Critique Please

[arshuter]

Does this shot work or is there to much foreground? The falls are, of coarse, the primary with the surrounding area as the secondary. Does the foreground lead you into the scene or to much clutter?

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[Bubbahotep]

I would cut out the bottom half. Just know that I'm not a landscape photographer

 

[Woody Meristem]

I would cut out the bottom half. Just know that I'm not a landscape photographer

Agreed. Hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of taking a screen-shot of your photo as I would have taken it. Although I take a lot of waterfall photos, that's not my primary interest in photography. Others may have different opinions on what if anything would improve your image. On my screen the image looks a bit overexposed and the waterfall a bit out of focus as if you focused on the large rock on the right -- but that may just be my screen. That's a beautiful location.


Somehow the edited photo didn't wind up on my comment (another senior moment perhaps?) -- here it is.

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[jeffnles1]

Like Woody, I took the liberty to download and edit your photo as I would have cropped it. If it is OK with you I will post it but not without your permission.
Jeff

 

[arshuter]

Please, I have no problem with learning from others.

 

[jeffnles1]

Please, I have no problem with learning from others.

Cool.
I didn't spend a lot of time on this just easier to see an example than to try and explain it. What I did was crop it down to what I thought was the keys to the image. I brightened the water at the very bottom of the screen and darkened a little on the far left up in the middle. This creates a bright stripe through the middle of the image drawing my eye from bottom up through the waterfall. I also cut out the tree on the far right upper. I thought it was distracting. I also selectively added just a touch of saturation to a few areas of green around the image. Not a big edit.

Your eye may see it differently. This I say no means the ultimate or "only" way to edit this image. At the end of the day, it has to please you not one of us.

I hope this helps.
Jeff

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[bleirer]

You have the mossy rocks foreground, midground, and background, and so its a story photo. If the story you are telling is that the mossy rocks are related to/caused by the spray from the waterfall then that's the story you want to tell. If you are trying to say look at the beautiful waterfall and it's beautiful surroundings, then I'd crop out the foreground.

 

[Wink Jones]

I liked both of the crops better than your original, I liked it, but I did not like having to scroll down so far to see what I considered a distraction to your beautiful waterfalls. I am not a professional, but I know what I like. I liked your waterfalls the exposure blur of the water, the saturation of the colors and the joy my eyes felt looking at your waterfalls.

 

[NorthernFocus]

Woody's crop does it for me. In the original there's a big dead space between the bottom most rock and the ones in mid-frame. IMO if you're going to include that much foreground it should be meaningful.

 

[arshuter]

Thanks all, I guess I'll have to rethink this a bit. Fortunately it's not a far ride so I think another road trip is in order. Besides I want to get 3 or 4 different focal points to try my hand at stacking and am thinking of starting at a lower camera angle.

 

[jeffnles1]

Thanks all, I guess I'll have to rethink this a bit. Fortunately it's not a far ride so I think another road trip is in order. Besides I want to get 3 or 4 different focal points to try my hand at stacking and am thinking of starting at a lower camera angle.

Looking forward to seeing the results. Anytime we get out in the field with camera in hand is a good time!

 

[dwillar]

There is enough material there for two good pictures if you crop it right. There is a lot of interest in just the foreground from just below the first large mossy rock forward. Include the small still pool at the base of said rock but no trace of the rock itself. Give it a try and see what you think.

 

[Tim Karels]

Aesthetically, this is very nice. The last cropped version improves on the layout. The image to me looks a little soft though. I don't know if it is from jpg conversion and if anything degrades the image when posted on this site, but as a landscape photo, it should be critically sharp with exception of the moving water. I'm drawn towards the falls because it is the bright point in the image, but the surrounding rocks should be razor sharp to contrast against the soft water. I would also suggest toning down the saturation a little bit as the moss seems too bright. This could be the difference from my monitor to yours, so yours it might look more natural. Anyway, this is nice scene regardless, and if you have easy access to it, I'd continue to go back to get more photos at different times of day and seasons.

 

[John Woodworth]

Just some random thoughts:

Can you possibly shoot this scene again from a different perspective? I would try to move my camera position up to the next little white patch as shown in the modified picture in Post #6. Perhaps you can make that, or something near there, the foreground element. Then shoot with a wide or ultra wide (wider than you used) shooting down a bit to exaggerate the height of the falls in the background, and also lower to the water to minimize the dead space between there and the falls. This might also hide or minimize distracting elements beyond the falls.

If you got low enough, from the current position (pun noted), maybe you could develop a leading line from there to the falls without the dead spots in the foreground and midground that hold this composition back.

Trying moving around in the stream and shooting some experimental shots with your cell phone. When you find the perspective (position) and a good composition lined up, you may need a tripod and focus stacking to get the sense of motion and depth of focus to your taste.

Not sure any of this will work without being there, but still hope I triggereda some thoughts.