Foliage / Waterfall HDR

I'm not sure if I even like this. I'm not sure if it sucks or if I'm just in a mood.

Comments appreciated.

Not sure I like the long run of the stream down to the foreground edge.
But the meeting place of water, rock, trees and sun at the waterfall is outstanding.
Thanks for sharing.

hee...hee..you may be in a mood, but I don't care for it either. Too much foreground and the water has no definable detail for me. Don't shoot me

on the plus side, the fall colors are looking great!

OK, it's agreed. Someone delete this thread.


On the good side, I have a wide-angle shot that doesn't contain the long water in front. I'll play with that one tomorrow I guess. I spent about an hour and 4 gigs on this waterfall. I've got to have *something* decent from all that work.

I hopr...

Scottes wrote in post #8794342
OK, it's agreed. Someone delete this thread.


On the good side, I have a wide-angle shot that doesn't contain the long water in front. I'll play with that one tomorrow I guess. I spent about an hour and 4 gigs on this waterfall. I've got to have *something* decent from all that work.

I hopr...

I think we should keep this in perpetuity for the future civilizations.

Ok, so I'm weird! I really like it. I like almost everything about it. As for the detail in the water, I'm a fan of time expo'd water, love it, especially the fall area. Ok, maybe a little less foreground would be better, but I'd hang it just like it is.

Aesthetics aside, I think it is a very nice piece technically. The range of highlights and shadows is captured very well, the color is rich and the tonemapping is natural and pleasing, not garish and cartoony. It appears a little oversharpened or overly local contrasty, especially in the leaves - I think the rock can hold a little more of that treatment before it gets to be too much, but here it seems like the limits of the rock have been reached.

It may not be possible, but shoot in that light from down low, looking upstream, through that cut, at the sun drenched falls. Try framing the shot with the cut walls in shadow,but well defined shadows - we are shooting HDR or course!

Keep at it - the colors are lovely.

Kirk

I was wondering if someone would mention over-sharpening. I hit it with SmartSharpen: highlight fade 100% at range 70, radius 0.3, amount - wait for it - 23%.

I just barely *kissed* it with sharpening. Damn that 24-70mm L, it's too sharp,




Seriously though, it really needs creative sharpening, not a global method. But I was too lazy since I didn't really like it by the time I was done.

I could not get lower - I was on a bridge. Tough to avoid tourists bouncing the bridge with a 2-minute exposure!


Thanks for the technical comments. I do like it for that.

DId you have "More Accurate" checked in the Smart Sharpen dialog? I find that it is all but useless and creates the kind of wormy effect that the leaves exhibit. Uncheck it.

Kirk

Hmmm, I probably did have that checked. I'll try it on and off on the next foliage shot I process.

You could just crop it down to the top portion. It looks great with a square crop so that you cut out the bottom part.

Does the water look any better in the individual shots? If so, massage the one that has the best lighting on the water to closely match the water in the HDR, add it as a layer and mask it to show only the water. This obviously doesn't work if the HDR was generated from a single shot.

Was that shot taken along the Kangamangus River? Here is an old crappy shot (from a P&S) from what looks to be the same area.

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Waterj12 - yes, a crop does look better. Good idea.

Grandad35 - I'd say that we both shot from the same exact location, the bridge across the Rocky Gorge, but you zoomed in.

Location has potential, but the exposure time seems a little too long. Water is a little too silky with no detail. - maybe just a style difference. Fall colors look great.

I just sent you a PM regarding shooting in your area.