Selfoss (waterfall)

[Mike Buckley]

These two flows of Selfoss in northern Iceland are a very small part of the waterfall, which is huge. C&C encouraged, as always!

By the way, this is the last image that I took before my camera died. Fortunately, Manfred suggested a two-day fix that worked perfectly.

[rpcrowe]

Very nice image. I'd like to see it in color...

I shoot with a pair of cameras. Besides making it easy to switch focal lengths by just shifting cameras; the two camera system is an insurance policy against missing out on images of an important trip...

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Richard, but this scene doesn't work for me in color. That might be because it's one of the few images that I "saw" in color before I released the shutter. I'm relatively new at making B&W images, so I'm not yet adept at seeing in B&W.

Ever since a camera repairman in Durango, Colorado opened his shop on a Sunday in 1991 to provide me a replacement camera for use while he repaired my camera the next day, I have always owned two cameras. That includes this trip. Now that my wife enjoys taking pictures, we decided that we now need to get a third camera. That ensures that both of us will have a camera to use even when one stops working. If you tell me that two cameras are going to stop working at the same time, we'll have to carry four cameras with us. Sheesh!

[Donald]

This works well because, in my view, it does a very good job to portraying the power and energy of the fall. I think we see a lot of waterfall images that are 'nice' and, indeed, in some cases that is appropriate. This is not 'nice'. It is daunting, a bit scary. And that's why it works for me.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for that feedback, Donald. The image conveys to you exactly what I had hoped.

[ajohnw]

This works well because, in my view, it does a very good job to portraying the power and energy of the fall. I think we see a lot of waterfall images that are 'nice' and, indeed, in some cases that is appropriate. This is not 'nice'. It is daunting, a bit scary. And that's why it works for me.

Me too. The water has enough shape and splash to show the power that's there. Some these days use long exposures which just blur the lot out which to me doesn't do justice to this sort of subject at all.

John

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks also to you, John. My philosophy about selecting the shutter speed is to make tranquil scenes using a very slow shutter speed and to make powerful scenes using a shutter speed that stops the action in the water. It's just my way of looking at things.

[Manfred M]

Nice shot Mike - I think it is the only waterfall in Iceland that I didn't get a reasonable shot of. When we got there, it was on a very sunny day. The light was very harsh and right behind the falls. With the mist and backlighting, the whole scene was just plain uninteresting.

We had a 4x4 and took the road on the west side of the river.

[Mike Buckley]

We had a 4x4 and took the road on the west side of the river.

That's what we did too. I think the best angle for photographing the large part of the waterfall is from the east side. We considered going there the next morning but ran out of time and patience to endure the coldest day of our trip in the rain.

[Mike Buckley]

I just realized that my previous post could be misleading for anyone hoping to see the scene that I captured. Though we did take a 4 x 4 on the west side of the river, this image was captured by taking the paved road to the paved parking lot and first walking the easy trail to Dettifoss. We then took the easy side trail to this scene of Selfoss before returning to the parking lot. Sorry about any confusion I might have caused.

[Bitomco]

Nice capture. Obviously one of the numerous waterfalls I didn't get to while in Iceland last year.

[oldgreygary]

I guess one of the first questions that comes to my mind when I look at B+W photographs is, was it intended to that the final shot was in B+W or is it a colour image converted to B+W? For me that makes a huge difference. I like the image a lot. But I don't see great tonal variations. In particular on the r/h side and in the middle these look almost solid black. Like Richard, I to would like to see the image in colour.

But to counter my negativity I would also say that it is a dramatic image that has been well observed and captured.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks to Mort and Gary!

Gary, I did raise the black point just a tad to increase the drama and scary nature of the scene. However, I do see plenty of tonal variation even in the darkest areas of the image. So, I have to ask: what browser are you using, as I have recently become much more aware that some browsers display detail that others don't.

[terrib]

I think it's beautiful, Mike. It makes me want to be there!

[oldgreygary]

Thanks to Mort and Gary!

Gary, I did raise the black point just a tad to increase the drama and scary nature of the scene. However, I do see plenty of tonal variation even in the darkest areas of the image. So, I have to ask: what browser are you using, as I have recently become much more aware that some browsers display detail that others don't.

Mike,

I use Firefox running under Linux and Windows XP.

I downloaded the image and used Lightroom with the 'fill light' option tweaked to illustrate what I am talking about. This shows the detail that for me anyway makes the image work better. I think the extra detail adds to the image? How does that look on your browser?

Cheers for now

Gary

[Mike Buckley]

Glad you like it, Terri! When you do get there, I hope it's not quite so cold and rainy.

Thanks for the followup, Gary. I'm glad to know, especially for future reference, that you're using Firefox. That's also what I use after realizing that at least IE9 and apparently Chrome display images remarkably inaccurately.

I like your version a lot and am impressed that you were so successful while working with such a relatively small image. Your version distributes the tones more evenly across the tonal range with an emphasis a bit toward the middle and bright tones. My version emphasizes the dark tones. However, I think it's inaccurate to say that my version lacks tonal range; even the histograms show that your version has no more tonal range than mine. Instead, the differences are the distribution of tones across the range.

Most important, as much as I like your image, it doesn't convey the mood that I want to convey. I could have easily adjusted the curve to convey the mood that yours conveys and, instead, chose a different curve. If I were to select one word to describe each of our versions, I would choose "ominous" to describe mine and "glorious" to describe yours. I want the ominous look.

[oldgreygary]

Instead, the differences are the distribution of tones across the range.

That's fair comment. I didn't express that correctly in my comments. It was interesting for me as I was able to flick between the two versions and I was able to understand and see the 'look' that you achieved.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Mike Buckley]

It's a great exercise, Gary, that I have to believe will be helpful to others reviewing the thread. The exercise clearly shows that we have choices to make and that we also have the tools to bring our choices to fruition.

[IvorJRoberts]

I love this picture. Mike you should be entering this in the Monochrome Mini Competition //647. It would get vote.

[Coinneachmhor]

I really like this image for the drama and atmosphere. My eye is continually drawn into the centre of the image by the water. Great job.