TX Hill Country Waterfall

redleash

I saw a shot on flickr that I really liked and the photog told me where he took it. Turns out it is about 5 miles from my mom's house, about 25 miles outside San Antonio. It's on Edge Falls Road. According to the deputy sheriff who stopped while I was shooting on the bridge, the "real" Edge Falls is further downstream, but it is on private property. That's ok, I was thrilled with what I found today!

I was on a bridge about 15 feet above the river. The falls are about 10 feet high. The river in this area, as seen in #1, is about 20-25 feet wide. Not the widest part of the Guadalupe

C&C appreciated as always.

Lauren

1. Downstream from the falls, on the Guadalupe River - 3 exposure HDR


2. Edge Falls on the Guadalupe


3. Processed with Topaz Adjust for painterly look


4. 3 exposure HDR

Snowgirl

Hi there. You're up late!

I really like the perspective in #4. #3 (Topaz) doesn't do it for me - but that's just a personal preference.

Glad to see you're out and about shooting!

black mamba

Hi Lauren,

You did good work here. Your HDR treatment is moderated just right....at least for my taste. Like Snowgirl, I'm not a fan of this particular Topaz effect. Others, I'm sure, feel differently. Because of your photos, I'm now going to have to take my wife to the Hill Country. She has never been and, between your pictures and my telling her of the great times I had living there, I now have orders to set up a trip. I am not resisting.

Take care,

Tom

redleash

Thanks, Ceci. I'm trying to do a lot of shooting so I can get better. But I still need to discipline myself to shoot fewer but more composed pictures. That's why I was "up late"--way too many shots to go through and process!

Thanks, Tom. Let me know when you and your wife come this way--I'll be glad to show you my favorite locations. Don't know when you were here last, but if it wasn't recently then you will be amazed at all the growth in this city. And you'll love the new sections of the Riverwalk!

hawkeye978

Lauren,

I think you have the detail in #1 and #3 but the contrast seems flat. That happens with HDR treatment and I've found that I have to go into Photoshop and make a curves adjustment to get the contrast back. Just a suggestions.

chrismoore

You've improved a lot with HDR IMO from earlier posts and I think these compositions are really good. My suggestions would be for 1 and 4 to boost the contrast, for #2 use a levels or curves adjustment to darken the highlights a tad. The topaz effect doesnt work for me, I think it would look better processed more naturally, though that is a matter of personal taste I suppose. I also wonder if you have any other exposures of #3 using a slower shutter speed, I think that photo would look better with some silky water. Just minor nits and as I said may be just my personal prefs, overall great job

redleash

Thanks, all. I will do some more PP with these suggestions and re-post. I appreciate everyone's C&C!

redleash

Revisions
Here are my reworked shots.

1. Cropped out some flat sky, did some curves to beef up contrast


2. Tried to rework #2 but decided I don't really like it at all.



3. Replacement - softer water and less extreme saturation


4. Replacement - worked the curves in each area for better contrast; dodge/burn/gradient to sky