Would this landscape work?

[teokf]

I am having another try at landscape, but it's a waterfall. This is a different challenge. I have a foreground and hopefully this photo looks 'balanced'.

Would appreciate all comments to make this photo look better. Thanks for viewing.

f/22 | 2.5sec | ISO200 | FL 11mm

Image linked from Facebook

[gaijin]

I like the stony water in the foreground! However I do find the stones in the water in the foreground attract my attention as much as the waterfall, or even more so, especially the very first one. The waterfall itself I don't find particularly exciting, so that's perhaps why the stones take over. The whole is greater than the parts but here I feel the photo doesn't really bear this out. Might just be me though - I'm sure others with better eyes and better credentials will explain just how wrong I am!

[Shadowman]

Hi Steven,

"Would this landscape work"?
It all depends on your audience and what moves them visually. If you are talking about the casual viewer, I think they would like this image immensely. It is visually moving, can have an emotional feel for some. The image has a good composition, center of interest, and nice design. The colors aren't that exciting but they are what the scene calls for. The lighting looks good, but again the colors aren't that exciting.

Now if this were viewed by a photography judge, the soft flowing waters could be a hit or a miss, depending on the judges tastes.

Now for someone in the market for a photograph for their wall, the waterfall pulls the viewers eyes into the shot but the foliage is a bit distracting because there is so much of it and not very sharp. I do see individual leaves that appear sharper than others, but maybe I am looking to closely at the image. The brick wall in the middle of the image has a leading line towards the falls but the texture of the wall is almost lost within the foliage and it leads to the small cascade of falls in the middle of the photograph which are too fuzzy to add to the photograph. There is too much foreground water with nothing of interest beyond the large rock.

I still think this image can work for certain styles of photography. As a motivational poster with a caption, it would work perfectly. As a very small print for the desk, perfectly. For a large print out, not so much. Hope this helps.

[MrB]

This is a pleasant image but, although I tend to agree with the comments above, the primary change for me would be to edit the border - I find the brown outer layer to be terribly distracting so it would have to go. Just my opinion, of course.

Philip

[Geoff F]

To me, Steven, that bottom submerged stone makes the distant waterfall look small.

So I would crop the bottom by nearly a quarter and trim the top as required to produce a different image ratio; maybe 5 x 4 ratio. Possibly a square crop might work.

[GrahamH]

Hi Steven,
Good location, but the balance of the composition is off.
The underwater stone in the foerground is too large compared to the waterfall and yet not prominent enough. I would suggest the above water stone.
Perhaps a crop more like below.
The size of the stone now complements the waterfall and there is a greater balance between foreground and background.
Graham

[teokf]

John appreciate your detailed explanation from the different perspectives.
Thanks for all the comments. Appreciate that.