IR Waterfalls (Need C&C Help)

KevXman

I was experimenting with shooting waterfalls in IR today. I think it is working but just not there yet. Before trekking back in I need some other sets of eyes to tell me what is and is not working. Its not the mile and a half getting there, its the 1000ft change in elevation going down and coming back up that makes this a tough location. Please tell me what you think — good, bad, and other wise. All comments and suggestions for and against will be really helpful.

These were shot at 1.5-2 second exposures with an 8XND filter on a Modded D70. Some questions that come to my mind are:

1. Do I need to underexpose?
2. Should I stack the 8X with a 4X for a longer exposure?
3. Is there a different (better?) filter that I should be using?

#1


#2


Thanks for looking.
— Kevin

CavalierPhoto

Pretty cool!

I think you're headed in the right direction.

Two questions:
1) What ISO did you have these set at?
2) What time of day were these taken?

KevXman

CavalierPhoto wrote:

Pretty cool!

I think you're headed in the right direction.

Two questions:
1) What ISO did you have these set at?
2) What time of day were these taken?

ISO 200
Between Noon and 2pm. (Tree canopy in the area is only semi-open.)

chrismoore

I agree, you're on the right track, these are good compositions. The filter is fine, it looks like the time of day gave you some highlights and wide tonal range despite the filter as a couple areas are borderline blown out. For both images I would see what happens with the "recovery" slider in ACR, if that's what you're using. The second image needs a tad more contrast as well. Just IMHO.

Panther

Howdy Kevin,

Really neat images, great looking location and subject.

Looks like a wonderful subject for a long exposure, and the details are

very nicely rendered.

Not sure exactly how to make these beautiful images stronger or more pleasing, but they do appear to not have a distinct light and dark areas, to add more mystery and interest.

Regardless, these are very nicely done, and I think if any, only minor tweaks in curves or levels might help.

Also, I didn't see what your F-Stop was, may have overlooked it, but that might be an area in the future to look at and maybe someone might have suggestions on.

CavalierPhoto

ISO seems right, if the D70 is like my D50 that's the lowest you can go. Time of day may certainly be providing too much light for you. Try it a little earlier or a little later in the day. With less visible light available it will keep the highlights from blowing out on the longer exposure and should help give more dramatic shadows.

KevXman

Thanks for the comments everyone. I will definitley be returning to this spot in the future. Craig, the f-stop was 22. After looking at the suggestions I do think that the time of day was working against me even though with IR you want the middle of the day. I tried reworking the files that I have but #2 is probably a lost cause. Here's #1 with some tweaking.



BTW, here's what it looks like with the color camera (D300).



Thanks again!
— Kevin

Panther

Howdy Kevin,

Got to thinking about it, what about doing an HDR,

running the full gamut from say -2.- to say +2.0 with 2 or stops on each side of -0- that way you can bring in the highlights and the depth of shadows, while keeping the details in the darker and lighter areas?