Fall is well and truly upon us although the colors aren’t at their peak yet. Even so I went a couple hours northeast yesterday to the Pine River. It’s one of Wisconsin’s Wild Rivers even though it still has a dam on it which is perplexing. Other than that it complies with Wisconsin’s Wild Rivers Act [which] prohibits dams and other structures from impeding water current and protects shorelines. It also stipulates that vegetation must remain untampered with within 150 ft. of the riverbank, and that only walk-in access is provided on state-owned grounds — no motorized vehicles allowed.
Lucky for me I could drive nearly all the way to this and a few other sites. It is remote though, let me tell you. In winter the road is not maintained although some ATV or snowmobile trials may be passable. If any of the other 3 wild rivers are like this, I’m checking them out. I may even head back to this one and other falls father downstream when there is more color.
Specific Feedback Requested
So I spent a lot of time messing around with compositions in this bit of the river. Right now it’s very low so I could get out onto rocks and ledges that would normally be submerged in the flow. I was grateful for the leaves on the rock to balance the weight of the composition. Does it work? I have some other views and angles as well.
Technical Details
Tripod & CPL
Bracketed mostly to have different water character with different shutter speeds and this is the winner.
Lr to do some wb adjustment, lens correction & transform to fix geometry. Used masking to even out some lighter and darker corners and to draw the eye to the center of the back of the river.
Ps to use luminosity & zone masks as stencils for dodge & burn layers to enhance the look of the water and up the drama there. Also for some distraction removal.
I think this is a terrific comp, Kris. My eye flows nicely from the left of center back, down to the lower right. The shutter speed looks perfect. I can tell the CPL worked nicely for the foreground. I do find the center of the river in the distance a bit distracting from the reflected sky light. But that’s minor. I think this would look good after a bit of rain to wet down the rocks.
I really like the water flow in the foreground. It really pulls me in. Would love to see more of these scenes that you’ve captured.
A beautifully captured scene with an excellent composition. I like the serenity and quiet of the upper part of the scene that then transitions to a more dynamic scene with some sensory response (sound, feeling, etc.) in the lower portion. It’s a image that brings me right there - like I could pull up a chair - or a big rock, and just sit there staring at the beauty, listening to the rushing water… all those things. This image does that.
There was something that I couldn’t put my finger on, so I brought this in to PS. What I discovered was that I think the scene was heavy towards the blacks and shadows - ie. contrast seemed a bit strong for such a gentle, peaceful scene. To my pleasant surprise, bumping up the blacks and shadows (I brought back in to ACR) - that it revealed some details in the darks that weren’t there in the original. Specifically, I’m talking about the dark pool of water in the LL quadrant. Raising the shadows revealed the shapes of some rocks beneath the surface that I think brought some interest to this area. And in general the reduced contrast seems more suited to the experience or portrayal of such a lovely scene. Not sure if this fits your vision, but thought I would offer up an alternative. As I mentioned, in ACR, I brought up the blacks and shadows a few points; I also dropped the clarity and dehaze a couple points as well. Oh, and dropped the highlights to tone down the reflections in the upper stream. Minor tweaks really, so I’m not sure how well they will come across in this version. YMMV.
Great image! I like the composition a lot. However, IMO the flat area neaar t he URC does not add a lot to the image, it could be deleted. However, the stream in the LRC is very important, so I guess you need an image taken from another position to delete the flat area but still keep the stream.
I like the reduction in contrast that @Lon_Overacker’s version brought to the image. I really like the rock at the very bottom and think that having it take up a bigger portion of the image space would have been good by shooting this image from a lower camera position. This is my favorite part of the image:
Hey Kristen! Great shot. You’re definitely speaking my waterfall language here with your composition. The colors of the leaves and greens in the back are electric too, so I really enjoyed that. The shutter speed also looks great. Slow enough to lengthen the motion of the water, but fast enough to show action and water movement. Very well done. The only thing compositionally that I see that I want more of is the little white water section in the very bottom right corner. Compositions are a story. The outflow of water from the main cascade had come to a conclusion, but this little white ripple starts a new journey that is cut off. It makes me want to know where that goes and what happens. Is it enough to take away from the beauty of the scene? No. But it is enough to make me want more from that section. A vertical composition might include all of that area as well.
Thanks @David_Bostock, @Lon_Overacker, @Ola_Jovall, @Igor_Doncov & @David_Johnston for your thoughtful consideration and editing. Scenes like this can be maddening after the fact because the sheer presence of rivers like this can make me “blind” to certain views, nuances and versions.
I’ve added two images to the OP for opinions. Because of the shape of the river itself and the bend it took just to my right and out of shot, I couldn’t position the camera much differently to not include that water in the lower right. If I lifted the camera, the rock went, too. If I angled to the left the rocky bank took over the composition. I’ll see what else I have and post separately.
