Geirangerfjord falls (+ 2 updated versions)

[Kris_Smith (Kristen M Smith)]

Tweaked color version -

And in monochrome with a few adjustments in that Lr panel -

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

So I haven’t been posting a lot of Norway photos because they are snapshotty in the sense that I just had to take what was in front of me and do my best in a split second. No set up, no tripod, no contemplation or working out compositions. Not quite spray and pray, but close. It wasn’t a workshop and I wanted to stay in the moment with my husband and what we were doing together.

Which brings me to this shot and kind of a lot of what I did that week. Many seem to be fixated on slow photography and that’s wonderful most of the time, but when you’re on a moving ferry with other passengers and have only seconds to take advantage of the position and light, skill and experience come to the rescue. Not trying to toot my own horn, but damn, I don’t know what all those folks with cell phones taking this same picture got out of it. The light is unbelievably contrasty, but it worked to light up all that mist and that’s what drew me.

My husband had to use his hands to block the sun on the lens because there was so much flare . Then it took a ton of processing with masks and local adjustment tools to make it halfway presentable. I’d love your opinions on how it looks and whether or not you’d even bother with such a difficult scene.

Specific Feedback

First the light - did I make it work in terms of harshness v. drama? Light like this makes all shadows extremely blue and I think I kept that, but made it look a bit more natural as the eye would see it. Thoughts on that? I also warmed up the mist itself a bit…does it look weird?

Technical Details

Handheld on the ferry which was moving at a good clip.

Lr for all processing and practically used everything it does. Wb adjustment, crop, loads of masks to manage that huge dynamic range and correct for the intense blue in the shadows. Color panel to raise luminosity in greens and yellows to bring up the trees. Masks to deal with sky, the waterfall and the highlights on the rock coming up from the shadows. Texture and a bit of sharpening.

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[Tom_Nevesely]

While the backlight on the waterfall is really nice I’m especially attracted to the reflection and texture in the water. This is a very impressive scene and you handled the dynamic range perfectly. I like this.

[Diane_Miller]

Murphy’s 34th corollary: The light is worse in proportion to how fleeting the moment. But you handled it well. It must have been a spectacular sight.

I wonder about a B/W – often a good choice in harsh light – and cropped in closer to isolate the falls more.

[gDan52 (Gary Danis)]

A difficult shot to make at that time of day for sure. In addition to what has already been said, I some times take two exposures, one for the light, one for the darks and blend the together. It would be nice to see some structure in the dark areas of the image. Then again you were moving so that it would not work. But you could try it another time if is you can be stationary, on another similar subject. On a tripod would be best.

[David_Wallace]

I think you’ve done a fine job! I could see pulling back the highlights on the waterfall and rock face just a touch. Obviously want to keep it as the brightest point but Bringing it down a slight bit may cause more exploration of the whole scene.

By the way…that little tree in the bottom right corner is a stunner! That light and shadow on it is spectacular!

I was fortunate to spend some time in Norway about 8 years ago. Lovely country. We stuck to the main cities but I’d love to go back and explore further.

[John_Williams]

I too find that it is challenging to go into “photograph” mode and still fully appreciate the people and places; I think that’s one of the reasons I often just take snapshots on trips like you describe and so I empathize.

It is fun to “catch a moment” though, and I can see why you captured these falls. My only thought to add would be to darken the sky a little. As is, my eye flows from the dark right to that upper left corner, and slowing it down to better appreciate the falls would be good. I wouldn’t go to far, but a little might add.

[Michael_Lowe]

I think you handled the challenge quite well. I could never take this shot. I’m so used to the slow contemplative process of landscape photography that I don’t think I even remember how to take a shot handheld. And to capture a moving subject handheld just an impossible task.

[Kris_Smith (Kristen M Smith)]

thanks @David_Wallace, @Diane_Miller, @Tom_Nevesely, @gDan52, @John_Williams & @Michael_Lowe - sorry so late in replying, the long weekend was taken over by some reading (Salem’s Lot!! - old school Uncle Steve).

Anyway, I put some of your suggestions to work and put a tweaked version up as well as a monochrome example. I tried a B&W conversion to start with, but thought it emphasized the extreme contrast too much, but you guys can be the judge. It was difficult to shoot for the reasons stated and if I had more time or a private boat, this would have been very different. But a public ferry is what it is so I’m glad that I was able to make something out of it.