Maxwell Falls Hike

[cbarnard7]

Hi all,

My wife and I went on a short hike today and I took this pic. The right side is a little blown out, but I am not savvy enough to change it (if someone would like to help me, please do). But, I think it's tranquil enough. C&C welcome. Thanks!

 

[ceeboy14]

Unfortunately, It is rather hopeless. The right side is completely blown and the left side's blacks are completely blocked up. Chalk it up to a memory lane shot and be more cognizant next time you set your exposure. The left side has some possibilities, but you'd spend an inordinate amount of time making a minimal image into a reasonable image...

 

[cbarnard7]

Unfortunately, It is rather hopeless. The right side is completely blown and the left side's blacks are completely blocked up. Chalk it up to a memory lane shot and be more cognizant next time you set your exposure. The left side has some possibilities, but you'd spend an inordinate amount of time making a minimal image into a reasonable image...

"How not to shoot a set of falls"

 

[cbarnard7]

Would this have been the time to try some bracketing then? I've yet to try that out actually...and now it looks like it may have been the right time.

 

[theambitiousstranger]

It's funny because, on my phone screen, the highlights don't look blown and there's detail in the blacks. It doesn't seem hopeless at all!

 

[Eclectix]

Would this have been the time to try some bracketing then? I've yet to try that out actually...and now it looks like it may have been the right time.

Bracketing would only help in this case if you planned on using multiple exposures to make an HDR composite or something like that, because if you expose correctly for the shadows, the highlights will be totally blown, and if you expose for the highlights, the shadows will be totally black.

What is really needed on this image is light control. Either a better time of day, or an overcast sky, or the proper use of strobe fill lights, or best of all a combination of those things would have made the image much better.

Sometimes you can't do anything about the weather or the time of day and sometimes you can't even do anything about rigging the proper fill lighting, but in that case you are stuck with a photograph that simply won't be ideal. Then you can decide to take the picture anyway and keep it as a memory, or skip it and wait until you can do it "right." I have tons of photographs that I love, but because of conditions beyond my control at the time I took them they will never be "great" photographs.

 

[ceeboy14]

Okay, okay...I'd just awakened from a nap and I guess my eyes weren't focusing correctly...its (to me anyway) a better image in this edit, but I still think it belongs more in the memory folder than on someone's wall...but that's just one opinion.

 

[cbarnard7]

Okay, okay...I'd just awakened from a nap and I guess my eyes weren't focusing correctly...its (to me anyway) a better image in this edit, but I still think it belongs more in the memory folder than on someone's wall...but that's just one opinion.

View attachment 53820

Fair enough! I was going to do this type of edit, but I originally took the pic because it was a cool little "grotto" area hidden off a trail (which is why I kept in the sunny, pathway area-for reference). I will have to agree that it's not my best shot, but it was still a nice place!

 

[cbarnard7]

Would this have been the time to try some bracketing then? I've yet to try that out actually...and now it looks like it may have been the right time.

Bracketing would only help in this case if you planned on using multiple exposures to make an HDR composite or something like that, because if you expose correctly for the shadows, the highlights will be totally blown, and if you expose for the highlights, the shadows will be totally black.

What is really needed on this image is light control. Either a better time of day, or an overcast sky, or the proper use of strobe fill lights, or best of all a combination of those things would have made the image much better.

Sometimes you can't do anything about the weather or the time of day and sometimes you can't even do anything about rigging the proper fill lighting, but in that case you are stuck with a photograph that simply won't be ideal. Then you can decide to take the picture anyway and keep it as a memory, or skip it and wait until you can do it "right." I have tons of photographs that I love, but because of conditions beyond my control at the time I took them they will never be "great" photographs.

Yeah, I agree. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I was going to try out bracketing for HDR, but I lost my screw-in adaptor for my tripod so I had to shoot these hand-held at 1/10s. So, doing bracketing would have really been difficult anyway I guess. I agree with you on natural lighting, etc. I'll just have to go back!

 

[Juga]

Would this have been the time to try some bracketing then? I've yet to try that out actually...and now it looks like it may have been the right time.

