Roper River, Arnhem Land, Australia

[WJT]

Here's a few from the latest bush trip. The Roper RIver is the southern border of Arnhem Land and this crossing has always been a place of tranquility for me. I have long wanted to set up the tripod and get some dawn shots using this beautiful tree and its intriguing roots as the subject. C&C appreciated.
1.
2.

[gregj1763]

Hi Wayne, #1 is my pick. It has the sun rays and more of the cloud to give interest in the background so I find there is more to explore than in the second image.
Hope you don't mind but I downloaded the first image and slightly adjusted the highlights which brought out the suns rays and gave the cloud more pop.
Wonderful part of the country you live in.
Cheers, Greg

[Bobobird]

Similar to Greg, I like the #1.

The only thing bugging me is the silky look of the water flow considering the amount of turbulence it is causing.

[wtlwdwgn]

Of the two I like #1 better. I agree that the image needs to be 'pumped' up a little to give it more 'pop.' I'd also like to see a wider angle view. It looks to me that there might be some interesting foreground not shown in your composition and the river appears cut off on the right. You might also try a vertical composition showing the full height of the tree and the water rushing by at the bottom.

If you like to see the roots of the tree I would try to crop to them in camera with a longer focal length lens. It doesn't look like crossing that river to get a closeup would be a good idea.

There is probably a shutter speed somewhere in between the very smooth water in your image and a too sharp capture of the turbulent water. You'll need to play with the shutter speed to get the right amount of silkiness and still show some spray of frozen water droplets.

Don't you just love it when folks thousands of miles away try to suggest ways of shooting something they've never seen? Anyway, it looks like you'll just have to go back and retake these!

[Nicola]

both are beautiful
I do like the water and the roots in the foreground.
IMHO, a GND filter and a bit of PP will help to achieve a more dramatic and detailed sky,
in juxtaposition to the flowing water
hope this helps
cheers
Nicola

[WJT]

Thanks all for your feedback. I did want the water to have a silky look as the subject is the roots of the tree and it needed to stand out so I wanted no distractions in the foreground. For me works but I can see why it wouldn't for others. I have added the extra colour to the sunrise and made it a bigger file so click to enlarge, what do you think?

[gregj1763]

That looks good Wayne. The colour in the sky and sun has a little more saturation in it now. I like it .
Now just to be picky, are they some dust spots top right of the image
Cheers, Greg

[WJT]

That looks good Wayne. The colour in the sky and sun has a little more saturation in it now. I like it .
Now just to be picky, are they some dust spots top right of the image
Cheers, Greg

Thanks Greg, I'm sure I got all the dust spots but will have another look with the zoom.

[cliffmccartney]

Nice shots Wayne. I like #1 as well.

[WJT]

I feel a bit stupid here, after all the effort to edit the previous picture I have now realised that this other shot was a better one to edit. A lot less PP for a much better result

[whited3]

Wayne,

I like them both but No2 is better I think. Not sure about you edit above though, looks a bit over saturated (no offence).

Any crocs in that area?

[pnodrog]

The second shot looks better but I liked the slightly warmer tone of the first one and the bit of a lift it had in the root system on the left.

[WJT]

Hi again, thanks for all your feedback. This is my final version.

[gregj1763]

That's a keeper Wayne.
Nice one

[WJT]

That's a keeper Wayne.
Nice one

Thanks Greg