Autumn waterfall

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This is my first go at this, so what do you think?

-- Jason M. Kirk (jasonkirkphoto@hotmail.com), February 09, 2000

Answers

Very nice, excellent composition. Perhaps a touch more exposure, especially on the leaf would make it pop more. Good shutter speed choice for the water. Was the leaf there waiting for you, or did you 'help it'? Great image overall.

-- Ken Denton (denton@rowan.edu), February 10, 2000.

Nice. I like the leaf part especially.

-- Alan Yeo (nature_sg@yahoo.com), February 11, 2000.

Sorry to break ranks, but it really doesn't do it for me. Two things are wrong in my mind: first you show too little of the waterfall in the picture. It is a major part of the image, but there is only the very bottom of one side of the fall in the image. Use a wider lens or back away to get the falls more completely in the frame. Secondly, the leaf just looks out of place. It is just plunked down in that dark area in the lower left part of the frame without any kind of connection to the rest of the composition. There is no indication anywhere in the image that there is plant life anywhere near this waterfall except for the leaf. It just isn't congruent. I also agree with the post above that suggests opening up about a third to a half stop. That wil bring the shadow detail up and pop the highlights a little better.

-- Fritz M. Brown (brownf@idhw.state.id.us), February 11, 2000.

I just want to say thank you to all who have put in a response. I want to take this time to touch on a few things. My choice of title may have been a little misleading in that the subject of this photograph is the leaf. The waterfall is intended as a backdrop, and if I show more of the waterfall (I have some additional shots taken this way), the composition loses its form. The lines of the waterfall were intended to lead the eye to the leaf.

It was also difficult to decide whether to expose more of the area surrounding the subject. What you can't see from this image is that just beyond the falls (right) the sun was reflecting in full force. Some of my exposures taken at 1/2 to 1 stop overexposure lost some detail in the water areas. I was a tough high-contrast situation where the difference between light and dark were approx. 8 stops.

I hope this explains some of my choices.

-Jason

-- Jason M. Kirk (jasonkirkphoto@hotmail.com), February 12, 2000.


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