Kulaniapia Falls

Trying to determine which is better of 2 photos. Hoping you could help, and also any critique that would help improve the images.
Here is first:
Nikon D700, Exp: 1.6s @ f/22, ISO 200

Here is second.

I like both compositions, Kathryn. You could increase exposure and contrast a bit in both while controlling the highlights in the falls in the process so they don't blow out entirely. In the second image, the falls are the star of the show, but in the first, which I prefer slightly, the viewer gets a real sense of the space, an amphitheater-like setting. I feel more surrounded by the image in #1.

I prefer the composition of the first image Kathryn. The first image looks like it has lots of potential for post processing. Both files look like unprocessed raw files to me. If this were mine, I would brighten the entire image a bit, add some contrast and work on the colors (greens and yellows) to make them pop. If you would like, I can do a quick edit to show you what I mean. Let me know and I can either post the file here or email it to you.

Hi Kthryn, I like the first composition the best. I think it gives more depth to the image. I would try to lighten up the left side a bit.

Be my guest at trying to reprocess them. I would be very interested in seeing the results and figuring out how to give them more 'umph'. Are you able to grab them off site here or do I need to email?

Kathryn - Here is the quick edit. This is how I would envision the scene, but this may not match your vision. I made a few adjustments in Lightroom 3 (warmed up the white balance, increased exposure, used recovery to keep the waterfall from clipping, and removed some of the strong vignette). I then went into CS5 to edit further. In CS5, I used levels and curves layers to adjust the contrast, luminosity masks to adjust the highlights and deep shadows and the selective color layer to improve the yellows and greens. Let me know if you have any questions.

Very cool. I'm going to go back into LR and CS5 and follow your procedures. I'll at least have the original .nef and psd and not the reduced jpg to work with. I do like the area around the falls having greater exposure and less vignetting. Thanks for helping. It was a beautiful falls and such a peaceful area. It is on private land, so it was nice to have it all to myself to prop my tripod down anywhere I wanted and not worry about people being in the pictures.