Posted by Doug Koepsel on August 10, 2010 at 10:35 AM
With the summer rain runnoff swelling the Little Colorado to 6000cfs at times last week, I headed to Grand Falls Sunday evening as the roads should be drier and there were some nice clouds to the east for a sunset, and the west was clearer to not block the setting sun. I was thinking flow was a little over 1000 based on the USGS flow data for Winslow and Cameron. The water was a darker bown than during the spring flow.
First image is hoping the last rays of sun would light the muddy mist at the bottom of the falls. I do not have a ND for the 12-24 Tokina, so went with the lowsest ISO I could, and the CPL. Guess I could have stopped it down more, but was not thinking it all out.
Posted by Doug Koepsel on August 10, 2010 at 10:43 AM
Here is one of the eastern clouds at sunset above the ramadas . I tried blending 2 images of the clouds and falls per the article here on NPN about blending with PS Elements, but the copy and paste, Control+C, Control+V would not function for me- stymied at the start.
This is pretty cool, Doug, what a sight! The illuminated mist is great. Compositionally, both the lines and the tonalities are sticking my eye up in the top left corner. Did you try any versions without the sky, or standing further to the right? I'd also be curious to see a take with a faster shutter speed. I like this speed, it captures a sense of turbulence without turning the falls to mist, but I'd be curious to compare.
Posted by Doug Koepsel on August 10, 2010 at 1:06 PM
Jackson,
I tried further to the right/more from the side of the falls, but with the sun right outside the frame I was getting flare problems. I did not go to the upper ramada above the falls. Here is quick edit of a tighter shot without sky and river channel and a faster shutter speed of 1/640sec, vs 1/13sec of the first photo.
Posted by Don Grall on August 11, 2010 at 11:47 AM
Dramatic images with the amount of mud in that water. I was there in April when it was running cleaner but still muddy. The sun angle is definitely more challenging in summer than in April but you handled it well.
Posted by John Mumaw on August 12, 2010 at 7:34 AM
The last image of Grand Falls is my favorite.
The close up view and that particular shutter speed show the power of the place well, and the more even soft light works well.
Not sure why those keyboard shortcuts aren't working out for you, but you can always use the Copy and Paste commands available in the Menu at the top of your screen.
Or you can use the Move tool and while pressing on the Shift key, drag the first image onto the second. Pressing the Shift key will place them in perfect alignment.
Discussion
8 repliesFirst image is hoping the last rays of sun would light the muddy mist at the bottom of the falls. I do not have a ND for the 12-24 Tokina, so went with the lowsest ISO I could, and the CPL. Guess I could have stopped it down more, but was not thinking it all out.
I tried further to the right/more from the side of the falls, but with the sun right outside the frame I was getting flare problems. I did not go to the upper ramada above the falls. Here is quick edit of a tighter shot without sky and river channel and a faster shutter speed of 1/640sec, vs 1/13sec of the first photo.
The close up view and that particular shutter speed show the power of the place well, and the more even soft light works well.
Not sure why those keyboard shortcuts aren't working out for you, but you can always use the Copy and Paste commands available in the Menu at the top of your screen.
Or you can use the Move tool and while pressing on the Shift key, drag the first image onto the second. Pressing the Shift key will place them in perfect alignment.