What went wrong??

[jacknimble]

Ok well i'm brand new to Flickr and for the life of me can't figure out how to get links for each picture that I could make them show up here, but here is the link to the set anyway. As you can see, none of these shots came out clear in all areas, even though some of the same shots have different parts of the falls that are 'misty'. I'm wondering what caused this misty effect and ruined what would have been really nice shots otherwise.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44662821@N07/sets/72157622681125783/detail/

[jacknimble]

Alright, how about helping me to understand why nobody has anything to say? Do I need to upload the pictures at a higher resolution?

[kwb]

Well, it is a waterfall. There will be mist in the air. Were you shooting toward the sky?

You will almost always get a better response if you post a photo with data.

[tigerotor77w]

Can you give us an idea of your settings and whether you used a tripod? I can't see exif data in your images.

[DDCSD]

Were you using a tripod? Your EXIF shows a shutter speed of two seconds, a good tripod is a must. Also, f/22 isn't a great aperture to shoot at. Your images start to suffer from diffraction at that point.

[jacknimble]

Yes, I was using a good tripod, and I was shooting at f22 that's true. Does the link I posted not lead to any images? The issue is obviously not a matter of an unsteady tripod since all features in the shot are not blurred. Also, I took other shots that are comparatively clear. It seems that the misty quality also is not throughout the picture, or even uniformly over the water. Is it possible that this is the result of the temperature being very low where I was shooting and the sensor maybe had fog on it or something like that?

[jacknimble]

I haven't got much experience with landscapes, and thought I had read that you should generally shoot them at the highest f-stop possible so that all areas of the exposure have the same degree of sharpness.

[DDCSD]

Do you have a filter on the lens?

[tigerotor77w]

True, but you will at some point reach the diffraction limit -- this is especially true for an APS-C sensor. At most print sizes, you won't be able to tell the difference between f/8 and f/22, but in general, it is best to avoid shooting at too small of apertures.

[Ook]

I haven't got much experience with landscapes, and thought I had read that you should generally shoot them at the highest f-stop possible so that all areas of the exposure have the same degree of sharpness.

Well, sometimes one might want to use a very narrow aperture if there is a lot of area to get in focus - but this is of a rock face, there isn't a large range of distances being covered, so you could stick to f/8-f/11 and increase sharpness throughout.

As for mist, did you take a look at the front of the lens for condensation? I sometimes get that issue when I first bring the camera out of the bag.

Was it windy? Two seconds is enough to visibly soften the leaves if there was even a slight breeze.

[sapearl]

Jack, I spent some time staring at your flickr pics trying to get a feel for what's going on. As others have said, there will be a fair amount of mist in the air which will be captured in the exposure.

Also I feel that most of your shots are a little overexposed, perhaps by about 1-stop if not more in some areas. This will cause your brighter areas - and some of the mist - to visually "blow out" even more. I also agree with what John-Allan is saying about possible moisture collecting on the front of the lens. That is EXTREMELY likely in this environment, so close to the water.

What metering mode were you using? You may have somewhat metered off that dark rock near the bottom which would have caused the overexposure in the areas of the falls themselves. You could do a bit of repair work in photoshop to fix the situation. I'd show you what I mean but you have REPOST & EDITING permission set to no. - Stu

[jacknimble]

Yes a polarizing filter, and i'm suspicious that you are right about the moisture collection since I did take some pictures that were substantially more clear. If I were to notice that in the field, how can I go about fixing it? How do I alter the repost and editing permission I wasn't even aware that there were settings for me to set...is there a rule of thumb for determining proper aperture setting? I"ve literally been always stopping down as much as I can and using a tripod.

[sapearl]

Go to your control panel settings Jack - once you reset your post permission people might try a hand at your image.

If you see moisture in the field on your lens or filter, well, wipe it off ;). As far as proper aperture settings, there is usually a sweet spot for DOF and sharpness. Generally I'll shoot around f/8-11 for my normal/wide angle lenses; doesn't mean I won't alter it for other circumstances. You would have to alter shutter speed accordingly, perhaps ISO too.

Yes a polarizing filter, and i'm suspicious that you are right about the moisture collection since I did take some pictures that were substantially more clear. If I were to notice that in the field, how can I go about fixing it? How do I alter the repost and editing permission I wasn't even aware that there were settings for me to set...is there a rule of thumb for determining proper aperture setting? I"ve literally been always stopping down as much as I can and using a tripod.

[sapearl]

Would you like me to try and enhance that first waterfall shot Jack?

[jacknimble]

Ok been out of town a while again but I have now changed my settings so have at it by all means

[sapearl]

Hi again Jack - here is my interpretation of your shot:

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