I had been to the upper section of Elkala Falls before, but this is the first time I made it to the lower section of the falls. It is a bit of a bush wack to get to this section as you have to get off the main trail and slog your way through the underbrush, rocks and downed trees all the while going downhill. It was well worth the extra effort IMO.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
All C&C welcome
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
All C&C welcome
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D800, Nikon 17-35 @ 22mm, f 16 @ 4 sec, ISO 100, CPL, cable release & tripod
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Ed, extra effort often pays off big. Glad you put in the work because this is a fantastic subject. Great use of motion blur in the water leading up to the fall, and the autumn leaves add a very nice touch throughout the image (perfect timing for this photo). There are two things that draw my attention away from this image. First is the bright bare rock at the bottom left corner of the frame. It seems to be competing for attention with the fall and the water. Maybe some burning or even cropping the bottom portion out (say, a 4x5 crop) to remove the distracting bit. Also, the image overall seems a tad warm to me. Maybe a slight adjustment of white balance toward the cooler side? Worth some experimentation. Either way, solid image and well worth the effort!
You are killing me with these waterfall images Ed, we have nothing like this in New England this year with our terrible drought. Maybe Covid did you a favor by driving you to PA instead.
Your shutter speed did some great things with the water, the flow of the falls is excellent, and I love the long white streaks from the foam in the water. The S-curve shape of the foam streaks is really nice. I feel compelled to critique this by drawing some comparisons to your previous waterfall post. In this image I do think the white balance is a bit too warm, the whites in the water are not as crisp and clean as the prior shot. It will be interesting to see if you get similar comments on the foam streak leading "out the LRC. I’m okay with it just as I was in your prior post. I also agree with @Dustin_Waits about burning the rock in the LLC, in fact I might even burn the whole bottom edge a bit. Here is a rework reflecting my comments, WB and burning. Obviously WB is a matter of personal taste, and mine tends to run more to the cooler side, and yours may not. But I think the cleaner whites add a little pop here.
Thanks guys @Dustin_Waits and @Ed_McGuirk for taking a moment to leave your thoughts as they are always appreciated. @Dustin_Waits: Great suggestions. I did not notice the overall warmth and the lighter toned FG rock until you mentioned it. I think Ed’s repost took care of your suggestions perfectly. @Ed_McGuirk: Thanks so much for taking the time to do a rework. I think you nailed it. As you well know I have a habit of leaning to the warm side to much sometimes and that was certainly the case here. The cleaner whites look great and do add some pop to the scene as you mentioned. I was really sorry about not being able to head north, but Mike and I were rewarded with two nice days of shooting in WV. The water levels were down a little, but certainly not bad. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we as a country can get Covid under control and being able to head to NH and ME in 2021. Stay safe.
Another great shot from our trip, Ed. The flow through the image is fantastic. My only small nit is again the warmth. I think @Ed_McGuirk got the processing right with his post.
