Taken a month ago and it was a few days after a full moon (shot taken before the moon-rise). Used my headlamp to light paint the falls and trees. I ended up using 2 different shots to complete this photo, the 2nd shot just had some light on the far left trees which I left semi-dark to try and match the scene a bit.
Shot on a Canon 6D, Sigma 20mm 1.4 at f/1.4 and a 30 second exposure.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I feel like I already know the answer, but should I have done a 3rd shot and focused on the waterfall at f/4 to sharpen up the foreground?
I’ll take any other cc as well
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Sky color… I always struggle with the WB settings and what I think looks good. Any thoughts or advice on something to try. I think my WB was on florescent for this but not 100%. I was exhausted from the 12 mile hike, haha
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
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Hi Cody, welcome to NPN! What a nice first post here. The composition and the light painting here are done very well. I don’t mind the FG going soft, it looks like there is some motion blurs, too. And the waterfall is plenty sharp. I think what I am wishing for is another shot of the sky where the stars don’t trail. The color of the night sky is natural and very pleasing. Hoping to see more!
Thank you! I just realized I was guessing at my exposure time and upon further review on my EXIF data, this was a 30-second exposure. I really appreciate the feedback! I’m going to update the info in the original post now (if it’ll let me)
Welcome to NPN! An impressive first post. Glad to have you here.
This is a beautifully executed image of these falls and at night. I’m usually not a big fan of light painting, but this is done tastefully (although that doesn’t seem like the right word…) Let’s just say you did a great job painting the scene. I’m really enjoying the clean whites of the falls.
I’m not an expert on night photography or the night sky. I’m not sure what the effect of the WB and color of the night sky, but to me, it looks to be on the red side. I’m not sure if that’s right or not, just an observation.
Welcome aboard. We look forward to your participation.
Cody: Welcome to NPN. Hope to see more of your work and have you involved in providing critiques.
Great image. Very unique. I think the light painting works very well. I enjoy doing night images as well. You mentioned the sky color. I think this feels off on this one with the reddish / brown color. Here’s a quick version adjusting the sky to more of a blue tone. I just added a solid color adjustment layer with a soft light blending mode and masked it to the sky. See what you think about this kind of an adjustment. I know the night sky is something that folks see differently, so not saying this is right or wrong, just another option.
Cody, welcome to NPN, this is an excellent first post. I think the idea of light painting works really well with this location. The slight trailing of the stars from a 30 second exposure doesn’t bother me. To me it is the visual impact of the light painted landscape that is the star of the show. I do like what @Keith_Bauer has done with color in his rework, I think it creates a better warm/cool color contrast. This is a gorgeous image, looking forward to seeing more of your work at NPN.
Thanks @Lon_Overacker! Now that you and @Keith_Bauer mention it, I can see it clear as day. @Keith_Bauer I love the color in the sky that you re-edited. I’m gonna play around with that this weekend and maybe even print it for my house. It was a special trip for me and this may be the image I use to remember the entire trip. Cheers and thanks again for the super helpful feedback
Since you mention printing for the house, I thought I would get real picky. I tend to really scrutinize if something is going to see print. At least if this were mine, I would: clone out the leaves and the brown thing (rock in water?) along the bottom edge left of center. Then consider burning down the light painting in the LLC; all the other corners are dark creating vignette and so I would burn down the brighter greens in that corner. That would be me though, not everyone is as nitpicky as me…
