I removed quite a few stray branches coming in from the edges, curious if any of those spots stand out to anyone.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Looking for feedback on the overall color tone of the image. And how to come up with better names for my images…
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Single frame, 154mm, 2.0 seconds @ f/16, ISO 100. I’m not certain but probably used the CPL adapter mount on my EOS R.
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@michaelrungphotography
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This is a nice image, Michael. I like the way that you framed the cascade with the stone bridge and the reflection. I think that the overall tone of the image looks nice and works well to highlight the cascades. I could see brightening the highlights in the tree on the left. If you are familiar with luminosity masks you could select a lights mask and brighten just the highlights in the leaves on the tree. I think that would make a nice counterpoint for the cascade.
Edit: I meant the tree on the right in my comment above.
The framing is excellent, though I’m not sure that tree on the right adds much. I think balance-wise this would work better a a completely centered photo.
I think the composition is excellent, centering would take the tension away. I agree with Brian that enhancing the highlights in the tree on the right would balance the image.
I think your colour tone works very well, but may make the image look a bit contrived -although that is the present-day trend - Mildly desaturating oranges and yellows will push it towards a more natural impression, but may lessen the impact as well.
Michael, I love the concept of this image. The stones in that bridge have a lot of character, and make it a perfect subject for this type of shot. I also love the color and toning you have inside the “circle of light”, it adds a very dreamy quality to the image.
In terms of composition, I agree with @Tony_Kuyper about wanting to see the image more centered, in a squarish crop. The shadowed bush on the right is a nice framing element, I just think you need less of it. While this gets very much into subjective personal taste, I also think the dreamy quality created by the warm color toning would be more effective if it applied only to the highlights and midtones, while leaving the shadows cooler. Here is a rework with a crop, and cooler shadows.
Thanks for the input @Brian_Schrayer@Tony_Kuyper@jaapv@Ed_McGuirk! I’ve struggled a bit with this one, shifting back and forth between “very dreamy” and not-so-much. I’ve had a gut feeling the shadows were a touch too warm still but wanted to see what others thought; I’ve also tried different crops as I agree that the tree on the right, while a nice balancing element, was a bit too much in the frame.
In this rework I’ve brightened the leaves on the left just a touch, cropped to 4x5 from 2x3, increased the range mask on the sun glow to pull it out of the shadows a bit, and ramped up the cooler tones in the shadows by increasing that in my split tone adjustment. I also brightened the sunny area a hair as I felt it did lose some of the dreamy glow with the other adjustments.
Wow, when I first saw the thumbnail on the main page, it was a mind bender for me - very intriguing, mysterious. Of course opening up the post and the larger view it becomes clear what we’re seeing. Yet still, the darkness surrounding the light through like a “portal” is still has a bit of mystery and certainly intrigue. Can I say uniquely beautiful as well? Love this scene!
I think your original work on this is quite excellent. Ah, but as others have pointed out there is potential for squeezing a bit more out of this wonderful scene.
I would agree to an extent about having the window centered a little bit. The obvious way is a crop off the right, but I think the trees and spring leaves on the right are a key element. More on that in a sec. But rather than use just a crop from the right, I expanded the left and bottom by adding canvas and stretching. Makes me think of Captain Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru… I cheated. In going down that road, I was feeling both the bottom and left ware a little tight to the frame. And since these areas are dark, stretching a bit was much less of a problem since any anomalies would be hard to detect. And with the expanded canvas I took the opportunity to rotate clockwise a few degrees.
So… with added room on the left, less crop of the right is required and more of the spring tree and rock could be retained. Back to the tree on the right. I thought the light and color on the tree should be emphasized since there is light coming through the opening arch illuminating the tree. I used a TK’s yellow channels selection and H/S layer to boost the yellows in sat and brightness. I also dodged a little. Not to make them too bright, but enough to show the tree being illuminated through the archway opening.
The stuff happening in the reflection and background with the overhanging tree and waterfall of course are key too, but I think just as important is what’s happening on this side of the intriguing stonework of the bridge.
Lastly, I think I worked the colors of the darks resulting in a bit of a warmer presentation.
YMMV, but some food for thought. An image most certainly worth exploring all the options.
Beautiful!
Wow, @Lon_Overacker… just when I thought I was done with this one you’ve definitely given me something to think about. Really like what you did with the leaves on the right.
I’ll play around some more and let things simmer for a bit.
Michael, Lon has made an already good image even better. Very well seen. I have nothing else to add but I want to say that this is such a gorgeous image. I can’t take my eyes off of what’s behind that arch.
- Mildly desaturating oranges and yellows will push it towards a more natural impression, but may lessen the impact as well.
