Silver Creek

Albert Dickson · January 24, 2010

I am looking for some Hard Nose C&C. Two shots of Upper North Falls, Silver Creek, Oregon. Whipping Post Style. What do you think? Any preferences between the tight or wide? Too slow, too fast? Is the water too blown? Bring it.:jose

1.

2.

Thanks for the PAIN!!

Dwayne Oakes · January 24, 2010

Albert, Awesome work ! The first comp is the best in my opinion.
Both have great POV. The highlight indicator shows the water NOT being
blown out. The loss of detail in the whitewater is due to the long
shutter speeds. Just burn (darken) the main falls a tad so it is not so
bright. A faster shutter might bring out more detail and texture but
that is a personal preference thing.

Also what is interesting about those types of POV is the photo always
goes to a 50/50 comp at the water line. Keep up the great work !

Take care,
Dwayne Oakes

Albert Dickson · January 24, 2010

Thanks Dwayne. I appreciate the insight. I'll give the falls about .7 stop burn and see what it looks like. I am not sure though, I think I might like the tighter crop. Just not sure.

squirl033 · January 25, 2010

personally, i like the composition of the 1st one best. the second makes you feel like you're getting your feet wet, but the crop is so tight the image loses context. both are too dark IMHO. there's a lot of rich color and texture in the river banks that's being left in the shadows. if you can brighten those areas some without blowing the rapids, i think it'd look a lot better (i took the liberty of tweaking it a bit to bring out the detail and color along the banks... if you like, i'll post the edit). the branches on the left side are a bit distracting, but that probably can't be helped. i agree with Dwayne, a slightly faster shutter might help preserve a bit more texture in the waterfall, make it look a little less like a sheet of solid white. looks like you had a pretty gloomy day, and not much light to work with, so you may not have been able to shoot any faster, but i think it'd help... you didn't post EXIF, so i can't tell what your exposure options were, but somewhere between 1/3 and 3/4 second is usually about optimum for flowing water like that.

Albert Dickson · January 25, 2010

i agree with Dwayne, a slightly faster shutter might help preserve a bit more texture in the waterfall, make it look a little less like a sheet of solid white. looks like you had a pretty gloomy day, and not much light to work with, so you may not have been able to shoot any faster, but i think it'd help... you didn't post EXIF, so i can't tell what your exposure options were, but somewhere between 1/3 and 3/4 second is usually about optimum for flowing water like that.[/quote]

Great. thanks for your input. Here is the EXIF:
ISO 200, 18mm & 24mm focal lengths. 2.0 sec. @ f22
Raining and pretty dark day. Apart from the waterfalls there was considerable contrast along the banks for a day with no sunshine. The rainy day and a polarizer made for tremendously rich colors but for very long exposures indeed. I guess pushing the ISO to 800 would have given me a shutter speed more in line with your recomendation.
Lets see your edit please.

squirl033 · January 25, 2010

"The rainy day and a polarizer made for tremendously rich colors but for very long exposures indeed."

yeah, 2 seconds is a bit long for waterfalls... tends to turn everything into a sheet of white cotton with no texture or details. rather than up the ISO, i'd probably have just shot without the polarizer - that'd give you about 2 stops - and maybe back off on the aperture. f/22 didn't giving you any more DOF than you'd have gotten at f/16, really, it just slowed down the shutter.

anyway, here's my edit. it's a quick and dirty job, intended only to give you an idea, but it brings out more color, and makes the image brighter and the colors richer...

Albert Dickson · January 25, 2010

Rocky,
Oh yeah! Huge improvement. Definately a much richer and more detailed image. Did you just mask the water and bump exposure up everywhere else? I could do this in post, but now I want to head back and re-shoot. 8 hour drive though. I am seeing where what you say is true of about everything I shot there for example, these two:

1a.

2a.

I was trying very hard to keep the kind of erie misty mood of the woods and in doing so realy killed much needed detail I guess. Thanks again Rocky and Dwayne for your input.

redleash · January 25, 2010

I like what Rocky did with it--the more vibrant color appeals to me. I like both comps and not sure I prefer one over the other. I like the mist around the falls, as it adds some depth to the shot, IMO. Both are very nice images. I don't have anything technical to contribute, but I am learning from this thread so thanks for that!

Lauren

squirl033 · January 25, 2010

"Did you just mask the water and bump exposure up everywhere else?"

actually, i just did a quick pass through ReDynaMix, and burned the falls a bit to tone down the whiteness. took all of 5 minutes. i'm sure with "real" processing, the results would be better, but at least it gives you an idea what i was talking about.

here's the last image with the same treatment... the whites were pretty badly blown on this one, though, so i couldn't recover any texture or detail...

these are wonderful images, though... i love rivers! an 8-hr drive from Boise - where were they taken?

Albert Dickson · January 25, 2010

these are wonderful images, though... i love rivers! an 8-hr drive from Boise - where were they taken?[/quote]

Silver Falls State Park, Oregon. About 35 miles east of Salem. Cabin Rental in the park is only 35 bucks and no one it there in the winter.:ivar

I am not a huge fan of HDR (yet). The look of the second image you ran through ReDynaMix has just a bit that distinct HDR feel. I like the detail in the deeper shadows but just can't fall in love with the surrealness of it. Just my gut. Defintely like the first edit you showed me and as you said it is just an example of where to go not how to get there. Thanks.

Albert Dickson · January 25, 2010

So I think I might be gaining on this or just making a total mess. The jury is still out.

1. original photo posted

2. A PhotoMatrix Tone mapped version that I think looks simular to Rocky's edit

3. And a Photomatrix 3 image fusion version that I think I like best.

Give me one more round of tough love here. Any tmore houghts, or just not worth beating this horse any longer?

Silver Creek

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