Bridal Veil Falls

[dankearl]

Another very much photographed and famous falls in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon.
Normally shot from a viewing platform on the cliff of the canyon, the falls is big, 120 feet in two drops.
I went today to get a different view, at low water season you can get down on the bank at the bottom of the falls.
It looks much smaller (you barely see the upper falls), but this view is different and more attractive to me.
These photos are basically PP exercises, you have to shoot way under to keep the water manageable in the dark canyon and bring everything else
up in PP and hope it turns out.

1 sec., iso200, 23mm, f16, D800, Polarizer & grad filter used.

DSC_7439bp3.jpg

[Douglas Bolt]

Beautiful waterfall and nice choice in SS. I suspect the scene in real life looked much like it appears in the image above, but I'd like to see a little more detail and more vibrance in both sided of the image. Re-post was with a 80% Screen blending mode with a Color Range mask for the waterfall and then a curves layer. There are some hot spots in the whites.

[dankearl]

Doug, it is a bit too bright for me, but thanks a lot for taking the time and responding here.
Landscape is so subjective and I can understand that you thought mine was a bit dark (you should see the RAW image!).
I still very much appreciate the comment. This forum is pretty lonely, hard to know what to make of the views vs. comments.
Maybe people just enjoy viewing landscape photo's and don't care to comment, who knows, I will probably just give up posting here....

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Dan, this scene is nicely composed but I think pumping up the contrast a bit on the surrounding forest and darkening the rock in the lower right would help. I like the brightness of the forest in the original post but would like to see more contrast to it. The rock looks like perhaps it has been lightened?

[Don Lacy]

HI Dan, I keep looking at this image and It keeps telling me it should be a vertical comp losing some of the empty space at the bottom and to the left, I also feel the bright area at the top of the falls needs to go as it keeps pulling my attention back up the falls instead of letting my eye flow with the water down and through the frame. I noticed in your comments that you really had to pull the shadows up in post which I think cause the image to be a little flat I know the D800 is famous for it ability to pull detail out of shadows but it does it at the cost of contrast which is what the others are seeing. I hope this critique does not come across as overly harsh the image is close for me to being very good.

[Don Nelson]

Given the choice between the OP and the second one, I'd choose the first.
Yet both are way too blue for the scene, as evidenced by the spray zone around the falls as well as the white of the falls. (again, this was made in shade or overcast. If you'd been an 8x10 chrome shooter, you'd have put a CR010 filter on front to try to correct this, and then worked with the developer( lab) to tweak the second sheet to make it perfect. I spent way too many years making 8x10 chromes under PNW lighting.....;-0

Here's my thoughts on repost, and yes, with the some areas lightened but leaving the waterfall untouched. ..., you will note some framing corners where I did not filter out the blue/cyan in two areas surrounded by the red cropping corners.
Note how much blue (and cyan) remains in these areas.....

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Dan,
The lightest area of the waterfall at top was bothering me a touch......but I like the look/mood of your OP tones but also can see Douglas's idea. I might just open up the RH side rocks and moss a touch....not much. A tough call but I may crop out the upper light area of the falls since it is almost cut already? Just more options to consider.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Having seen the other one I now prefer the composition in this one, Dan.
I don't mind how "dark" the OP looks, but would like to see finite details appear a bit sharper...though I appreciate each has his own standard for web sharpening and some find images to look over-sharpened that I probably think look perfect. Don's brought some nice thoughts to the table. This could work well in monochrome too??

I do hope you continue posting as there's much to learn for all of us. Activity will pick up, it already has compared to a couple of months ago...