How to improve this ice waterfall?

doziergraphic · Jan 18, 2011

What's wrong with this shot? It was pure ice on those rocks, so I couldn't get right down on them, which would have been a much better perspective, but something about it just doesn't pop.

What would YOU have done to get a better angle/perspective/crop? In spring/summer I'm sure I can get down close to or even into the water, but short of that, given it was ice and there was a major snowstorm coming in (last week in Licking Falls, NC, which is in the Smokey's just south of Waynesville - for what it's worth), just at dusk, just not thrilled with it.

f/22
2 sec
ISO-100
18mm

OrionsByte · Jan 18, 2011

Alright, just my two cents, and the exchange rate for my head is not great sometimes so it may not be worth much:

It seems like there's a lot that's competing for attention in the shot. To me, with so much in such sharp focus, it kind of de-emphasizes the waterfall because it's the softest part of the image.

I can't tell if you could have stepped farther to the right or not (looks like not?), to get that big rock out of the way and maybe get a tighter shot of the fall itself... I don't know.

I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to say.

KmH · Jan 18, 2011

Looks like it was an overcast day. Basically, the light sucked.

The camera was tilted too.

You could rent some crampons.

doziergraphic · Jan 18, 2011

You'll be happy to know that instead of asking you what the hell crampons were, I googled it myself! haha!

Not sure they would have helped. I tried climbing over the rail - to my right - to get down to the water, which would have put me in the area you're suggesting, but slipped while going OVER the rail, came down a little harder than I'd like - straddling the rail. I knew then I was going to be in trouble, made it over the rail and it was a complete sheet of ice on all the odd shaped rocks. I was in the middle of nowhere by myself, with a snowstorm a couple hours away. Not a situation I should ahve been in, but that's my pioneering spirit! lol.

So this was the only angle available. I took many, many shots, but to get the soft water I had to use f/22 because even though I purchased an 8-grad ND filter, I left it at home (money well spent no?). I probably have a shot or two that may not be as 'tilted' but even then I'm not thrilled with it.

KmH · Jan 18, 2011

doziergraphic said:

In ACR I added .75 stop of exposure, adjusted the mid-tone contrast and vibrance. In CS5 I rotated the photo 5° CW, did a bit of dodge and burn, and cropped to eliminate some foreground clutter based on the rule of thirds: Note: After the rotation I filled the black places in the frame using the content-aware fill feature so I would have enough image to crop.

KmH · Jan 18, 2011

doziergraphic said:
You'll be happy to know that instead of asking you what the hell crampons were, I googled it myself! haha!....

Good for you. Now you know why ice climbers are always nice to each other. Well the ice axes they use contribute too.

Tight Knot · Jan 18, 2011

KMH, I love the edit. Where do I find the "content-aware fill feature" in CS5?

3bayjunkie · Jan 18, 2011

KmH said:
In ACR I added .75 stop of exposure, adjusted the mid-tone contrast and vibrance. In CS5 I rotated the photo 5° CW, did a bit of dodge and burn, and cropped to eliminate some foreground clutter based on the rule of thirds: Note: After the rotation I filled the black places in the frame using the content-aware fill feature so I would have enough image to crop.

what he said...

doziergraphic · Jan 18, 2011

excellent edit. I was trying to concentrate on the rocks for the foreground, but the water as a leading line in adds so much more motion.

As I pull the page down, I'm also wondering if the top should be cropped just above the falls?

white · Jan 18, 2011

Dunno if you'll like it, but I kinda do. Rotated it, curves, and did a fair amount of burning on those areas with high contrast, like where the rock's edge is, where the water meets land, etc. to improve contrast. Burned in the left above the slope to give it greater separation. Burned the shadows on the rocks and dodged the area above to make the rock seem more 3-dimensional. Subtle, but if you compare edits you can see it.

KmH · Jan 18, 2011

Tight Knot said:
KMH, I love the edit. Where do I find the "content-aware fill feature" in CS5?

In the Fill dialog box, in the 'Use' drop down menu. You can click on Edit, or right-click inside a selection to open the Fill dialog. Content-aware fill is only available in the dialog if you have an active selection.

There is also a content-aware radio button on the tool options bar for the Magic Healing brush.

doziergraphic · Jan 18, 2011

Thanks White. haven't tried the BW approach with it yet. Will give that a whirl as well!

Derrel · Jan 18, 2011

The thing I see when I look at it is poor optical quality...it looks to me like the zoom has pretty severe chromatic aberration...it's making everything look just a little bit wonky...this is a HUGE problem with many zoom lenses, especially at the shorter end of their ranges...the lens is giving off this awful Coke-bottle type vibe...the image is just not "good"...but instead is sub-par. My Canon 18-55 kit zoom had this problem pretty badly (the very first iteration of the lens, which was the weakest optically of all their 18-55 models) at its shorter end...and I have seen this chromatic aberration issue on a lot of other lenses too.

sobolik · Jan 18, 2011

doziergraphic said:
What's wrong with this shot? ..... something about it just doesn't pop.

"What's wrong with this shot? ..... something about it just doesn't pop."

Somewhere in this shot is a reference line that reveals horizontal or vertical. I think it don't "pop" because it is tilted and not oriented as the eye would expect it to be. I am leaning toward the top and or bottom of the water fall being that reference line for horizontal level. But I am not 100% convinced it should be perfectly level because we view it askew and not straight on. Some have rotated the photo and it appears more as the eye would expect to see it.

This is tough subject matter to identify the vertical and horizontal piece of the puzzle. Perhaps the cracks/layer lines in the right side rocks.