Waterfall in Watkins Glen State Park

I took this shot back in September while my best 2/3rds and myself were on vacation.

I feel like it needs something, but I can't put my finger on it.

Let me have it with both barrels.

ALL suggestions appreciated.

Pete

Carolina Photo Guy said:

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I feel like it needs something, but I can't put my finger on it.

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The eye is drawn to the highlight areas of any photo. In this one the eye is drawn to the bottom left. Problem is, that area is out of focus. An out of focus area pushes the eye away from it. You also put the waterfall in the center of the shot dividing the shot in half. These situations create photo distress and may be the source of what you can't put a finger on. If there is a time of day that the sun will cast more light on the water fall that would improve the shot greatly. (I know, being on vacation better light timing may not have been possible. Been there.) I'm assuming the waterfall is the subject? It's in the shadows and that makes for a difficult shot. The shot would benefit from cropping out the lighter, out of focus, areas and bring up the contrast of the waterfall. Also making the exposure at the waterfall a little lighter and correcting the white balance may help. This is a case where an HDR three shot bracket might be a good choice. An HDR would bring out the water flow and give you more detail in the rock formation. The contrast between the two would make an interesting composition. I would also go with a vertical format to follow the lines of the flowing water.

I would also go with a vertical format to follow the lines of the flowing water.

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Beautiful shot, Pete, and well worth the "tweaking time"

I would try cropping from the right about halfway towards the waterfall, and cropping from the left more or less. I know it would still leave the waterfall kind of in the center, but artistically, you can get away with it --the rock on the right and the patch converge right at the base of the waterfall so the viewer's eye will be drawn there. It seemes that little patch of green with yellow flowers is shouting to be the center of attention, I would let it. It does point to the waterfall. Try punching up the greens and yellow in that patch.

I love the blue tint of the water . . . maybe a little lighter as Joseph said.

Best Regards

Is this what y'all had in mind?

What about this? Not the best HDR effect, but it's the best I can do.

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Pete, crop the left and make it more vertical. That will make the waterfall dominate the shot. That will work even if it's in the center.

Jack, that's a lot closer. I would make it more of a vertical crop to include as much of the waterfall as possible.

Here's my rendition. I didn't ask permission to download and tweak, sorry, but Jack did it first (I feel like I'm in first grade! LOL)

From this point forward, never to be revoked, my friends have my permission to download, tweak, shred, burn or otherwise do as they see fit to any of my images posted here on Nikonites.

That should cover any permission questions.

I really love this rendition. My inner eye is happy.

Thanks guys (and Lady).

Pete

Helene, Very good rendition and post processing. I would crop a little more of the two sides to complement the length of the waterfall. Like this:

Wow, amazing that just a little bit more crop made the photo so much more dramatic. Nice job, Joseph.

Formatting (cropping) should always be considered as part of the composition. As in this case the waterfall is the subject and I used a long format to dramatize and complement the subject matter. I think a three shot bracket in an HDR would have been outstanding. In this case your post processing and the others did as much as could be done to make it stand out.

This place is beautiful. I went here back in October and it is very tough shooting. The lighting is tricky and there are way too many people. When shooting something like a waterfall, in a dark "canyon" like this, a tripod and slower shutter speed can do wonders. Here is one I took of the same waterfall, just a bit closer.





and another from further up the trail.

Hi Joe Lewis. Good shots. I especially like the second shot. Good composition. The color is a little too intense for my taste, but that is a matter of preference.

Thanks! I spent a half hour in this spot and this was the only shot that didn't end up having a bunch of people walk through it...and it was also the longest shot....go figure.