Lower Yosemite Falls

Critique Style Requested: Standard

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

Description

On July 4, 2022, I headed up to Ahwahne (Yosemite Valley) to do some test shots for a project. Those test shots didn’t work out too well, but I did capture this image of Lower Yosemite Falls. At this resolution you should be able to make out the group of four people scrambling over the foreground boulders; there’s also a second group in the shadow on the far side of the creek, but I don’t think you can see much more than one person’s white hat.

Because I’m mostly out for day hikes, and live a couple hours from the mountains, a lot of my landscape shots are in full-blast Sierra summer daylight. My theory is that Ansel Adams shot so much black and white because it can produce decent results in harsh light. Since black and white can easily turn depth into flat texture, I think it’s important to compose for depth.

Technical Details

Sony a7, Tamron 28-200mm F2.8-5.6 set at 30mm, ISO 400, 1/200 sec, f/16, EV -0.70. B&W conversion and other processing in On1 Photo Raw 2023.

Nice shot. You composed for depth quite well. The B&W conversion is nice. My only problem with the image is the sky. It looks a little muddy, especially the RH side. There are also quite a few dust specs.