The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Getting ready for spring and shooting waterfalls I was going through some of my older photos kind of inspiring myself and thinking about what I could change or do better this year. I shot this back in 2019 and it’s always been one of my favorite simple waterfall shots. Other than cropping off those rocks at the bottom I’m not sure what else I would do for this.
Specific Feedback
Overall impressions and possible ways to make, shoot or edit this better.
Technical Details
D750, iso100, f13, 15 secs, 50mm. Been a while but probably nd8
I can see why this is one of your favorites. Only thing I could suggest is maybe a little more dynamic range and also maybe cloning out the black rock at the waterline on the right.
Great picture!!
Hiding the rocks in the blacks is a good idea, I like crushed black in photos a lot.
One thing, the sky and trees at the top of the waterfall. They are a bit soft, but unfortunately, I have no idea what to do. Maybe burning the trees a bit (and dodging the sky), then the water would stand out even more..?
Well, I should also look for a ND filter. I just take the camara and hang it around my sholder but a filter would fit in a pocket.
damned, now I remember why i never bought one
I don´t want to carry a tripod. Maybe a small bag filled with sand or beans might help in some cases or I should overcome my laziness. I need to think about that.
The pictures with ND are all quite good, especially with water, when you can smooth out movement
Haha I can’t live without my tripod. When I started using filters I had graduated nds, nds, and a cpl and way over used all of them. I never touch my graduated filters any more. The nd I pretty much just use to really drag the shutter on waterfalls.
That’s a beauty Rick. Although common, straight on compositions of huge waterfalls work well when the water is the star. Your ND worked well to get that dreamy waterflow, and the walls around it are a nice support.
I agree about those foreground rocks, they do tend to snag the eye.
I enjoy black and whites when the deep black tease a bit more of what they are hiding, so I would open them just a touch.
I’m curious Ralf if you looked at the image full-size. I ask because I’m finding that my images look soft in the way NPN initially displays them. If I click on the image to open it up, and then click on the “view full size” icon in the upper right, and then click on the image one more time to see the image at it’s original posted size, I find I can better appreciate the original sharpness.
Hello John, oh, my bad. I didn´t, my apologies…
Hm, but still, not for the sharpness, I think the trees could be a bit darker. This is of course just my opinion
Please don´t get me wrong, this is a great picture for me. I just try to imagine how it would look then
I really like this image and feel it definitely has a nice ‘fine art’ look. I have a slightly different take on a couple things. First, I thought a little more detail in the waterfall would be an improvement. I did some sharpening and added more contrast to try and achieve this, but maybe not as idea as the detail you would get out of camera. I also really like the foreground and I thought the small rock in the middle was important. I expanded the area in front of the rock slightly to help emphasize it a little. Great image without these additions, however.
I’ll agree with what the others have said and add that when I first looked at the image my initial reaction was the vignetting at the bottom was a little strong and didn’t appear “natural” to my eye, so If it were me, I would try to lighten that up a bit. Otherwise a real strong composition, the water looks great and I do like the middle foreground rock to add interest to that area of the image. Nice work!
Hi Rick,
I can see why this is one of your favorites! Although it is pretty straight forward I like the idea of converting this to a B&W. I also quite like the rising plume of mist from the base of the waterfall. Although this is very nice as is I also like the rework by my brother @Michael_Lowe as I do enjoy the luminosity of that rock wall behind the falls. I hear you on getting ready for the waterfalls this spring as I too am thinking about them. Really lovely image.
Thanks Ed. I agree, lightening that rock area and bringing out some more detail in those darker rocks makes this image stronger. Such a simple, subtle tweak… I’ve been going through some of my old images after reading the advice on the two I’ve posted here so far. Looks like I have a habit of crushing the blacks a little too hard and losing some detail in areas that need it. Glad I found this community and am already learning from some flaws. Also glad this flaw is a pretty easy fix. Sooner or later I’ll get around to posting some color, I’m expecting a lot more flaws there lol. I tend to go for bw more often than not.
@Willemd nailed it. What about reducing it to fewer elements instead of the entire falls? I added the white frame because the dark image was blending into the NPN background. Just another option.
Thanks Igor. This crop gives me an idea for another composition altogether. Shoot with more of the pooled water in the fg with that lone rock taking a bigger role with the falls and mist creating a nice dreamy bg. If the light cooperates and I’m able to pull off what’s in my head could make a great fine art shot.
