Lots of water coming through right now, but wonderful spring colors and the rough winter flushed some of the debris out of the streambed that had junked up the view last year. Very breezy - took lots of shots to come away with a few where the fern wasn't a green blur. Spray was manageable. Incredibly lush poison oak crowding the mid-section of the trail after the first switchback - watch your elbows!
Comments and suggestions appreciated!
E-510, 11-22mm at 11mm, 1/2 second at f16, polarizer, Marc's sharpening technique
I like the angle formed by the falls and outflow - makes for a strong graphical foundation for the comp. And of course the greens are striking.
I'm not sure about having the falls obscured so much. Take it for what it's worth, I'm about as new to waterfall photography as you can get; CO has more rockfalls than waterfalls. I do think the fern is too blurry though; it's not terribly large, but it occupies such a prominent location that the lack of sharpness is a mild distraction.
Thanks, Rick! Looking at it this afternoon, the whole image looks muddy and unfocused to me -- a victim of late night processing, I think. I'm reposting a slightly wider version, with the fern focused. This one uses a more straightforward sharpening technique, too, hopefully for a better image. This is 1/4 second at f13. Four out five fronds in focus...
I don't know if you noticed but I posted a similar composition in Bryan Spahr's thread. It looks like we all saw the same thing on our way to the falls.
And I thought mine was bright enough until I saw both of yours. But I must admit mine now looks a bit underexposed and possibly undersaturated. So I think I need to go back into the digital darkroom and pull some more color out. I guess I tend to error on the side not going overboard with the saturation. But in the Gorge it really is that vibrant now. So why not let the colors pop!?!
Thanks for the post. This is turning out to be like a photo workshop which is helping me to fine tune my skills.
I did see those, Derek - your views from the trail are tough to manage, and I have few suggestions for how to get a decent shot of the falls during spring flows. The other complicating factor is that the falls, itself, is in a fairly prominent opening in the forest canopy, so it creates a light/dark divide that's tough to capture. I think you did fine, but if you're ever out here around Halloween, this is a terrific spot. Most of the trees are bigleaf maple, and the scene is covered with yellow and gold from the last week of October through about mid-November. One of the best fall waterfall scenes in the Gorge, IMO!
Jesse, I'm going to try something more like Bryan's view in the other thread next time I'm up there - I liked the close view, too. My achilles heel is to go wide, so it always helps to see how others frame tighter views of places that I've done with a very wide composition. Always picking up new tips!
Discussion
4 repliesComments and suggestions appreciated!
E-510, 11-22mm at 11mm, 1/2 second at f16, polarizer, Marc's sharpening technique
I'm not sure about having the falls obscured so much. Take it for what it's worth, I'm about as new to waterfall photography as you can get; CO has more rockfalls than waterfalls. I do think the fern is too blurry though; it's not terribly large, but it occupies such a prominent location that the lack of sharpness is a mild distraction.
I don't know if you noticed but I posted a similar composition in Bryan Spahr's thread. It looks like we all saw the same thing on our way to the falls.
I shot it a little more upstream and in the water partially here:
http://landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/5013181_7nmjX#307459495_3WZJ4-A-LB
And I thought mine was bright enough until I saw both of yours.
Thanks for the post. This is turning out to be like a photo workshop which is helping me to fine tune my skills.
Jesse, I'm going to try something more like Bryan's view in the other thread next time I'm up there - I liked the close view, too. My achilles heel is to go wide, so it always helps to see how others frame tighter views of places that I've done with a very wide composition. Always picking up new tips!