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Ramesh Adkoli
08-08-2009, 02:48 AM
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3432/3784302265_ae45305e1c_o.jpg

This is the first stage of Chunchi Falls, about 75km from Bangalore. There wasn't much water due to a dam upstream. But i liked the rock formations and carvings that are again a handy work of water! Appreciate your views and comments.

EXIF: D700, 70-200mmL @200mm + 1.4x TC, 1s, f/22, ISO 200, ND filter, later morning, tripod mount
PP: Curves, Levels, fill-light for the shadows.

Robert Amoruso
08-09-2009, 06:57 AM
Ramesh,

Strong diagonal in the image helps to strengthen it. TOo bad you don't have more water but the modeling of the rocks (color and shapes) are excellent.

You need to even out the tonal qualities of the image. The bright sections are too bright and the dark sections too dark.

GO two the two links from here http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=24075 on methods for making selections and affecting tonal relationships.

I suggest first a selection of the highlights and using the Multiply Blending Mode to tone then down. Reverse s-curve another option.

Roman Kurywczak
08-09-2009, 08:57 AM
Hi Ramesh,
Excellent suggestions by Robert here.....just balancing out the tones a bit, will greatly strengthen the impact here. I think once you bring up the shadow area a bit more.....the water level will be fine! Compositionally you framed the water nicely with the rocks. This one has very nice potential.....so just try tweaking it a bit.

Roman Kurywczak
08-09-2009, 09:50 AM
Hi Ramesh,
Had a moment to play.....quickly did 3 levels layers of different amounts on the brighter rocks and 1 in the shadow area. Added a bit of black in selective color to give a bit of pop and some H/S.....becuase I knew I would lose some of it in the second compression which was saved at 67 quality to make it fit.
Let me know what you think.

Sabyasachi Patra
08-09-2009, 10:19 AM
Ramesh,
I love the rocks. The slow shutter speed gives the water a nice flowing feeling. Compositionally it is nice. However, the rocks are much brighter than th water and the shadow part, and hence attracts all attention. Your ND filter is how many stops?

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Rich Ikerd
08-09-2009, 12:32 PM
The others have covered all of the ways to make this even better Ramesh. It is a wonderful scene that hopefully you can go back to and capture using some of the suggestions above. In this lighting you could also attempt some HDR work if you have multiple images at different exposures of the scene. While not always workable HDR can generate some wonderful images.

Ramesh Adkoli
08-09-2009, 11:17 PM
Thanks a lot, Robert, Roman (*2), Sabyasachi and Rich for your suggestions to improve this and Roman, again for showing the way. The reworked image has a lot of punch to it and illustrates the potential. Robert and Roman, i will go through the tutorial and work on this image.

Sabya, my ND filter has upto 8 stops and i set it around 6th for this image.

Rich, yes, i am will go back to this place and give it another try. Of course, there is the bigger falls to explore too. I am hoping for some more water to be there;-)

Thanks again gentlemen for your time.

regards,
ramesh

Ramesh Adkoli
08-10-2009, 11:58 PM
I refered the tutorial by Robert and also perused the suggestions made by you all and reworked on the image from scratch and learnt a lot in the process. Here is the result. Appreciate you views on this repost.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2584/3810729198_d7f01524a2_o.jpg

regards,
ramesh

Roman Kurywczak
08-11-2009, 12:05 PM
Hi Ramesh,
I like your re-post! You did a very nice job with the suggestions and opening up of the shadows.....maybe a bit more toning down of the top/whitish rock........but all in all very nice job with the rework! Strengthened even more a very nice comp.

Ramesh Adkoli
08-11-2009, 10:39 PM
Thanks Roman. I am glad you found the repost to your liking. Following Robert and your guidance has been a great learning experience for me. I am grateful to you both.

regards,
ramesh

Rich Ikerd
08-12-2009, 02:29 PM
Way better Ramesh. Good work on evening out the shadows and highlights. Looks almost like a totally different image.