Misty

I like this Cliff. The up close comp of the river gives a sense of the might of the stream, and I love the way the flow heads back into the mist. The trees, especially on the right, are eye grabbers too.

Whether contrast adjustments are needed after blending probably depends on what the files look like prior to blending. I always make contrast adjustments after blending. This is especially true for dynamic range blending because I lower contrast initially to be able to create a smooth blend, and then build contrast back into the file after the two are merged together.

Contrast looks about right to my eyes for the scene. I dont know if it is normal or not, as I dont add contrast in RAW, blending or not. I add later in the PP, if blending, I would do it after the blend as all the rest of the other PP. Was this done in software or by hand? I have noticed many shots merged through software like Photomatix seem to lack contrast after merging.

I like the water flow as well as the color that is coming out in it. I might have added a little contrast to the water to make the whites a bit whiter and bring out the darks to highlight the flow a bit more.

Very nice, Cliff. I like this one a lot. Great job here.

I like this, too, Cliff. The flow of the water suits my tastes to a T. Lots of interesting action in there and beautiful subtle color. Just curious, was the moss on the fg rocks that dark while you were standing there?
And kudos for getting out there in the flow. Or were you sitting safely on a log bridge?

Catherine, i was standing on a big rock outcropping that the river bends in front of. I cant remember if the moss was dark or not. Now that i look at it, i wonder if that is part of the water exposure? Will have to look at the originals. I finally remembered to duplicate the picture to keep the original as is. Douglas, i used a method of photo merging someone showed me, and used cs5 to merge them. Thank you Marylynne. John thanks for the info about blending!