Around the Bend

Z

ZekeMenuar

New member
This was one of my first efforts at photographing water. It was shot at the old Niagara dam along the Santiam River below the Detroit Reservoir.
I think? I used an .6 ND filter. The sun was real bright that day. This is one of my favorite images and I'm my own worst critic.
It must be a good picture, my wife robbed a copy for a contest at her job and It won first place.
I almost forgot, there was very little post processing. I don't have Photoshop or Lightroom. If pushed I'll do minor editing in Irfanview.
What you see is what you get

Do your worst.

DSC_2649resize.jpg


D3100
18-55mm kit lens
Tripod
.6 ND Filter
 
Last edited:
ohkphoto

ohkphoto

Snow White
there was very little post processing. I don't have Photoshop or Lightroom. If pushed I'll do minor editing in Irfanview.
What you see is what you get
Click to expand...

First of all, welcome to the forum. I don't remember doing that.

Your composition is excellent. I love how the line and curves lead into each other. I would, however, straighten "the horizon" --it seems to be sloping a little to the right. (look at the one tree in the upper right corner.)

I'm always amused when photographers "brag" that they used little or no processing. If you shot this as a jpeg, with any kind of automatic settings (e.g. WB, contrast, etc.) then your camera "processed it". Just the fact that you are using a digital camera means that "processing is always taking place" in the camera's "brain". Most photographers will shoot RAW and take control of as much of the processing as possible.

So, IMHO, your photo could benefit from some minor tweaking. Good choice to use a ND filter. But it could use a little more punch in terms of contrast and vibrance. Good or bad and I really don't care, I'm a big fan of HDR, especially for bringing out the details. This is one I would have shot for HDR to bring out the texture and details, of which you have a nice mix --the rocks, grass and leaves would contrast nicely against the soft water. But that's me.

All in all, a nice photo. In the future, please post exif data.
 
B

bobmielke

New member
Although I "Liked" the photo there are post processing steps that can be taken to improve it's appearance. I must admit it looks like leveling would be a good idea. Also there's a green caste to the highlights of the water that indicate a color balance adjustment is needed. A lot of the water highlights are blown out so either multiple exposures blended into an HDR or bracketing might have worked best to resolve the exposure issues.

As far as processing issues RAW shots straight from the camera have no processing done to them at all so sharpening, color balance, contrast and exposure must all be handled by post processing software. A good general rule of thumb in this type of shot is to always expose for the highlight detail. You would do that in this case by using exposure compensation and bracketing. Your composition is excellent and your shutter speed is good as well.
 
Z

ZekeMenuar

New member
ohkphoto said:
In the future, please post exif data.
Click to expand...

The EXIF data is embedded in the picture. If you use Firefox there is an add-on called EXIF Viewer 1.70 that allows you to read it if it's in the photo.
The data is readable in this particular image.

Since you said please


EXIF IFD0

Camera Make = NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model = NIKON D3100
Picture Orientation = normal (1)
X-Resolution = 96/1 ===> 96
Y-Resolution = 96/1 ===> 96
X/Y-Resolution Unit = inch (2)
Software / Firmware Version = TSR Watermark Image 1.9.9.6 - www.watermark-image.com2011:07:19 13:55:58
Last Modified Date/Time = 2011:07:19 13:55:58
Y/Cb/Cr Positioning (Subsampling) = centered / center of pixel array (1)
Copyright Owner = © 2011 ZM Photography

EXIF Sub IFD

Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/2 second ===> 0.5 second
Lens F-Number / F-Stop = 22/1 ===> ƒ/22
Exposure Program = shutter priority (4)
ISO Speed Ratings = 100
EXIF Version = 0221
Original Date/Time = 2011:07:19 13:55:58
Digitization Date/Time = 2011:07:19 13:55:58
Components Configuration = 0x01,0x02,0x03,0x00 / YCbCr
Exposure Bias (EV) = -2/1 ===> -2
Max Aperture Value (APEX) = 28692/7763 ===> 3.7
Max Aperture = ƒ/3.6
Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5)
Light Source / White Balance = unknown (0)
Flash = Flash did not fire
Focal Length = 18/1 mm ===> 18 mm
User Comment (Hex) =
User Comment Character Code = ASCII
User Comment =
Last Modified Subsecond Time = 60
Original Subsecond Time = 60
Digitized Subsecond Time = 60
FlashPix Version = 0100
Colour Space = sRGB (1)
Image Width = 800 pixels
Image Height = 533 pixels
Image Sensing Method = one-chip color area sensor (2)
Image Source = digital still camera (DSC)
Scene Type = directly photographed image
Colour Filter Array (CFA) Geometric Pattern = 0x00,0x02,0x00,0x02,0x01,0x02,0x00,0x01
Custom Rendered = normal process (0)
Exposure Mode = auto exposure (0)
White Balance = manual (1)
Digital Zoom Ratio = 1/1 ===> 1
Focal Length in 35mm Film = 27
Scene Capture Type = standard (0)
Gain Control = n/a (0)
Contrast = normal (0)
Saturation = high (2)
Sharpness = hard (2)
Subject Distance Range = unknown (0)
 
ohkphoto

ohkphoto

Snow White
The EXIF data is embedded in the picture. If you use Firefox there is an add-on called EXIF Viewer 1.70 that allows you to read it if it's in the photo.
The data is readable in this particular image.

Since you said please
Click to expand...

I use Chrome . . . too many crashes with firefox. I know it's embedded; however, protocol is to post it out of courtesy to anyone who is taking the time to critique your photo. (it's in the rules)

Thanks for posting it :)
 
I

invisionz

Senior Member
Congrats on winning the competition and folks here like your picture as well. But for me:

I agree the horizon is causing me to get distracted and if there was a stronger foreground element, say more of the wall and a different angle, I would like this image better.

Everyone likes an image for their own reasons, just because it lacks interest to me doesn't mean it is bad. I really like the subject and would love to photograph it myself, if I had the opportunity. Really beautiful country.
 
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