Bracketing would only help in this case if you planned on using multiple exposures to make an HDR composite or something like that, because if you expose correctly for the shadows, the highlights will be totally blown, and if you expose for the highlights, the shadows will be totally black.

I don't completely agree with this. Bracketing could have helped find a 'happy medium' to where he can either recover detail from the highlights being blown or some detail from the shadows. So saying that bracketing would only help for combining multiple exposures or HDR isn't 100% true however most of the time that is what it is used for.

I am not a pro but I think a GND would have helped nicely for this situation.

 

[cbarnard7]

Ceeboy- this is a different picture I took as well (where I originally cropped it similar to your edit). What do you think of this one?

 

[JosephCarter]

Bracketing in itself will only provide you with more exposures to choose from, like Eclectix pointed out, bracketing only helps if you plan to combine the bracketed exposures into an HDR image.

To expand on what Eclectix suggested, another tool that would have helped you obtain a balanced exposure in this case is a "graduated neutral density filter" held at an angle over the highlighted area.

Unfortunately there is basically nothing you can do to bring back completely blown highlights or blocked up shadows. Shooting in RAW rather than JPEG will give you more dynamic range to play with, and I believe in this case a RAW image, exposed for the mid-tones would have provided enough information to pull back the highlights and shadows to an acceptable level.

Another option in regards to the actual shooting of the photo, I would have tried for a vertical rather than landscape orientation (basically the way ceeboy14 cropped the image), to exclude the bright highlights. Also, shooting from a lower vantage point, (rather than from standing 'eye level', which is how the photo appears to be taken) would probably make the waterfall feel larger to the viewer.

The last option would be to wait for the light to balance out a bit (for example if a cloud were to pass by and diffuse the sunlight) but if your wife is anything like my girlfriend I would assume that's not really an acceptable option..

Having said all that, ignoring the lighting issues, I do very much like your choice of composition and shutter speed.

 

[cbarnard7]

Bracketing in itself will only provide you with more exposures to choose from, like Eclectix pointed out, bracketing only helps if you plan to combine the bracketed exposures into an HDR image.

To expand on what Eclectix suggested, another tool that would have helped you obtain a balanced exposure in this case is a "graduated neutral density filter" held at an angle over the highlighted area.

Unfortunately there is basically nothing you can do to bring back completely blown highlights or blocked up shadows. Shooting in RAW rather than JPEG will give you more dynamic range to play with, and I believe in this case a RAW image, exposed for the mid-tones would have provided enough information to pull back the highlights and shadows to an acceptable level.

Another option in regards to the actual shooting of the photo, I would have tried for a vertical rather than landscape orientation (basically the way ceeboy14 cropped the image), to exclude the bright highlights. Also, shooting from a lower vantage point, (rather than from standing 'eye level', which is how the photo appears to be taken) would probably make the waterfall feel larger to the viewer.

The last option would be to wait for the light to balance out a bit (for example if a cloud were to pass by and diffuse the sunlight) but if your wife is anything like my girlfriend I would assume that's not really an acceptable option..

Having said all that, ignoring the lighting issues, I do very much like your choice of composition and shutter speed.

Haha...yes, indeed- the wife doesn't care to stand around while I get the "perfect" shot. I guess it just adds to my experience of trying to shoot everything on the fly! Thanks for the kind words/advice. I actually put up another picture, where I cropped it similar to ceeboy's edit!

 

[ceeboy14]

View attachment 53903

Ceeboy- this is a different picture I took as well (where I originally cropped it similar to your edit). What do you think of this one?

Lose the blue cast in the water and it is a much better take than my edit.

 

[Eclectix]

I don't completely agree with this. Bracketing could have helped find a 'happy medium' to where he can either recover detail from the highlights being blown or some detail from the shadows. So saying that bracketing would only help for combining multiple exposures or HDR isn't 100% true however most of the time that is what it is used for.

I am not a pro but I think a GND would have helped nicely for this situation.

I agree that bracketing is useful when trying to find a happy medium, but sometimes there simply is no happy medium, such as when the highlights and the shadows are simply too far apart. I believe this image fits that criterion. In such a case, the only real benefit to bracketing is for making a composite image.