall as a memorial to a CalFire, Columbia Helitac fire fighter who died in the line of duty.
“Firefighter Eva Schicke was killed on September 12, 2004, when her helitack crew was overrun by fire in the Tuolumne River Canyon on the Stanislaus National Forest in California. Shicke, who was 23, had been a seasonal firefighter with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for five seasons. The other six firefighters with her received minor to moderate injuries in the incident.”
I was not assigned to this particular fire, but remember it well. It was sad day for the fire service in CA, and particularly for us because the crew was local.
-P
Preston,
You did a masterful job of creating this image with what had to be quite a wide dynamic range. The colors look very natural to my eye and I like your chosen SS for the details in the water. My only suggestion is the already mentioned highlights in the tree along the left edge. Naming the falls for your fallen friend is a touching tribute.
I like the sky as is, that is gradated rather than uniform. The sun is shining from the left so you would expect your vision of the sky to be brighter on the left.
The handling of the sunlight vs shadow has really been done well.
Great shot. The nd grad worked out well without it being obvious. Comp is great and I like the processing. This is just a personal preference, I would crop a tad more from the sky.
I don’t really have anything to add other than saying that this is a beautiful image, Preston. I might have gone for an intimate of the falls itself but this wider view with that lit mountain in the BG is very very neat. Something that I wouldn’t have thought of. Thanks for sharing this!
Preston, nicely seen and executed, the shutter spped looks perfect for the amount of water flow here.
your processing of exposure and contrast looks great, i love the colors of the rocks and the nice amount of shadow detail you maintained, it looks crisp and natural and avoids the dreaded over-processed HDR look.
My only suggestion would be to burn down the LRC and LLC, essentially adding some vignetting to the bottom only. But that is a real nitpick overall this is a very pleasing image as presented.
Preston, this is a fine look at this falls, with the two steps in the falls looking especially interesting and inviting. You’ve handled the lighting very well with the streaks of sun and blue sky blending well with the foreground. Without know how big the falls are, the plunge pool looks like a very inviting swimming hole. Overall this looks like a wonderfully pleasant hang out spot.
