waterfalls

[Marija]

hi all!
as it turned out my biggest issue with shooting waterfalls is composition...
after getting more familiar with shutter speed, aperture and all that "technical" stuff i'm capable to take a "decent" photo of a waterfall with my equipment but not capable to compose it right. fortunately i live in the area with many small waterfalls so i can practice and practice again.
few days ago i went to this place and took as much as i could photos considering small amount of time i had. most of photos were with some highlights, or blurred grass, rocks (didn't know about mirror lock-up). finally i found one that's ok but the problem is the composition, is it ok? what could i do differently?
for this particular waterfall i stood on an old wooden bridge. there is a different way to approach but that is whole other story.
here some additional info:
tripod
circular polarizer
remote
olympus e520 with 14-42mm lens
iso 100
f/22
exposure 2 sec
exposure bias -3.5
i did some adjustments in ps, but not much.
i want to know what i did wrong so i can return back and do it better.
thank you in advance for your time and effort!

[Hill Country Hack]

I think you did a fine job in composing this shot if the falls are your subject. The falls are in the upper third, the stream leads my eye from the bottom of the frame to the falls. Nice curvature in the stream.

I feel if you try to move the main portion of the falls to the left of frame you will lose the two minor falls, if moved a bit more to the right, the large rock in the lower left foreground may become distracting.

Can you get closer to the rock in the lower left foreground and get lower?

I feel I am being a bit nit picky, because I do like this shot as is.

[Doug Sundseth]

I really like the composition here. There's a nice back-and-forth flow to the water. The rich greens at right center balance the bright white of the waterfall. The exposure time works well for the idyllic mood.

I do find the fairly bright patch of grass(?) at upper right to be a bit distracting, but it's surrounded by enough dark vegetation that it doesn't really pull me out of the frame. And I could wish for just a bit more space at camera left, where the stream leaves the frame.

Thank you for sharing this image.

[Marija]

thank you for your words! i feel so relieved

Originally Posted by Hill Country Hack

Can you get closer to the rock in the lower left foreground and get lower?

yes, that would be better angle to shoot.i'm not sure if that is possible but i'll try it next time when i go there.

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

I do find the fairly bright patch of grass(?) at upper right to be a bit distracting, but it's surrounded by enough dark vegetation that it doesn't really pull me out of the frame. And I could wish for just a bit more space at camera left, where the stream leaves the frame.

i could fix that in ps but i didn't want to much processing.
as for just a bit space at left, i actually cropped it out because i find it distracting. but it looks good when i shot like a landscape not a portrait orientation, if you know what i mean

[3bayjunkie]

Love the composition. feels like you're really there. Peaceful

[Marija]

3bayjunkie it's really nice to hear that, especially when i'm not so sure if i achieved something that is worthy ...
thanks!