Autumn Waterfall Critique

[Dan H]

Just started this year entering juried shows with some success but can’t tell what gets in and what doesn’t. This has been rejected by both shows I’ve entered. What can be done better on a reshoot or can it be rescued in PP?

[Tobie]

Dan personally I think the waterfall itself is perfect. The problem is with the over abundance of plants, obscuring much of the surroundings. I think you have extracted the optimum features from this scene – nothing to be salvaged in PP.

[billyspad]

OK mate found it a bit flat and underexposed so put found some color in the rocks and tried to breath a little life into it. For me I would tone down the red in the trees at the top of the falls but leave that choice to you.

 

[Graham Hart]

I think Billyspad has improved the image somewhat. The sky was a litle over-processed and the falls definitely have more life in them now. Problem I have though is the foreground greenery which competes with the falls for attention. Maybe a vignette to lessen it’s impact or at least some targeted brightness adjustment?

[billyspad]

The edit was just a quick and dirty fix. Would always selectively edit rather than do as I did here and apply overall changes. Just gives an idea of what is actually in the picture and can be brought out. The sky for some reason is pretty awful and does not get better with working on it. Not a problem if you have the original RAW file. If not then a change of sky is not out of the question depending on your PP skill level.

[Dan H]

Thanks guys, that does look more impactful for sure.  I have a brighter exposure so I probably can work with the sky.  I guess I did over do it with the polarizer.

[Rob Eyers]

Hi Dan. I think this is a very nice landscape, and the bones are there. A reshoot always presents different lighting and a scene like this scene can stand a 1,000 different captures, but in this case (assuming you shot in RAW) there is a ton you can do to move it in a better direction with PP.

Overall I think the lighting balance is upside down. The subject (the waterfall) is dark and the framing (the trees) are bright and overpowering. Some selective sharpening and dodging and burning can also help. If you haven’t been using luminosity masks I would recommend you look into them as they can be of tremendous help in post processing a scene like this.

I like your composition, and you’ve exposed it well, so concentrating on PP would be my suggestion. Here is a quick edit for you.

 

[Tom M]

Nice Rob,

I also thought the tree in fg was overpowering. Nice overall photo though…

 

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