Laurel Falls, TN trial

[blinking8s]

so I am determined to nail this shot, but I cannot get the timing right

http://www.blinking8s.com/photos/laurel_falls/CRW_3899.jpg

pretty heavy processing on the color here
http://www.blinking8s.com/photos/laurel_falls/CRW_3904.jpg

are those crazy waterfall pics really long exposures or just a matter of nailing the few seconds correctly? Should I try filters? I donno, Im guessing on this...its close but no damn cigar again

[Malok]

Perhaps you can explain exactly what you are trying to achieve. I think that your image looks quite good, though perhaps a little dark in the shadows and lacking a bit of saturation, but otherwise it seems quite nice. You seem to have dealt with much of this in your edited version.

I always find that the best lighting is when the sky is very dark with rain clouds, often just after it has rained. I also rely quite a bit on polarizer's for such scenes. Perhaps this is what you were missing. The length of your exposure looks good, but it depends on what effect you are going for. My favorite is usually at 1/3 of a second, but sometimes I enjoy going several seconds.

Let us know what you are trying to achieve and we will see if we can help.

Malok

[blinking8s]

See your photos the motion in the water looks rather appealing. I think my main problem was i needed a higher angle on the water, the stream lacks depth in the picture

however my exposure times were longer than 1/3 of a seconds, and I tried several shots with and without the CP filter.

Basically all I am trying to acheive is correct exposure, learning as fast as I can and its starting to get hard. Should I use a grey card to meter such scenes? I am currently enrolled in an intermed photography class and defining the correct exposure the 1st time around seems to be the main thing they are pushing for. I usually am pretty good with this on my own, but they threw in all these equations and grey cards and its boggin my mind down and I am trying to think too technical when I am taking pictures.

thanks for the comment

[JCK]

You appear to have a harsh light coming from the sky, and like Malok said, a cloudy day (thicker clouds or low sun angle) would work best, acting as a natural diffuser.... But that's just me!

[blinking8s]

that makes a lot of sense, it was very bright that day...

[Yeager]

Where exactly is this trail?

[darwin]

I find the only downside to the photo to be the lighting as others have stated... What else are you trying to achieve? The shot is perfect otherwise.

[Fabrian]

I think I know what blinking means. I'm thinking the problem your trying to work around is the condition of the sky and mainly the time of day, meaning taking the shot when the sun is in the right position for your scene. Maybe on a clear day during mid morning or late afternoon.

[zeiss]

first off, great shot!

my only comment is that in the edited shot, the seam between the foreground (stream) and background (waterfall) is so sharp that the foreground almost looks pasted in. especially with the brown water coming off the super-bright waterfall. you may want to blend that better if you are doing color post-processing.

also, i like the foreground of the top image: the soft water profile gives it an almost painted texture. it's a surreal juxtaposition of the photographically sharp rocks in the bottom left and the soft focus brush strokes in the bottom right.

{sorry, it took me a while to notice that the second image is not an editted version of the first}