This is one of my favorite waterfalls in the Smoky Mountains. I took this a few weeks ago when the leaves were close to peak.
Does the image suck dirt? How could the composition look better? Do the colors look good?
Fuji X-T4 with 10-24mm lens. 3 image focus stack.
Shawn, what a wonderful image. It definitely doesn’t suck dirt…You have a very wide scene with nice closeup interest. Compositionally it looks great. Sure, the upper left corner is a bit busy compared to the rest of the scene, but that’s not a deal breaker at all. I really like the light in the upper right too, wonderful. The only critique I have is that the white water looks seems to have a bit of color cast. Again, not a big deal, as this is such a strong image. Well done.
Nice image - I enjoyed the punch of colour in the leaves and following the stream up to the yellow and red canopy. And very sharp so can explore the details. Maybe open the shadows on the left a bit. Thanks for posting, looks like a great day to be out.
This is a tricky location to compose an image. I have attempted this a few times and I haven’t come away with anything great. It may have something to do with the steep scramble down to this spot! I think this works pretty well. I like having the foreground rock and the fallen leaves in the composition. One of the tricky parts of this location is the way that the cascade makes a left turn and leads out of the composition. I think the way that you handled this in the composition works for my eye. The fall color above these falls is always amazing!
Hi Shawn.
What a wonderful image. My only thought is that the contrast between the dark left and the lighter right side gives the image an unbalanced feel to me. I agree with Charles that opening up the shadows on the left might help. Really nice job.
Love the image! The colors are beautiful. If anything, just brighten the dark areas and lighten up the dark areas just to give it a good balance.
First of all, quit stealing all of my photo spots! Just kidding. I’ve photographed this waterfall so many times I’ve lost count. You’ve done a great job, capturing the entire essence of this location. I don’t really see much that you could do differently here, I think you nailed the shot, and really captured the smoky mountains and all of their glory.
Very nice! I’ll echo what others have already said about opening shadows and establishing a bit mor balance from left to right.
Hey Shawn,
This works for me. The upper left corner, while chaotic and possibly distracting, I think you’ve handled it well to push it away from the forefront. The bright light at top is great and I think the waterfall flows nicely. Not sure I’d change much really… I might explore some different comps but I think the one you found here is good. Not sure the lower right corner helps a TON but again, it doesn’t really hurt either.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I opened the shadows on the left in Photoshop and it does make the photo more balanced.
I really like how you adjusted the shot. Looks great.
The adjustment looks terrific. No nits or other suggestions now. Beautiful place to photograph!
Beautiful image Shaw; I really like the newer version.
