This is a new location for me. A minor cascade above a very well known waterfall in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge. I had already set up the composition, and was snapping away, trying to get everything to frame up just right when the sun peeked through the trees in the perfect spot.
I’d love to get your feedback about the weight of the image the color balance and how you feel about sunstars. I know some people love them and some don’t. How do you feel it works with this scene?
I stopped down to f/22 (and know all the reasons why not to) to get the really pronounced sunstar.
1.3 Seconds, ISO 100,
This was shot with my Sony A7riii and the brand new Sony 20mm f/1.8
I’ve edited with some gradients, curves, luminosity masks, and my own version of an Orton effect using Frequency Separation,as well as a little bit of burning in PS. Nothing too drastic, but just a little bit to bring out the atmosphere.
I am not usually a fan of sunstar but its presence in this image changes the entire image. I immediately like the reddish rock on the right and how it is balanced by the moss on the left. And the cascade is also very nice, Dan. No nit. Just beautiful.
Love the scene but to me it seems to be leaning to the left too much. For example, if you use the middle pool between the two cascades it’s not level. Unfortunately, rotating the image will take away from the bottom. You might be able to use a warp tool to straight it some without losing the bottom of the frame though. Also like the mix of cool and warm tones.
Thanks for the feedback Bobby. I see what you’re getting at, but in this case it was perfectly level. The middle pool isn’t really a pool, but just a section where water is flowing through. That said, I might tweak the very bottom part of the image like you mentioned. I’ll try it out and see how it works.
Beautiful image Dan. I love lens flares (star burst) and think this one works especially well because it seems to be reflecting the same shape as the lower water formation. Nice capture.
I love the sunstar @Dan_Hawk in this image and how it builds on the stream. One nit: the bottom half of the scene with the rocks and stream seem too dark. Any chance to bring it up a bit? Maybe midtones increase in that region? Looks like my screen needs re-calibrating, as I see this is better balanced on a different screen.
