Stairway in the Woods

[Bruce Murden]

This stairwell is in Ocqueoc Falls State Park in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Ocqueoc Falls is the only named falls in the LP (but there are over 100 named falls in the Upper Peninsula), despite it being more a series of cascades.

Nikon D80, Nikkor 24-85 f/3.5-4.5 @ 30mm, ISO 400, 1.8s @ f/16 (and, of course, tripod & remote trigger).

[Johannes Glännman]

Hello Bruce..

I like the light in the picture. The stairway looks fantastic natural .. I do think the picture is a bit unbalanced. The stairway is a bit to much to the right. It might have bin ok if the trees on the left side where a bit more interesting but they look to standard now..

Cheers // Johannes

[Robert Amoruso]

Bruce,

I am OK with the composition and feel the right side is OK as the stairs turn at the top to the left and reenter the image.

I reposted a version were I did a Shadows/Highlight Adjustment using the following settings.

Shadows: 68/25/30
Highlights: 84/54/30
Midtone Contrast: +20

You may or may not want to do as much adjustment to the highlights as I did. In my post, the brightness of the stair top is brought down a lot. You call on exact settings.

[Bruce Murden]

Robert, I keep forgetting about being able to use that adjustment. You brought out the highlight balance that makes the view come more alive for me. Thanks!

[Julie Kenward]

I like the original but I love the repost. It adds so much more depth to the image. Good composition Bruce...it makes me wish I was there!

[Paul Marcellini]

I think the comp works well for the scene but I'm having trouble staying interested. You did well in arranging it but I wish for more subject, either something the stairs lead to or something in the lower left corner. I like the edit as well. A b/w may work as well.

[Amy DeStefanis]

The top of the steps in the original had a glow to it, giving a sort of "destination" that was mentioned.... So, I saved the orig, TRIED to apply Robert's Shadows/Highlights changes, and then selected the top of the steps, created a layer out of the selection, and then used linear DODGE (as opposed to burn) with a 46% opacity to brighten the top of the steps to be a destination again.

Not sure if I pulled it off, but it was fun trying. I am always so inspired by the light quality that the forest creates, and it's soooo hard to capture. This is a wonderful image!

Amy

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Bruce,
I like the reposts and I think Amy may have nailed it...........but this for some reason just doesn't work for me. Not sure if it is the larger trunks .........I can't put my finger on it as i think the mood was captured very well...........just not sure it works for me.