A fairly straight forward cascade image from Yosemite captured last spring. Single frame, cropped some to get rid of some debris at the bottom. I also cloned a small stream of water in the ULC. A Selective color layer to neutralize the white balance of the water, a low opacity orton effect to boost contrast and pop and some selective burning of rock highlights.
Thanks for looking and leaving any comments!
What technical feedback would you like if any?
All comments welcome. general processing, especially color/saturation.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Impressions and comments welcome
Any pertinent technical details:
Nikon D800E, 28-300mm @65mm f/16 1/3s
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
This works well as both a waterfall picture and an abstract, which is unusual because it’s difficult to come up with complex compositions with water. I really like the overall warm color cast here. All these shapes in the form of browns makes for me, The overall empty area in the ulc can be mitigated with a square crop, although there is plenty of interest up there.
Beautifully composed, Lon. I can’t see any crops to improve. The rendering is quite warm but works well, IMO. You could experiment with a cooler white balance but this becomes very subjective. Your processing is top notch. I can’t see any way to improve.
I like your chosen shutter speed and the warm golden tones Lon. Your processing is top notch. The 4X5 format made me look twice to see if it was a film image.
This is a lovely little intimate scene for sure, Lon. Your chosen SS works nicely as does the warm tones of the rock. The lack of scale makes the viewer dig deeper into the image to enjoy all the textures and details. This is a wonderful little find.
Great image, Lon. Love the warm colors and textures in the rock. The flow of the stream through the image is also nice. My only small nit would be the slightly heavy ULC, but I don’t know how you could have composed it any differently.
So much to explore in this intimate scene. Interesting colors, textures and the smoothness of the waterfall has grace and beauty. Lovely image with great impact.
I love this image very much Lon, especially how the falling water spreads its way around the frame. A very clever and delightful compostion IMHO. Another aspect of the image, that sets it apart from regular “waterfall” photos is the lovely color and detail in the granite backdrop. In fact, the contrast between the water and the granite is quite something here. Really well done!
Thanks so much for your comments and observations everyone. Truly appreciated.
@Dave_Dillemuth, thanks I was wondering if this was too warm. I have since backed off the warmth a little, but discovered of course that re-work of the water would be needed as well. I’ll be revisiting this for sure if I ever print.
Compositionally, I would have prefer to have a slightly different angle to reduce the negative space in the ULC. Acutally, this is a small section of a larger cascade and in years past we had more freedom of movement laterally to pick our spots (hint, I can think of at least 5 NPN members who have posted from this location…) But sometime late in 2016 there was a “significant” rock fall at this location. A many ton, half-garage-sized boulder sits in front of these lower falls now. Some of us happen to visit not long after the rock fall - there was a good 3-400lb arrow shaped chip of granite impaled in the ground several feet away from the giant boulder, right about where I was standing to capture this image. Needless to say with the fresh signs of the rock fall, we didn’t linger long. The landscape is constantly changing…
But sometime late in 2016 there was a “significant” rock fall at this location. A many ton, half-garage-sized boulder sits in front of these lower falls now. Some of us happen to visit not long after the rock fall - there was a good 3-400lb arrow shaped chip of granite impaled in the ground several feet away from the giant boulder, right about where I was standing to capture this image. Needless to say with the fresh signs of the rock fall, we didn’t linger long. The landscape is constantly changing…