The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Repost: Thanks for the wonderful suggestions, I burned the brighter areas and cropped it in tighter. I agree getting there early or with more even light would be awesome, I’ll definitely try to get back there this summer!
Shot at The Basin in Franconia Notch State Park, NH. The White Mountains of New Hampshire are beautiful and significantly older than the Rockies. The Basin is an area that water was slowly carved out for thousands of years to be a smooth pool filled with cold mountain water.
Specific Feedback
I would love to know if the wider angle works for this image. I was stuck between this and another image of a tighter view but I thought this better met the rhythmic challenge since it shows the slow carving of the basin and not just moving water.
Welcome, Jay. Being very familiar with this location, I have no problem with the wide angle. In fact I might have gone a little wider and perhaps shot from a little higher viewpoint to capture more of the swirling water as it winds around the basin and exists out of the bottom right. Also, early morning before the suns comes up is the best time to shoot here. That way the exposure is more even and controlled so there’s not too much dynamic range. Even under those early conditions, I sometimes ,as here, have problems with over exposed water. I am just now learning how to time blend exposures to solve that problem. Overall, a good attempt at capturing the timeless power of this dynamic falls.
Jay, this looks very good, with a fine mix of rocks and water filling the frame well. I like how the water moves back and forth across the frame. Your shutter speed lets the flow of the water show well. I could see just a smidgen off the top, to remove the nearly horizontal portion of brightly lit rock. Yes, it would be interesting as @Michael_Lowe suggests to shoot this area under slightly overcast conditions to even the lighting, but this works well as presented.
Very nice scene here, Jay. I think you did well considering the wide dynamic range. I agree with @Mark_Seaver regarding a slight crop off the top of the sunlit rock. I also could see working a bit to tone down the very high values in the water and also burning down that bright spot in the LLC.
I like the way the water moves through the image.
-P
Really nice location. I bet you will visit this one often. I like the color in the water, and even appreciate the sunlit feel of the capture, though that could be a result of my being in a week long rain system in Oregon.
I do think a crop could solve a few issues, and I hope it’s okay that I’m sharing one here as an example.
This crop eliminates the following: the top rock flirting with the edge of the frame and the sunlit, calcified surface distracting from the action below; a hint of forest beyond, but not enough to make us curious about it; less dominance of the rocks and more viewer attention on the beautiful water and the little foreground pool with stones in the bottom.
I might even be tempted to cut just a sliver more off the top, but I didn’t want to mess with the sense that the water is coming from somewhere or have the darker rock in the upper left start to leave the frame.
Wonderful find, and I’m looking forward to more from here.
Thanks so much for the feedback Mark and @Michael_Lowe . I think this shot was definitely taken mid-day but I tried to increase some shadows and darken the water a bit after your feedback. I would love to get back at an earlier time of the day.
Thanks for the great idea of cropping it tighter. I tried to take the crop in a bit more after your feedback. Hopefully more sunny, summer days are around the corner!
Hi Jay,
First off ,welcome to the Landscape gallery. You had quite the wide dynamic range here, but I think you handled it very nicely. Your repost with the suggestions you received has made an already very nice image even better. My only other suggestion would be to remove that bit of moss in the LLC as it does catch my eye a little. After a second look I noticed the shadows on the rock face just to the left of where the Pemi flows in seem to be darker than the original. IMO you might want to take them back to where they were originally because they had some nice details.My brother @Michael_Lowe and I have been to the Basin numerous times and I find it to be a fascinating location and well worth revisiting under the conditions he mentioned. After a rain is even better with wet rocks. I hope to see more of your images as well as your comments on other photographer’s work. Very nicely done.
Burning down the bright area was a good adjustment, but how did you do that? The original post had better detail in the darker rock backdrop than the repost. You gained detail in the bright water but lost detail in the rock. Not sure what you are using to process the photo, but if in Photoshop, then just add a layer that is all 50% gray and set the layer mode to soft light. Then with a brush you with Black you can burn down the water and with white you can lighten the rocks.
