Closing Act

Gallery: LandscapePosted November 27, 2013589 views19 comments

Temporary title for now, but it fits for this image. This was taken a few weekends ago while backpacking with fellow NPN member Evan Olson (be sure to check out his recent post). While I got arguably one of my favorite photos I've ever captured anywhere from this trip, I wanted to post something different. This was taken while we were hiking out of the canyon as we had not photographed these falls. I figured we might as well shoot them while we are there cause it's not often we find ourselves in these incredible locations. I think these are called new navajo or lil navajo, not sure as the 2008 flood changed the course of flow throughout the creek. It was definitely one of the most scenic and beautiful falls, although ever waterfall along this creek is extremely beautiful. The sun was slowly beginning to rise allowing us to shoot the scene with nice soft pre sunrise light. A few clouds caught some color just above which I thought added a nice touch to the scene. It actually took me a while to process this one, yet I don't feel I have done it justice. The sky was being a pain for me, but I feel like I got it as close to where I want it using the processing knowledge I have. As always, comments and critiques are appreciated.

Canon 7d
Canon 17-40mm @17mm
ISO 100
f14
2 exposures at 1.4 sec and 1/3 sec.
CPL
Tripod

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on November 27, 2013 at 5:42 PM

Lush, dreamy and totally beautiful! Perfect and artistic handling/vision on the tonality here. One of your best IMO, and very unique!

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on November 27, 2013 at 5:49 PM

Thanks Marc I appreciate it. We always see shots of Havasu falls and Mooney falls from this area, but not a whole lot from this section which I thought to be one of the most impressive views overall.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on November 27, 2013 at 7:36 PM

This is a great comp, Peter, and the colors rock--they're strong but i think they should be a bit saturated for this scene. One minor suggestion--if you can deepen the sky color a bit, its getting a tad pale in the urhc. I guess that's the tricky part here.

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on November 27, 2013 at 7:46 PM

Thanks Stan, I see what you mean about the urhc. That was kinda what was bugging me, but ultimately the light is coming from that general direction, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad for the image. What really was difficult was to keep the colors in the sky while making it darker. It kept getting a magenta cast and I tried everything I could to get rid of that. There's still some evidence of that in the clouds.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on November 27, 2013 at 10:39 PM

Peter this is a beautiful image. It has a very painterly look to it. The light is great, the dof right on and the shutter speed choice was very good.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on November 28, 2013 at 12:25 AM

Just gorgeous Peter! Wonderful perspective.

I might agree with Stan a little about the sky, but that's very, very minor. Beautiful as is, can't wait to see more!

Registered on November 24, 2008, 304 Posts, 3211 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Kearl on November 28, 2013 at 12:52 AM

A painting, very nice.
Your PP is exquisite, almost A subtle blur, excellent.

Registered on September 2, 2013, 209 Posts, 1514 Comments

Comment posted by Miro Susta on November 28, 2013 at 7:07 AM

Waterfalls have such an awesome beauty to them that they always compel one to want to capture the power and motion that is contained within them. I like this image for several reasons. The elements of a great visual story are all there. There is motion, power, a vast scope of distance and height, and of course, the beautiful light and colors. Very nice photo Peter.

Registered on August 18, 2006, 719 Posts, 3736 Comments

Comment posted by Jared Warren on November 28, 2013 at 12:13 PM

Very well done, Peter! I concur with the earlier comment on the sky, but this is just beautiful. Congrats!

Registered on May 11, 2012, 84 Posts, 931 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on November 28, 2013 at 12:56 PM

I love the dreamy look here. This looks unique and you did a good job processing this one. A beautiful scene well photographed. Great image

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on November 28, 2013 at 1:40 PM

Hey Peter, I like the composition you've chosen for this scene. I wonder if a slightly higher angle would have been better here, or if that would have exposed to much of the wall of water on the left. I do see a slight halo around the mountain, but this could be from web compression. Great job on this one.

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on November 29, 2013 at 1:29 AM

Thanks everyone!

Zack, I sorta wish I could have gotten a higher vantage to show the entire falls. However it isn't quite possible from this spot. There was a slightly higher vantage behind me but the base was still covered by the rocks. I ended up liking the rocks blocking the falls to give a sense of mystery and depth. I also noticed the halo on the web version, but not in the print version. Could be compression.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on November 29, 2013 at 4:56 PM

A beautiful scene, Peter. Wonderful color and the soft glow this has feels so inviting. Looks like a wonderful falls to photograph and I like the comp you came up with.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Reid on November 30, 2013 at 9:20 AM

Wonderful image Peter. Great comp, colors and your processing on this is really well done. One of your best I believe. Super job on this.

Registered on January 27, 2013, 65 Posts, 2460 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on December 2, 2013 at 1:40 PM

An excellent comp with the layers overlapping very nicely. The push on the sat doesn't bother me as I think it's a personal artistic statement. The Orton is too strong for my tastes, but that is also just personal expression. Overall a fine work of art, and I agree, probably your best so far.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on December 2, 2013 at 2:20 PM

WOW, Peter. This is incredible! The comp is unique, and the light is sublime. Congratulations! Not sure why this doesn't have at least 30 comments...

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on December 3, 2013 at 9:44 PM

Very nice image Peter. I really like the colors and the comp here. You did a good job handling the wide dynamic range.

Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on December 12, 2013 at 11:26 AM

Outrageously good Peter; I'd have to say it's one of my favorites of yours as well. The contrast of the cool shadows and warmer sunlit areas is perfection. Glow works very well here.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Tim Mulholland on December 19, 2013 at 10:31 AM

Very, very nice - I love how you've controlled the light and detail in the image so that the shadows and highlights are so well balanced and better tell the story...

Tim!

Registered on April 24, 2006, 14 Posts, 139 Comments