This is the cascade on Lone Pine Creek at Whitney Portal. The photo was made on a very windy afternoon in October 06. I hiked up a ways from the parking area to make this shot. It was little dicey, but worth the effort, I think.
Tachihara 4x5
135mm Fujinon
Astia 100F
Cropped a bit from the right and bottom.
Your thoughts are always appreciated!
-PB
Posted by Richard Wong on January 18, 2007 at 2:25 AM
a lot of detail. makes me wish my images were in 4x5. I'd prefer some more water and less rock.
Posted by Lon Overacker on January 18, 2007 at 4:28 AM
Preston,
Very clean, well exposed scene - I like it! When you say it was "dicey" I'm assuming not just the hike up there, but your options for setting up as well? Sure looks like lots of possibilities; even just within the frame you shot. My personal preference after looking at this a while now would be to crop even more off the left, say just enough to eliminate the rock behind the willows in the upper right. This of course makes it a more vertical format, but provide more emphasis on the foreground rock with all that color and texture. I personally like what's going on there.
Lon
p.s. I may just have to try some of the Astia one of these days. I'm still making comparison shots with Velvia 100, 100F and Provia and waiting for the new release of Velvia II!
Posted by John W. Wall on January 18, 2007 at 2:18 PM
I've never seen the falls in person, but this is the best shot I've seen of it.
Posted by Eric A. Rosen on January 18, 2007 at 3:16 PM
very nice... I was up Lone Pine Creek this week, but down toward the Alabama Hills and it was frozen...
Lon, I was set up on a narrow ledge that was above a pretty good drop. The slope below was slabby granite and certainly not vertical, but cautious and careful movement were called for. I will have to rescan this to print it and will definitely look for different crops. Thanks. I have been using Astia for a while now, and really like it. It has a neutral color pallet, a reasonable dynamic range, handles the 'blues' very well and scans wonderfully. I found that Provia tended to be too blue for my taste. I also like Velvia 100 (non-F).
John, I've been to these falls many times and autumn seems to be the best time to shoot it. The light is softer, the fall color adds to the ambiance, and gaining access to the left (south) side is much easier at low water. That said, it is quite impressive during the spring when the water is really booming. Early morning before the sun hits the falls would give the best light.
Eric: Did you get some shots while you were there? If so, let's see 'em!
-PB
Posted by Anil Rao on January 18, 2007 at 10:56 PM
A beautifful scene, Preston. Nice soft light. I am also particularly fond of the detail in the water. The inclusion of the foreground rock works well in my opnion. Without it, I'd find the photo to be very much like the generic water photos that are a dime-a-dozen. That part of the composition alone sets this one apart.
Posted by Cory Freeman on January 19, 2007 at 1:21 AM
Boy that water sure looks like it's frozen over. I must have ice on the mind lately! Anil nailed it on the head about the fg surface of the granite setting this image apart. I would've never guessed it was windy when you took this unless you had mentioned it. It feels very calming as presented. Is this the falls you can see as you're climbing the whitney trail, not far from the trail head?
Preston, I recall you mentioning this site in some previous communications we had. This is very nice indeed. I like the site, the composition, & what looks to be a very natural looking color pallet in the overall exposure and final scan here. I assume the natural look has a lot to do with the Astia. I have done comparisions with Velvia 100 and Provia & have found a need to search further. I almost like the Provia over the Velvia, but find it a bit too flat. Anyway, enough on films per se, the image is a great scene and very well captured IMO.
Yes. This is the upper part of that long cascade you can see from near the trailhead. If you continue up the road from the trailhead parking area, there is a pond at the end of the loop road. (This is actually the original trailhead.) The cascade is to the left as you face uphill.
Paul, the original transparency has more blue in it because the scene was lit by the clear blue sky. I held back the blue in PS and upped the yellows just a tad using 'Selective Color'.
I have made several attempts to get a good shot of these falls. This one was sucessful. I will, of course, go back and shoot it again, and again, and...
Discussion
9 repliesTachihara 4x5
135mm Fujinon
Astia 100F
Cropped a bit from the right and bottom.
Your thoughts are always appreciated!
-PB
Very clean, well exposed scene - I like it! When you say it was "dicey" I'm assuming not just the hike up there, but your options for setting up as well? Sure looks like lots of possibilities; even just within the frame you shot. My personal preference after looking at this a while now would be to crop even more off the left, say just enough to eliminate the rock behind the willows in the upper right. This of course makes it a more vertical format, but provide more emphasis on the foreground rock with all that color and texture. I personally like what's going on there.
Lon
p.s. I may just have to try some of the Astia one of these days. I'm still making comparison shots with Velvia 100, 100F and Provia and waiting for the new release of Velvia II!
Lon, I was set up on a narrow ledge that was above a pretty good drop. The slope below was slabby granite and certainly not vertical, but cautious and careful movement were called for. I will have to rescan this to print it and will definitely look for different crops. Thanks. I have been using Astia for a while now, and really like it. It has a neutral color pallet, a reasonable dynamic range, handles the 'blues' very well and scans wonderfully. I found that Provia tended to be too blue for my taste. I also like Velvia 100 (non-F).
John, I've been to these falls many times and autumn seems to be the best time to shoot it. The light is softer, the fall color adds to the ambiance, and gaining access to the left (south) side is much easier at low water. That said, it is quite impressive during the spring when the water is really booming. Early morning before the sun hits the falls would give the best light.
Eric: Did you get some shots while you were there? If so, let's see 'em!
-PB
Yes. This is the upper part of that long cascade you can see from near the trailhead. If you continue up the road from the trailhead parking area, there is a pond at the end of the loop road. (This is actually the original trailhead.) The cascade is to the left as you face uphill.
Paul, the original transparency has more blue in it because the scene was lit by the clear blue sky. I held back the blue in PS and upped the yellows just a tad using 'Selective Color'.
I have made several attempts to get a good shot of these falls. This one was sucessful. I will, of course, go back and shoot it again, and again, and...
Thanks to all for your comments!
-PB