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Elmar Venter
08-29-2009, 07:40 AM
This is my first post in the landscape category. The image is of the Cascades in the Royal Natal National Park in South Africa's Drakensberg.

f22
1.6 s
EOS 350D
17 - 40 mm lens

All comments and crits welcome.

Roman Kurywczak
08-29-2009, 09:29 AM
Hi Elmar,
Welcome to the forum! This image has a lot going for it....a nice diagonal composition, very effective and nice use of the slow SS and nice even diffused light. Did you use a polariser?.....I ask because I do wonder if you could have removed any more of the glare off the water to reveal some of the rocks under water to add interest to the large area of water in the RC. I find the same issue with the UL although the rocks give it more interest. I would suggest toning down the brighter branches on the URC and a smaller one on the ULC frame edge.....just so they don't draw the eye. I will ask 1 more question......was it possible to move slightly to the right....keeping a very similar composition yet eliminating some of the base pool?......or would that introduce too much stuff on the left that was out of frame? As presented I would try to open up the shadow area on the RH side of the main fall a bit and by evening out the tones some.....may minimize the scale of the base pool. All in alll pretty well handled and I admire the fact that you tried a bit of a different approach!

Elmar Venter
08-29-2009, 10:12 AM
Hallo Roman - thank you very much for your detailed response and comments. On your questions, I did use a polariser, but it is quite a dark pool. I do have some shots where I moved more to the right (I was knee deep in the water, freezing). However, those shots loose a lot of the cascading water from the rocks in the bottom left corner of this picture (which I quite like). I will have a go at all your suggestions. Thanks!

Roman Kurywczak
08-29-2009, 10:30 AM
Hi Elmar,
Had a bit of time as you gave me an idea when you said the pool was very dark.....I did a crop off the left.....eliminating the rock and then some off the bottom and hair off top to try and keep the proportions. I did a bit of shadow highlight work on the pool......knocking down some of the glare. I also did several levels layer adjustments in different areas to even out the tonal value(none on any of the cascades)....bringing up the RH side some and darkening the LH a bit. I probably did around 7 layers in total.....and patched out the brightest branch up top......just to show you......(you could burn it in some if you aren't OK with removal). Let me know your thoughts as for me it balnces a bit better and as I suspected.....lessened the impact of the pool.

Elmar Venter
08-29-2009, 10:37 AM
Thanks, I really like it. The revised crop works really great, and I agree that it is much better without the distracting twigs. I obviously have a lot to learn on post processing!

Jackie Schuknecht
08-29-2009, 06:36 PM
Beautiful shot Elmar. I was thinking this looked like Mark II quality. Water looks great, and Roman's tweaks kick it up a notch.

Dennis "Curly" Buchner
08-29-2009, 07:47 PM
Great composition, giving me more ideas for my trip. Roman's repost helps impact the lovely image.

Kyle Marie Barcelos
08-29-2009, 07:54 PM
Beautiful waterfall, love the slow ss, and the colors are really nice also. Great job:)

Ed Cordes
08-29-2009, 09:22 PM
Beautiful water falls. I like the slow SS and Roman's rework is an improvement.

Elmar Venter
08-30-2009, 04:04 AM
Thanks Jackie, Dennis, Kyle and Ed for taking the time to view and comment. Dennis, from your comment I assume that you will be visiting South Africa. This waterfall is in the Royal Natal National Park. If you can stay at the Thendele camp operated by KZN wildlife. This camp has one of the most beautiful settings in South Africa. You can easily combine this with Giants Castle.