While I’m thinking of waterfalls, I thought I would share Schweitzer Waterfalls from the same trip of my previous posting. Though not hard to get to, these falls are a little off of the beaten track. We had to take a ‘two-track’ road to get to them. Fortunately, my son is a pretty good navigator.
Specific Feedback Requested
Please share your thoughts on this photo. Composition, PP, etc. All CC welcomed.
This is about the only view for seeing the entire waterfall. I do have some shots from a lower angle, but you only see the right side of the falls.
Technical Details
Canon 5D IV | EF17-40 | f22 | 8.0s | 400 | 28mm
Post processing - ACR and Photoshop
I think this is a good “documentary” photo of the waterfall - it shows the surrounding landscape and how the water flows around the tree. The crop makes it obvious that the falls are the subject. For me, the bushes at the bottom are a bit of a visual impediment that say “stand here and view the scene” rather than inviting me to move into the scene. And even if the bushes weren’t there, it feels to me like I have to choose between the left or the right branches of the water to follow into the scene and because I can’t choose, my eyes stay put in the foreground. I wonder if you had stepped to the right (if that was even possible) whether that would have made the right branch the obvious choice to follow into the scene. As for the PP, I like the colors and you controlled the highlights really well; the shadows are a bit too dark for my preference. Hope that all makes sense.
Beautiful falls and I think you did well getting it all in. There is quite a bit going on, but not nearly as busy or chaotic as your earlier post. I think here, the autumn vegetation along the bottom and lower right, along with the scattered evergreens balance with the white water of the falls. There is something of visual interest throughout most all of the frame.
The main challenge with impressive natural scenes like this is simplification. What can be isolated from the larger view that really captures what inspires you? Yes, the big picture and being there is plenty of inspiration. In this particular image Jeanie touches on what I also think is the biggest challenge - and that is the split falls. Water is cascading in two different directions and angles forcing the composition in to a 50/50 split which keeps the viewer bouncing back and forth between sides. The good news is that the falls are beautiful, even all together. The difficulty is that the same falls split the scene.
Not having been there I don’t know what other choices you had. The whole area looks pretty heavy with vegetation and likely not too many options at your disposal.
I would also agree with Jeanie that the shadow areas are a little dark - but that’s pretty minor. Colors are good and I like the clean whites you’ve developed in the water.
And the more I’ve looked at this, the better it gets. I mean I think you’ve pretty much captured the cleanest comp you could have. And I do like the vegetation at the bottom as it provides good color accent for the scene.
I don’t mind the split in the falls. It is hard to make it work sometimes, but I think you did well here. I like the colors and the ‘here it is’ aspect of the shot. Not everything has to be arty and mystical, sometimes nature is what it is and presenting it factually is not a detriment or a defect. One of my favorite falls in southern NH is bigger than this and also split, but impossible to get all together because a big rock shelf with trees on it is in the way. This scene is much more manageable. The water looks powerful and loud, the scene rugged and natural. If it were mine I’d look to clone out the stick across the water toward the middle and maybe see if the brightness of the foam below it could be reduced. The shadows do seem a tad deep, but not offensively so. Fall is starting here so pretty soon the landscape will look a lot like this. Nice job.
