Ithaca Falls Revisited

Dionysus

Wanted to go back for a shoot in the morning light. Was mid day last I went. There are a lot of pics.

First, the HDRs of the waterfall (with the first one, the fisherman came out blurred due to movement, but rather than get rid of him, I opted to keep him to help w/ the scale of the scene).

1.

2.

and the regular photos:

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Dionysus

whoops ...just realized that this was landscape forum, and some of these arent that. hope it wont be a problem.

anwmn1

What an impressive water fall. I will have to see this place for myself one day.

Some very strong shots here- FYI it is a little easier of you number the photos.

For the first one I really love the water effect from the HDR but as you are probably aware the blur of the fisherman ruins it. I would try to clone him out and bring out some more green in this shot.

I like the first black and white shot as well. I think there is probably still some room with the black and mid points to get a little more contrast. I would like just a little more room between the fisherman and the left edge but that is a small nit pick.

The lost shot is great. The one before it would benefit from a crop as there is too much negative space.

Very nice though.

Dionysus

ya I may try to edit the fisherman out of the first hdr..just to have a clean version of the shot...but thank you so much for your critique...i truly do appreciate it.

i numbered the photos too. forgot to do that.

Dionysus

edited the fisherman out of the 1st hdr. it does look like a stronger pic now. I edited the change into the original post.

coscorrosa

Wow, that's a great waterfall! I keep going back and forth between #3 and #4 (same shot, can't decide on color or B&W). Excellent composition.

As far as the HDR/tone mapping, I actually think it detracts in this case by adding artifacts and halos, and it's really not necessary as the the contrast ratio isn't that crazy (especially on the first shot which doesn't have the sky in it and I think would look just great without the HDR effect).

Anyway, that's an awesome waterfall.

CWSkopec

Great shots, Clay!!

Makes me wish I had seen these falls in person before I moved from Syracuse to the West Coast!

I like the effect of the HDR on the foreground water in #2 but there are some odd colorations in the sky (almost looks there there's a smudge in one part).

And I'm not really feeling it for #8. That's not the world's best critique, I know and I'm sorry for that... I can't quite my finger on why it's not doing it for me...

Other than those little nits, this is an excellent series!! Nice work!!

dseidman

Beautiful series! Number six really caught my eye.

I have an ex-girlfriend who just graduated from Cornell and the for the past four years she's been trying to get me to head over to Ithaca to check out the scenery. I never got the chance but after seeing your pictures I really wish I did.

Dionysus

thanks guys, i appreciate the comments. Ive noticed that spot in the sky as well. saw it last night. It almost seems like it was a photomatix mistake during processing. I'll have to edit that out and smooth it out.

HDR may not have been necessary, but I have the clean photos as well. For me personally, the HDR seemed to add that touch of the surreal to the feel of the waterfall. Kind of like a dreamy haze, and perception...so that's why I made an HDR version. Walking around that early in the morning with nobody there yet, having the whole place to myself felt like a dream, w/ how strangely silent it was, so I wanted to convey that feeling, and perception.

Thanks guys, if possible keep 'em coming.

PS: we have no shortage of waterfalls here in upstate/central new york