After our recent NPN meetup, I remained an extra couple days for some shooting on my own. This image was taken along the Pemigewasset River in the Basin area of Franconia Notch State Park NH. After a drizzly rain ended, this wonderful light mist formed above the water. To get a good image I had to use a 3 second exposure, and if anything this long exposure enhanced the mist, it looks better here than my minds eye remembers it. I normally use Auto White Balance in my camera, knowing it can be tweaked later in post-processing. In this image the raw file had a very strong green cast, I assume from the canopy of trees above the river. I had to make some significant adjustments to add magenta, so I am curious what everyone thinks of the white balance I used (that means you Lon
The trees were wet, so the yellow and green saturation was off the charts, and I dialed them back significantly. Did I go too far, and do you think some saturation could be restored here? I know saturation is a very subjective thing, but I am polling everyone’s opinion on this point.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any critique and comments are welcome.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Canon 5D MKIV, Canon 70-200mm f4 IS lens, at 138mm, ISO 100, 3.2 seconds at f16
You are making me wish I had stayed a few more days, Ed. This reminds me of some of your previous work and a couple of shots I got along the Pemigewasset two years ago after a rain shower came through. The atmospherics with the light mist set the table for this lovely scene. I think the white balance looks just fine to me as the rocks in the river have that warm tone which I associate with the area. As you already mentioned saturation is a personal thing, but I could see some being restored as the greens look just a little flat to me. Gorgeous work!
Ed, I think the color balance looks good, and dialing it back a little likely kept the greens on the water in check. Looks like nicely calm conditions for a 3 second exposure. This is a pleasure to view, and the mist works well for a sense of depth. I would only suggest bringing up the deeper shadows at bottom left, just to the extent that it’s more consistent with the rest of the scene.
Really like the image overall, Ed. It is very peaceful and serene. The green is dead on perfect for me, looks very natural. As well as the overall color balance.
I agree with Bill on the darkness at bottom left. Also, to my eye, I feel like it might benefit from a very slight clockwise rotation. That may create some issues with the cleanliness of the bottom and right side edges, but I feel like those could be managed. Just a minor thought.
Gorgeous Ed! The mist is quite evident and really sets the mood. Wonderful.
Color balance? Spot on to my eye, including the greens, yellow/greens and saturation. As we’ve recently discussed, those tree trunks for me I would use for a marker or measurement of color/WB. The trees look great and so I’m led to believe the color balance is good.
Only suggestions I was thinking have been mentioned. Ditto on the dodging of the darker rock, LLC - looks like dark green moss growing on the rock. Also, and I spent some time wondering and questioning what I was seeing - but since Sean sees it too, I was thinking a very slight rotation. I was trying to look for some flat pools of water in the stream, but very hard to just straight level. - Minor.
I think I might be in heaven being in and working these areas. thanks for sharing!
Great stuff, Ed. The mist lends an excellent surreal feel. Before reading the other comments, I had the same thoughts about dodging the dark mossy rock LLC. White balance looks perfect to my eye. Very enjoyable image.
Gorgeous image, Ed. Color balance looks fine to me. Just because I shot Daylight film for so many years, I decided when I started shooting digital to set my cameras on Daylight or the equivalent. Like you, I change it as needed, but I found it kinda gave me a starting point I was already somewhat familiar with. As for the things already mentioned, I agree with the dodging of the LLC. I didn’t notice any slant until Lon mentioned it (he’s a troublemaker, you know, LOL) but now I agree it might benefit from a very slight CW twist. The mist is fantastic, and I’m so surprised you were able to shoot a 3.2 second shutter speed without the leaves being very blurry, but it turned out great! Congrats on that!! Saturation - looks good as is, but I would be tempted to perhaps increase it a bit since, under those conditions, it would be expected to be intense. Suggestions not already mentioned - Trees/greenery in the URC ; I think I would dodge those somewhat if you dodge the LLC, otherwise it might become an eye magnet. The trees/greenery overall - I would be tempted to burn the shadows a little and dodge the highlights the same in all of the greenery to increase the contrast and feeling of depth with the trees; not a lot but enough to create the effect (A real specific suggestion, huh?). Things I would change if I could - Expose and shoot the creek for the flow to reduce the water blur to a point to where it’s still somewhat blurry but contains good flow texture also and then blend the textured flow in with this image. Sorry for being so wordy; I must be in “critique” mode today. Great image though!
@Bill_Chambers@Harley_Goldman@Sean_Meehan@Ed_Lowe@Lon_Overacker@Bill_Leggett thanks for all the comments, you all raise some helpful points for improvement. I thought the rock in the LLC would be viewed as a distraction, so I actually burned it down on my first effort. @Sean_Meehan and @Lon_Overacker thanks for the comment on the tilt. This river flows downhill a bit, and I have some other shots where rocks in the middle of the river are clearly level, but the water line behind it is “tilted”, so there is some element of optical illusion at work here.
But with that said, I agree this image is slightly tilted. I have posted a rework that reflects dodging the LLC, and burning the darks in the leaves, and dodging the URC per @Bill_Chambers suggestions, added a little more saturation to the less saturated colors using TK Saturation masks, and of course addressed the tilt. Thanks again for the input everyone.
It’s funny because 2 days before I took this shot, you and I discussed how both of us had encountered these mist conditions previously at this location. There must be something unique about this place that makes these conditions a relatively common occurrence.
Hey Ed. Were you actually laying in the water to get this shot? LOL. I love the low angle view. The mist is the icing on the cake to this fine image. White balance looks great to me. I agree with others about the LLC and agree with Ed about upping the greens just a tad. I don’t see the need for rotation mentioned. Top notch IMO.
Ed, I posted before I saw your rework which looks great. I agree the FG rock could be viewed as a distraction, but I still think it needed a little lightening.
I hiked at least 15 or 20 minutes upstream (north) from the parking lot. I found a spot where the river does like a 70 degree turn, but stood on the bank looking up the turn, and used a long focal length (138mm) to zoom into the river beyond the turn. I drove home right after shooting this location, so I needed to keep my boots dry for the ride home or I would have gotten into the river
Late to this party, Ed. But I want to say that I really like what you did with it, especially the lightening of the LL corner . It is a very cohesive piece and I really like how the foliage from left and right both converges on an imaginary line of third. The mist adds to the magic of the scene. Thanks for sharing. Looks like it was a great meet up. Hopefully the California group would do something similar soon!
@Igor_Doncov@Adhika_Lie thank you for your comments gentlemen, I appreciate your input.
These were special conditions, and my eyes lit up when I saw the mist starting to form on the water after a rainfall.
Ed, What a beautiful image and right off the repost even better. I just love the quiet misty mood this image has along with the great looking composition. Really nice work capturing a wonderfully inviting scene. Scenes like this are probably my favorite type of images!
