White River Falls detail

[EOBeav]

If I'm going to critique other people's work, I need to subject my own to the same. Here's my submission. This was taken at a place called White River Falls located in north-central Oregon. The water was really foamy that day, more so than I've seen at any other time I've been there.

Just want your general thoughts on composition, editing, and any other ideas that come to your mind when critiquing this shot. Thanks in advance for your helpful comments, suggestions, and questions.





EXIF:

Camera Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Lend: Canon 70-200mm L f/4
Exposure 5
Aperture f/16.0
Focal Length 70 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV

[Art]

hi, waterfall looks well done, overall definiton is sharp, IMO light is doing some noise to me, not sure what is exactly.
Thanks

[DivotMaker]

Nice work on the HDR. Very smooth and no halos.
I like the timed exposure, as it has created and even smoothness with the falling water.

However, something about the image seems to be an odd angle...and is causing my eyes uneasiness. Not sure exactly, sorry I would love to give a suggestion here, but it just seems to be off a little.

Other than that, I do find the image pleasing....nice job!

[Photologyst]

Um sorry, but this “foamy, disembodied” style with water just leaves me cold.

No water looks like that. It is neither artsy nor realistic.

[EOBeav]

Originally Posted by Photologyst

Um sorry, but this “foamy, disembodied” style with water just leaves me cold.

No water looks like that. It is neither artsy nor realistic.

Actually, this was one shot, no HDR involved at all. The water that day was very thick, brown and foamy, more so than I'd ever seen at this location. This was probably due to the recent heavy rains in the nearby Cascade Mountains,

I'm not sure what you mean by 'disembodied', but this is a simple, straight-forward long exposure shot.

[Sterling]

Nice shot. You've really captured the thickness of the water there.I think it works very well with the diagonal flow and the contrast with the sprigs of greenery on the rocks.

[wanderella]

i like the colors....but i also think the water is a bit "too"....something....not sure how to say it...misty, smooth, foamy?....i'm not sure .....but i think the exposure is too slow......let the water smooth out with out looking unnatural....that's it.....it looks unnatural to me....it doesn't match with the way the rocks look....the rocks and water don't belong together in the photo......they need to be part of each other.....

[navcom]

I agree with wanderella. Maybe try a 1 second exposure or even slightly faster. The blur and smoothness is nice but due to the complexity of the falls, too much flow has a tendency to make the shot blend together and look...well...too blurry. With a little more definition to the water, the shot will look more magical IMO.