First Waterfalls Pics - Need you to critique

WhiteLight

Senior Member
Hi all,

I posted these in my daily thread & i thought it would be a good idea to get your critical thoughts on these.
This has been the absolute first time i've shot a waterfall or a long exposure of water to get the creamy look...
So hit me!

The first one is a 2 image HDR...
Pic 1 -
2.5 secs at f/25
ISO 100 @22mm
D7000 using the 18-55 kit lens

Pic 2 -
1.6 secs at f/20
ISO 100 @22mm
D7000 using the 18-55 kit lens

Image -

dsc-wlp-001-3.jpg



The second image is a tighter view of the above image
Again a 2 image HDR...
Pic 1 -
1.3 secs at f/25
ISO 100 @34mm
D7000 using the 18-55 kit lens

Pic 2 -
1.0 secs at f/18
ISO 100 @34mm
D7000 using the 18-55 kit lens

Image-

dsc-wlp-001-2.jpg
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
I much prefer the second image. The top right corner of the first image is so bright that it draws the eye. You might want to consider darkening it. If you are using LR4, you can use a Graduated Filter for a quick solution.
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Eduard, the exposure has been reduced as far as i could using the adjustment brush.
but the colors were changing quite awkwardly making it worse than what it already is.. this was the best i could leave it :(
i guess i really need a filter
 

Rick M

Senior Member
I like the second crop also, a Nd filter will help slow that shutter. Your high f stops are going to cause lens and sensor diffraction, reducing the sharpness. I try to stay under f13 as an upper limit.

As far as HRD, usually 3 Exposures are used, normal, over and under the same value. This could be contributing to the blown out highlights as well.
 
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Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
I like the second crop also, a Nd filter will help slow that shutter. Your high f stops are going to cause lense and sensor diffraction, reducing the sharpness. I try to stay under f13 as an upper limit.

As far as HRD, usually 3 Exposures are used, normal, over and under the same value. This could be contributing to the blown out highlights as well.

Great comment Rick. I'd be tempted to try the "standard" exposure in Topaz Adjust as a single image HDR for comparison too.
 

WhiteLight

Senior Member
I like the second crop also, a Nd filter will help slow that shutter. Your high f stops are going to cause lens and sensor diffraction, reducing the sharpness. I try to stay under f13 as an upper limit.

As far as HRD, usually 3 Exposures are used, normal, over and under the same value. This could be contributing to the blown out highlights as well.

Well that's new for me..
i assumed that the 'safe' limit for most standard lenses was f21!
if i had to shoot at f13 or around that, i would never have been able to get a slow shutter speed without the ND filter
 

Rick M

Senior Member
Well that's new for me..
i assumed that the 'safe' limit for most standard lenses was f21!
if i had to shoot at f13 or around that, i would never have been able to get a slow shutter speed without the ND filter

Actually the best spot for most lenses is f5.6-f8 for maximum resolution and overall performance. From my own experiments and reading, lens diffraction begins to become noticable after about f13. Sensor diffraction depends on the format and camera, For Dx, I would also stay below f13. The ND filter really is a very important tool for waterfalls and I think you'll like the results and flexibility it will give you. A CP is also useful if you only need to drop 1-2 stops and you may like how a CP will reduce reflections off the water helps reduce highlights also.

What were your exposures? just over and under?
 

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Here is an example of how I would crop out the over exposed section, also a few adjustments. Tell me if you dislike, its easier for me to do and say most of the time.

Cropped version with changes.

Screen Shot 2013-03-04 at 12.43.57 AM.jpg


Version with changes...
Screen Shot 2013-03-04 at 12.43.31 AM.jpg
 

STM

Senior Member
Everyone has their own takes on this so I will throw mine into the mix too. First off, I love the blurred water, it has a very etherial effect. In both there are areas which could stand to be cropped out, they do not really contribute to the image, except to draw your attention away from the waterfall. I cropped them out and I burned in some areas which still needed a little toning down. Personally I prefer prints with more richness in luminance, but that is just me. In some areas, the blurred water is blown out to the point where there is no longer any detail. There is not a lot you can do with it at that point, If there is no "data" there any more, you can't add to it. . In the first one there is that blown out area in the upper right corner so I cloned it out to match the rest of the rocks. With waterfall photos, especially if you are going to blur the water, it is best to try to town down foliage around it, especially if it has specular highlights, so as not to draw your attention away from the water.

And then for grins, I converted everything to grayscale. I disagree with Paul Simon in his song "Kodachrome", everything looks BETTER in black and white! The conversion to grayscale actually tones down some of the water areas where the tones are off the scale. I also brought the contrast down in the grayscale ones as well.

1.jpg


2.jpg


3.jpg


4.jpg
 
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