How can I improve my waterfalls?

I shot this this past weekend, using a .9 and .6 nd and a polarizer. Aside from the obvious spots on my lens (no doubt water droplets-I was standing IN the creek), and the slightly blown out highlights (many rude visitors/ "fellow" photographers not allowing the time to properly take samples and adjusting...) is there anything I can do to make it better?

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/justinryansr/6​123021983/

here is a single shot of the same location....

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/justinryansr/6​123561782/

i upped the saturation a little

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Your second shot actually showed the falls. I would have liked to see an even higher POV to accentuate the steps. The pool is not as interesting as they are, IMO. And doing that you might have narrowed the shot a little. And Bryan's saturation boost seems to work as well.

#2 is actually a quite pleasant shot.

The second works better because you eliminated most of the "dead" sky. When shooting landscapes, its more often than not best to either crop out a dead sky when composing, or crop it out in post...its more of a detraction than a benefit to an image. In these situations, its also good to focus on specific areas of the falls and avoid the sky altogether.

The second shot can be improved a bit by bringing up the shadows and pulling out some of the reflective colors in the water. You managed to avoid blowing out the water, so there's some room boost the image without it being a problem.

NOTE: When shooting falls, etc keep a soft towel handy to wipe off lenses and filters before shooting...

You could wait until later in the day if time allowed. I don't let anybody rush me, I just let them do their thing and when they are done I do mine. You might even wait until dark to take a shot too. Water takes on a whole new life at night and long exposures can really make for cool effects. Living in the Black Hills of SD I have found that just because the sun goes down doesn't mean that the time for good photography has passed.

Avoid the frozen water effect bu using a faster shutter speed.

Woodworker, given he was using ND filters I think it's safe to say he was trying to get the frozen water look.

Woodworker wrote in post #13067194
Avoid the frozen water effect bu using a faster shutter speed.

LOL....the whole point of the ND filters was to 'blur' the water. If you speed up the shutter, you actually 'freeze' the water, as in 'freeze' the motion.

I think the first one can be cropped into a much better image. Just cut off the top 1/3 of the image. It will put your waterfall in the middle 1/3 of the frame, making the waterfall int he middle of the image. I know some would say not to do that, but it is much better than with the sky. I guess you could crop one of the sides to move the waterfall left or right of center.

Or, find a way to replace the sky.

PointlessComment wrote in post #13065336
Focus more on the falls, especially when the surrounds are uninspiring and the sky grey - but ignore anyone whose first response is to re-edit your attempt.

Why? The OP has image editing on...

OP: Its late, was bored, so I took a play with your second image. Basically, just pulled out some more detail from the shadows, brought out the reflected colors in the water, added 'richness' to the dirt on left which also brought out the sliver of sunlight, added a bit of contrast and sharpened. If you have a problem with it, just say the word and I'll take it down (I usually take an edit down within a day or two anyway).

Also, when you have as much tree cover as this area seems to have, it tends to filter the harsh light which means that you could shoot in these conditions basically all day long...no need to get overly concerned about the "golden hours" only. Mid-day is usually not the most desirable time to shoot, but like I said, with this tree cover that rule goes out the window.

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Thanks all for the info and ideas. I have been lurking and watching the suggestions unfold.
Bpiper: I actually thought the same thing about getting higher (after-the-fact, of course). Next time I am gonna try and get a bit more elevated.

Pointless comment: while I would normally agree 100% about the re-edit first response, after seeing other posts by 'BGP', I think that is just his style.....a little gruff in reply, but no harm intended....

Argyle: I am loving the "depth" and 'richness' in the left of the photo! Your edit is fantastic. I will have to play with them some more later....

Thank you all for the advice/critiques!