This is a very different take on Dutchman falls, along the multnomah falls trail to Larch Mountain. I'm happy with this result; I feel I captured the feeling of a waterfall as abstract art, while retaining a touch of realism and texture which makes it recognizable for what it is.
Comments and Critique appreciated!
Nikon D200
24mm (12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0)
1/2 sec @ f/22, ISO 100
Posted by Erik Lundh on August 15, 2007 at 12:07 AM
Erik,
I do see where your going with this and I think it's a good attempt. I lust feel it's not quite an abstract and for a falls shot there's not enough to draw me in.
Posted by Mike Stovall on August 15, 2007 at 2:18 PM
Did you shift the focal length during the exposure? The photographer in me keeps trying to figure out what happened here technically. It is a different and interesting treatment on capturing moving water. The texture is attractive, but the form is not as strong to my eye. I think it's more the rectangular shape of the falls themselves than your composition, though.
A trick I picked up somewhere in my reading is to look at a photo upside down (I think it was one of John Shaw's books). It will tell you better if an image has a pleasing shape because your brain has a harder time recognizing what the object actually is. It keeps us from unconsciously applying all kinds of ethical considerations and preconceived judgments to the scene and allows us to evaluate pure form and balance.
Kudos for getting down so close to the falls here and pushing outside the normal boundaries.
I loosened the panning knob on my ballhead, and over a 1/2nd exposure, I panned left while zooming in slightly. It's pretty hit-or-miss. I took about 20 shots just playing around, and got lucky on this one.
I really enjoy this image, and I think this is a technique to experiment with in the future.
Thanks for the upside down tip, I'll use that next time I'm in the field!
Posted by Mike Stovall on August 15, 2007 at 6:36 PM
Discussion
4 repliesComments and Critique appreciated!
Nikon D200
24mm (12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0)
1/2 sec @ f/22, ISO 100
I do see where your going with this and I think it's a good attempt. I lust feel it's not quite an abstract and for a falls shot there's not enough to draw me in.
A trick I picked up somewhere in my reading is to look at a photo upside down (I think it was one of John Shaw's books). It will tell you better if an image has a pleasing shape because your brain has a harder time recognizing what the object actually is. It keeps us from unconsciously applying all kinds of ethical considerations and preconceived judgments to the scene and allows us to evaluate pure form and balance.
Kudos for getting down so close to the falls here and pushing outside the normal boundaries.
I really enjoy this image, and I think this is a technique to experiment with in the future.
Thanks for the upside down tip, I'll use that next time I'm in the field!