Garden Creek in the clouds - please comment

[MatthewWilliams]

I woke up to something strange around here, dense fog, instead of sunshine. So I thought I'd go up to the falls and try and get some pictures. This one i had a nd4 filter one and tried to do an HDR. So ... how bad did i do?

[MatthewWilliams]

i worked this in two ways comments are welcome

[IzzieK]

I like the second series better. The first one is good because of the natural-ness looking of the textures of the rocks on the right side. Enhancing that right side makes almost lose the mood of the foggy environment. I still think the photo needs to be rotated to the right a little bit...my head is almost turning just to view it properly.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture of the textures and falls, I'd crop out the sky in those.

[Marie Hass]

Hi there!!!! Matt!!!

John, I would disagree with you about cropping the sky. It seems to be an integral part of the image.

Of the 2 falls images, my preference is #1. More details are present.

Matt, maybe you have answered this, but what are your skills? I know my skills are in the making, but at some point, maybe levels might help?

'Rie

[FootLoose]

You have some good textures in the rock face, Matt, but I suspect the waterfall is supposed to be the main subject and I can't get past it defying gravity.

[Kodiak]

…dense fog, instead of sunshine.

Same thing here… I was supposed to shoot the red grapes harvest this morning!

So ... how bad did i do?

Hey Matt,

The end result is quite… no so good. Don't get me wrong, your strategy with
the ND filter was appropriate and I believe that the takes (how many was that?)
were properly exposed but your chosen options at PP left some disgraceful
artefacts.

I would be very interested in seeing the untouched takes. I think I can help
you with your workflow! …if you want that is.

[Kodiak]

I would disagree with you about cropping the sky. It seems to be an integral part of the image. 'Rie

+1

[Shadowman]

Hi there!!!! Matt!!!

John, I would disagree with you about cropping the sky. It seems to be an integral part of the image.

'Rie

Marie,

Perhaps if the sky was shown through a round opening but as it is displayed it looks like a severe crop.

[Kodiak]

•
My concern goes more in the direction of the tilted take.

[MatthewWilliams]

thanks for the feed back- after posting the first one I realized it need to be cropped some more. as for the falls - this is the top part of them and i was looking up at an angle of about 45 degrees, and yes my skill set is very limited -- but i'm working on it

[MatthewWilliams]

[

QUOTE=Kodiak;451479]

The end result is quite… no so good.

Thanks Kodiak -- you dont have to hold back let me have it

File Size 22.3MB
Camera Model Canon EOS REBEL T5i
Firmware Firmware Version 1.1.3
Shooting Date/Time 9/28/2014 10:55:24 AM
Owner's Name
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv(Shutter Speed) 0.5
Av(Aperture Value) 9.0
Metering Mode Center-Weighted Average Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 100
Auto ISO Speed OFF
Lens EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
Focal Length 20.0mm
Image Size 5184x3456
Aspect ratio 3:2
Image Quality RAW
Flash Off
FE lock OFF
White Balance Mode Daylight
AF Mode Manual focusing
Picture Style Faithful
Sharpness 0
Contrast 0
Saturation 0
Color tone 0
Color Space sRGB
Long exposure noise reduction Disable
High ISO speed noise reduction Strong
Highlight tone priority 0isable
Auto Lighting Optimizer Standard
Peripheral illumination correction Enable
Chromatic aberration correction Disable
Dust Delete Data No
Drive Mode Single shooting
Live View Shooting OFF

These are the original 3 shots used for the meadow pic

[Kodiak]

The end result is quite… no so good.

Thanks Kodiak -- you dont have to hold back let me have it

Hi Matt,

The way I see it, you went the whole way for nothing. The first picture you
took was correct, well done and sufficient! The rendition I propose is based
on that one single shot. In order to render the scene as it was seen, IMO,
you did not need to use…

• a ND filter, because the tonal range is not justifying it,

• a bracketed exposition, because the dynamic range is in no way
offended by the tonal values of the scene,

• the HDR approach because the scene contains only values that any
sensor could register comfortably, and

• any sharpening at all! because the shot was focused correctly.

In no way am I suggesting that you have lost your time… cause you learned
something, but all the efforts were not justified: you had a great subject
and you shot it correctly.

Just like everyone, I had to learn where to stop! …and that was not easy!
To correctly evaluate the amount of effort to put in a photograph, for most,
is a constant learning process.

"…let me have it!" —Now you got it!

I sincerely hope I helped you in some way… :-)