Hidden Paradise

I think your idea of a crop is a good one. It would remove the (to me) competing bright foliage and call more attention to the eddies in the lower pool. Other than that, I think you have a well put together image. I don't see much evidence of HDR manipulation, which is as it should be.

Navin, you have really done some nice work up in Blackwater Falls.
I liked the original crop, but after your and Phil's crop comment I think eliminating the tree would make it even better.
Well done.

Nice shot Navin. I like the way you have put this together. For me, I'd crop a little less off the top. You can stop just short of the green rock on the left and still eliminate the bright spots on top. This gives that rock a more complete look. Just my thoughts.

This is a unique image and I like the water swirls and the falls. Very interesting leading through the rest of the image. That said, I agree with the others that the bright on the top and reflection on the leaves could be cropped out.

hi all, thank you for the comments and thoughts thus far :)

this was my idea of the crop. walt - i really would like to keep the fall tree, but i think its all or nothing: show the entire tree or crop it all off. showing a portion of the tree didn't look good to me. in this next crop, it's the latter. and while I do think it brings more attention to the falls and eddys, i think the background is a little lost. the tree trunks in the dark may compensate, but id like your thoughts :)

Very pretty. I don't think the crop would necessarily hurt it too much, but also don't think it would help. I think I would leave it as presented - I like that splash of color; kinda balances things out IMO.

EDIT: I didn't read the comments or see the repost before I commented, but after seeing the repost I would definitely leave it as first presented.

Hi Navin, This looks like a great place and a very pretty scene. I like this much better in the original. The crop doesn't seem to work for me as I like the fall color in the upper leaves and the nicer overall balance as Bill mentioned. Nice work, and Happy Holidays!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Agreed. I do like the first better.

Beautifully composed, Navin....I really like the swirl and the view framed through the rocks...the color and texture of the f/g is a delight....just saw the crop, and agree that the original works better, giving the image room to breathe.

Amazing composition. I agree also with your crop down to the top of the green rock.

Yes, I also agree, go with the first, Navin. Nice image.

Great, thanks all for your input! I am going to keep with the original. Im going to try to play with the way the light hits the back greens and see if that cant be more "sheen" . Thanks again, Merry xmas :)

Both are beautifully done, Navin. My preference is the original as I think the bit of autumn color on the tree helps to balance the image. BTW, nice job on the swirls. Happy holidays to you also.

Ed

I'm equivocal on the crop. Could see cloning in some darker foliage to the light area along the top edge right of center. I like the swirling water, but sort of wish it had more texture.

I like the way you got competing swirls in the water there! Beautiful fall color.

I concur with the original composition - the crop puts the falls too tight at the top. Great double capture. I find it intriguing that you used 2 different lenses for the two captures. I know the Nikkor won't take filters without serious adaptation.

Beautiful composition!! I do find the composition a lil tight at the top but that's subjective....I do rather the original post & don't mind the tight composition at all!!!

thanks again for the very helpful comments in choosing the crop. i'm going for the original, as suggested by the majority here.

i've taken another pass at the bright spots in the background, using more of a darker exposure focused at infinity.

tony - i concurred with your comment on the texture of the water. it's something i struggle with all the time when it comes to processing rushing water: how to balance brightness and contrast with fine details of water movement. i've tried to bring back some texture in the foreground eddy - curious for your thoughts.

wick - i only used the nikkor for the foreground leaves on the shore and parts of the green rock on the left. its sharpness at the edges far outmatches the canon, and i was going for extremely sharp in the leaves. for the rest of the image, i used the canon lens with the 10 stop filter. i would have taken another exposure of the background trees with the nikkor (or the canon without the filter) to get a sharper/slightly less noisy output, but i wanted the scene to deemphasize the green trees.

here's my last pass at the image. again curious for thoughts. thanks so much for the help so far!