Herring Run #2

Image Description

This image was taken a few days after my prior post of Herring Run. As you can see there was a good amount of leaf drop so I tried to take advantage of that with the wide angle to emphasize the colorful FG autumn leaves. I used my hiking poles to climb down the bank as it was quite slippery with the wet leaves and rocks. Well worth the extra bit of effort IMO.

Type of Critique Requested

  • Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
  • Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
  • Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
  • Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.

Specific Feedback and Self-Critique

As always all C&C is welcome and appreciated.

Technical Details

Nikon Z7, Nikon 14-30 f4 @ 18mm, f 13 @ 0.6 sec, ISO 100, Kase magnetic CPL

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Nice work here Ed! The CPL seems crucial for this scene.

I “sort of” feel like its a bit warm but the bright bits of water tell me its not!
I dunno, I’m having a hard time finding ways to give you much feedback in terms of what you should change… it works!

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Nicely composed image emphasizing the colorful leaves. Well worth the effort and risk of slippage, for sure! It’s a peaceful scene that is well balanced between the cascade and the foreground color. If I were to suggest anything, it might be cropping in from the top ever so slightly to eliminate the dark area in ULC and possibly cropping in from the bottom to reduce the open area of rock in LRC. But you needn’t do anything, really. Well done!

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Wow! Gorgeous use of wide angle! I love the composition and sharpness. My only thought might be to cool down the whites a bit, but probably leave the darks where they are.

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Nice fall image, Ed. I like the flow of the water, it has smoothness and still maintains some contrast. The beautiful fall leaves tells the story. I think there is an orange color cast that @Matt_Payne is seeing. I hope you don’t mind that I took your image into Photoshop and removed the color cast using the TK Panel. It has an action called “Neutralize Color Cast 1” that does a nice job of removing color casts. This panel also has an action called “Soft Pop” that I used to add the color of the leaves back in and then brought the opacity down some. Finally, I used an S curve to bring in more contrast. Just a thought.

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You certainly had some nice leaf drop for this image. I agree with @Matt_Payne about a warm colorcast and I feel that @Donna_Callais took care of most of the issue. I might add back in a little more contrast but not much. Well done, Donna. I think I might dodge the very ULC to remove the dark patch of rock but otherwise, this is a very nice Fall image. Love the texture in the waterfall. It’s just right for me.

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Nice work - I always forget about that option in TK, haha. I use a similar method using average blur.

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Hi Ed, :slight_smile:

From a personal preference point of view, I like this composition much better than the previous one from a few days earlier with one exception, this one doesn’t have water flowing over the rocks in the corner (obviously from less waterflow) but that was a nice bonus IMO.
Not a big sacrifice, that little bonus waterfall in the corner was just something I liked. :slight_smile:

The amount of FG is extra nice in this one because I get to enjoy viewing the textures in the FG rock and leaves.
I really like how the leaves outline the shape of the exposed rocks this side of the water.
That long horizontal rock just this side of the water has a very appealing texture (and is more visible as a result of the reflected light from the rushing water).

I like the inclusion of the upper portion of the scene because it shows depth and adds context, it gives us a good notion about where the water is coming from.
Showing the top of the big rock (at the top) shows where that rock terminates and cropping down would cause that to be lost.
It might be good to add some exposure to the small dark rectangle in the ULC, it’s only because it’s right in the corner that causes it to draw attention, if it were out on the scene it wouldn’t have that affect IMHO.

As for the color cast, I can’t count the number of times I’ve been in the woods at dawn and at dusk where there is a nice golden color everywhere from the sunrise or sunset, so, I think the color cast shown in this image is very plausible, realistic and appealing.

While I like the edit for color correction that @Donna_Callais did, it changes the mood by changing the perceived time of day the photograph was taken, her interpretation makes me think it was taken during mid-day rather than early morning or late evening.
There is certainly nothing wrong with that approach if that was the mood you’re wanting to show.

Whenever I look at an image for the purpose of critique, I tend to try to find elements that should be left as they are rather than looking for elements that need to be changed and I guess that the “Cup Half Full” approach (as opposed to “Cup Half Empty” approach) is a more positive and more fair way IMHO.
If I were to only look for elements that need to be changed, it’s too easy to overlook the positive elements that could offset the negative elements.
For example, If I were to say: “Crop down from the top to eliminate the small dark rectangle in the ULC”, yes, that would work to eliminate that negative element, but, it would also cause a more positive element to be lost, which is the top of the large rock showing the shape of the top of that rock, IMHO, you would lose more than you gain.

Anyway, enough rambling about critique philosophy (I do stray from that on occasion myself, so, not throwing stones :frowning: )
This is a really good image in every way with the minor exception of the small dark rectangle.

Your skill with the 14-30 f4 lens, slow shutter speed and the CPL certainly shows!

I am curious though, did you use the CPL as a means to reduce the shutter speed or was there a glare there that needed to be mitigated?
Was there a specific reason for using a CPL as opposed to an ND filter?

Well done!! :slight_smile:

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Beautiful scene Ed; that carpet of leaves is eye candy, and the falls are a lovely star of the show. I hear all the points noted above, and suspect something midway between the two color options posted would hit the sweet spot for me.

2 Likes

Ed,

Beautiful autumn image. So tranquil. I love the combination of the fallen leaves in the foreground with the graceful and beautiful flow of the stream and cascades. I like the case here where the real estate occupied by the leaves is much greater than the space taken by the cascades - yet from a visual “weight” perspective this is all balanced quite nicely.

I didn’t notice really any color balance, but after seeing some edits, I suppose I would agree a little tweaking might be needed. but certainly not much. The only other suggestion I have would be to darken the reflected lights in the LRC. Not a big deal by any stretch, but just another tweak.

Lon

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Many thanks everyone @Matt_Payne, @Steve_Layman, @Diane_Miller, @Donna_Callais, @David_Haynes, @Merv, @John_Williams and @Lon_Overacker for your thoughtful C&C; always appreciated. Here is a repost hopefully taking care of your suggestions. I removed 10 points of yellow from the highlights, burned the LRC just a touch and used the patch tool to get rid of the slightly darker area in the ULC. I tried a crop, but that just didn’t look right so I just went with adding some leaves.

@Matt_Payne : You are right, the CPL was crucial to get rid of some glare.
@Donna_Callais : I do not mind at all; glad you took and time to do a rework with your thoughts. Looks good.
@Merv : Thanks for the kind words. This was taken in the early morning and I do tend to like a little warmth in my images although sometimes I go to far. I used the CPL to get rid of the glare on the wet leaves and rocks. I too liked that little waterfall in the left corner.

Thanks again everyone!

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Hi Ed,

Thanks for the response and for the rework post!

I had a felling this was shot early morning or late evening and I also had a feeling the CPL was to mitigate glare but I wasn’t sure, I have used a CPL in the past as a means of lowering shutter speed a little but they aren’t as effective as ND filters since most of them are only about 1 stop darker, but in the case of glare the CPL is the only choice.
I have stacked a CPL and an ND filter for brighter times of day with good results.

I don’t feel that you went too far with the warming and I’m glad that you didn’t change the tonal range in the rocks and leaves in the rework.
The edit on the water was a good call IMHO.

It’s always great to get individual thoughts from different people as you did here, then be able to apply what you feel is an improvement.

The rework looks great to me! :slight_smile:

Thanks again, Ed! :slight_smile:

1 Like