Ricketts Glen State Park, PA
Too much blue/cyan in water? Greens too intense? Any other suggestions or critiques welcome.
Nikon D200, 12mm, 1.1 sec @ f/16, ISO 200
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Michael, I’m looking this on my tablet so will have to get back to you. But from what I can see it looks like you’ve got a real winner here. Will revisit in the AM on an actual monitor for a better look when I’m fresh.
Beautiful scene, Michael. I was looking at the image before reading your narrative and was thinking the blue was a little heavy in the water and the transition from the white areas to the blue looked a little unnatural. The greens, while very intense, work for me and provide a nice contrast with the yellows. My nits are minor and I quite like the image.
This is a lovely view looking up Kitchen Creek, Mike. You will have to show me where this spot is the next time we go to Ricketts Glen as I think the cascade section is particularly beautiful.The blues do not bother me, but the greens are a little intense especially in the ULC. The light in the BG trees is particularly inviting and does a wonderful job of drawing me deeper into this scene. Beautifully done!
Michael, another fine view from Ricketts Glen. I like the contrast between the “in your face” step at the bottom and the lovely inviting creek and woods in the top half. I also like the blue tones in the top half as they add a sense of cool, quietness, with the bit of sun at the very top finishing of a fine story.
Michael,
This is quite beautiful. Those main rocks and cascading water over them are awesomely fantastic (pick your adjectives…) As your brother hinted - that section of the cascades is a subject in and of itself. Having said that, you’ve combined them with the broader scene beautifully. I think the glow/luminosity up top is just right (although I would clone/tone down the brightest yellow/orange near the top.)
Interesting, the blue in the water doesn’t seem as prevalent in the larger view. I do think the blues could still be toned down a little… but then again the added color to the scene and cascading stream is nice too.
The only other suggestion I have would be to clone in on a low opacity layer, a little more texture is the white area near center and a similar spot at about 1 o’clock from center. Minor though.
This has t he makings of a fine, fine, print.
Lon
Michael, now that I’ve had a chance to look on a real monitor, it looks excellent to me. The colors throughout seem well balanced and not over the top. What I really like is the nice arrangement and near-to-far composition. I likely would not have gone with a longer exposure because I don’t like silky water (I’m funny that way), but your choice of shutter, and the warm-to-cool tones produced a really pleasing soft “pearly” effect, and there’s nice detail retained in the little cascades.
Although it looks like you have some blowouts in the pooling, they are small enough so as not to be too distracting. But I’m thinking maybe you could fix it with some judicious cloning. Again, those wonderful pearly hues of the water really make this one sing for me.
