Elowah Falls

[dankearl]

Finally got a proper FX lens to go with the D800.
35 megapixel jpegs, baby!

1/3, f11, iso200, 20mm (nikon 16-35, f4), D800, CP, pp in NX2

DSC_7005bp.jpg

[Don Nelson]

Dan
Nicely captured colors.
Free falling waterfalls, such as Elowah, usually fall vertically.
Using a wide angle means you need to acquire/use a level, as well as correcting for distortion inherent in the lens. -- if you are pointing upwards, make sure the waterfall is dead centered, or use a wide angle to keep the camera level (and crop...you have plenty of pixels)
an even better choice to get rid of the keystoning while pointing the camera upwards is to acquire a tilt-shift lens.
Best regards
Don

[laurie golden]

Dan,

I also prefer to have the water falling vertically. You took this (or cropped?) just above the top of the falls, I assume because you wanted to eliminate the white sky. I would crop this differently to cut off the top of the falls and rotate it to vertical (my crop attached). I do like the inclusion of the creek. Are you under the bridge?

[Don Nelson]

looks like he is on the bridge but low.

[dankearl]

Thanks, Don and Laurie.
I was in front of the bridge. The water flow is the lowest I have ever seen it.
The wind was blowing it sideways, but I still should have corrected it as Laurie did.
Nice to get some feedback, I appreciate it, not a lot here and hardly worth posting,
Thanks again.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Lovely scene Dan, and congrats on the new lens! If you say "35mp jpegs" do you imply you shoot the D800 in jpg mode only?

Having never shot a high upright waterfall I probably would have gone on without taking cognisance of Don's comment about having it straight up. I wonder if a tilt-shift lens would be best for these scenes?
Despite that, I actually like your OP comp very much, makes me feel like a small person staring up at a huge waterfall.
Try running dodge at 5% for the highlights and burn at 5% for the shadows over all the rocky surfaces of your scene. Should add some nice pop!

Nice to get some feedback, I appreciate it, not a lot here and hardly worth posting,
Thanks again.

Dan, you are most welcome to send me a PM with specific complaints you have, as well as possible suggestions to up participation here...
I'd also love to know if you feel you are getting good feedback/comments from myself and Andrew...

[dankearl]

Morkel, 35 mp after converting from RAW.
I do appreciate the feedback from you and Andrew.
I am referring to the site in general, there is a thread in OOTB from Kerry about the lack of participation,
A Thread in General about the same thing. I am not implying you or anybody else can do anything about it.
The Mods here do a great job in all forums, it is the membership that is letting the site down.
That being said, this is mainly a bird website so participation in Landscape is really low especially.
I think there are other sites that focus more on Landscape so I may find another for that aspect.

Again, no knock on you or Andrew, you guys are superb. Getting feedback from people is very helpful, I feel
embarrassed that I did not think to get the water straight in this photo, without Don and Laurie I would
probably make the mistake again. I won't from now on and that is the benefit of posting and getting proper feedback.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Dan - Congrats on the new lens. While I like what Laurie has done to straighten the falls, I wish for a little more room above to include a bit above the rim. Nice use of the slow ss to blur the water. I agree with Morkel that some selective dodging and burning will take this up a notch. Looking forward to more with your new lens.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Dan, before reading through the comments my first question to you was going to be "Was it a windy day?"...you indicated that it was. I have photographed a similar looking waterfall here on the Niagara Escarpment that is almost as tall as the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara...on windy days the cascade sways back and forth dramatically. I discovered this after returning home and had to make a return visit on a calmer day. I think your original post would have worked better if the wind was calmer on the day you visited. Laurie's repost works better for the straight cascade but for me is a little to narrow on the vertical. Congrats on the new lens!!!

[Jerry van Dijk]

I like how comments sometimes open up your eyes. I must confess that I didn't even notice the waterfall not being a straight vertical! I agree with Rachel's comment about including more of the rim. I like to see where the water is coming from.