Upper Yosemite Falls

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Taken on a long hike in Yosemite almost up to Sentinel Point, but the light was getting bad, and my gear felt pretty heavy!
40D
Tripod
CP
ISO 100
Sigma 10- 20 @ 20
1/13 s
AV Mode
f 22
Cropped a little form original (mostly the sky)
Suggestions Appreciated.

[Robert Amoruso]

Well worth the effort Jackie. I would suggest that moving left would have gotten the falls in just the right position ("V" formed between the FG and BG rock and peak) but I am sure that was not an option here as it looks like you were right at the edge.

The slope at the right of trees and rocks diagonally leads right to the falls making for a good leading line. The thing I find distracting is the large vertical branch in the upper right.

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Jackie,
I like this image because it is original and took stamina to get there...I appreciate the journey as much as the image. Maybe you could crop off the vertical branch as Robert suggested...
Jerry

[Ed Vatza]

I may be taking a contrarian viewpoint here but here goes. You've entitled this Upper Yosemite Falls so I assume the falls are the focal point. To me this is almost a sky portrait. (The sky, by the way, is beautiful. On our trip there two years ago, I don't think I ever saw a single cloud to break up the solid blue.) The horizon line seems to reinforce this. Some of that is, I think, a function of using a wide-angle like the 10-20. I encounter the same with that lens.

I would consider cropping down to above the third tree from the left and then cropping from the right to that same tree. Just my two cents.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Jackie,
I like your overall comp but like a few others......the horizontal branch was taking away a bit and I'm guessing it would have been a long flight down if you moved over any more. I did like the UL cloud and the way it leads you to the falls so I didn't want to crop it entirely out but that is an option that does work. In the re-post I cloned/patched the branch out after I cropped a little bit off the top and right. I then did a linear burn layer at 35% opacity on the sky and an LCE of 20/40/0 on the rest. I did darken the fall/valley area with a levels layer and the final step was about 5 points to the blacks in selective color for the final punch. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic......but looks like an ektachrome slide! As always you can adjust these tweaks as you like. Nicely composed overall and the hike was well worth it! Let me know what you think of the re-post.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I like your crop Roman, it looks a little too dark for my taste, but you have given me some good ideas. Thanks everyone for the comments, I will give it a rework and another post. Ed it was just a point of reference, maybe next time it should be called Yosemite.

[Paul Marcellini]

I like Roman's repost, blacks do seem a bit dark but given the light its probably a tough exposure. I like the comp, not something I have seen before.

[denise ippolito]

Jackie, I like this image very much. Roman's crop/clone is nice. I do like the orig. colors they seem more natural. It's a lovely view and seeing it brings me back there.You were lucky to get a very interesting sky to compliment your Grand Landscape!!

[Bill Jobes]

I favor your original presentation of the image Jackie. The more muted tones give it a very appealing art aura.

And that distant waterfall, at least to me, is a powerful element in the image.

It's quite the beautiful photograph!