Smooth Waterfalls - First Attempt

[Suzan J]

I went on a weekend field trip with a local camera club to photograph waterfalls. This was the first time I tried a long exposure for something like this. I had a set of neutral density filters that I have never really used and I still don't understand the technical aspects of them, but I just decided to screw on all three of them at once and see what happened. Any critiques or suggestions would be welcomed. I do not like the big stick in the way of the third one, but attempting to clone it out is easier said than done.


DSC_3676.jpg by Suzan Johnson, on Flickr

DSC_3969.jpg by Suzan Johnson, on Flickr

DSC_4064.jpg by Suzan Johnson, on Flickr

[Wavelength]

I just can't believe these are first attempt( that was an exclamatory statement only!!!); so lovely.....

[rpcrowe]

Very nicely done... I like it when water doesn't look like "cotton candy" and has some amount of definition to it.

Re: the third image: You "could" clone out the big stick or you could "talk softly" and carry it As per the advice of Teddy Roosevelt!

[JohnRostron]

I have mixed feelings about smoothing waterfalls, but I have to admit that these look good. I edited the third one in Affinity Photo using the InPainting Brush to remove the stick:


John

[DanK]

Very nice for a first try.

The technical principle of ND filters is just this: they make the scene darker, which allows you to use a slower shutter speed. There is nothing more to it than that. However, don't use more than you need to get to the shutter speed you want. Layering multiple filters will degrade the image to some degree, and likewise, less dense filters are less likely to give you problems of color cast or lack of sharpness. the procedure is simply to figure out the slowest speed shutter speed you can get without them; decide what shutter speed you want; and add only enough ND to provide however many stops the difference is.

I think the third is by far the best. In the first one, the close branches on the left damage the composition. The second has too much on the left; you might try cropping to center the falls, or close to it.

For my taste, the third would benefit by more contrast and sharpening, although it is hard to see for sure with such a small image. I tried pulling the white point down a tad with a curves tool and adding an s-curve to give a little more pop. I then sharpened using a high-pass filter with a small radius, which has the advantage over other methods that it won't sharpen the waterfall, which has little contrast. See whether you think it is an improvement. It's all a matter of taste.

I look forward to seeing more.

[Shadowman]

Nice shots.

[Suzan J]

Thank you all for the tips and pointers, and thanks John, for doing such a good job of cloning out the branch,