Waterfall

[jdgeier]

This spot is about 25 minutes from my house and there are a few other falls close. I took shots from about 6 spots of varying heights and angles and feel this one is the best of the bunch.
With that being said how can I add to the picture composition for future trips there. I had a hard time keeping the ice/snow of the top of the waterfalls from being to bright. Is there any tricks to keeping that light down while still getting the shot.

Thanks for any comments and ideas
Jon

Nikon D3100
f/16
1 sec exp
ISO 100
24mm Focal Length

[shruggy63]

I think you could go all the way with the square crop, Take a little off the top to minimise the messy background & even less off the bottom to take off the foreground bright spots. I don't know what PP software you're using but could you darken the sky a little for drama, & boost up the mid-range? It'd be by using vibrance in Lightroom.
According to (some) compositional theories a triangle within a square is a very strong composition.

[jdgeier]

Thanks Shruggy, I did a quick crop on this to cut out some iron stains on the rocks to the right of the falls. I didnt edit it in any program just shoot it RAW and used Nikons program to convert it. I dont have anything other than Windows galley or the Nikon program to do anything and they are very basic. I was looking at getting a real program her in the next few weeks.

The sky was wierd it was cloudy and snow was spotty but I could see the sun still at times. I have read that timing is everything in landscape shots and totally see why.

[Barry Jackson]

Nice composition.

I like the square format in this case.

[baajero]

I like the shot needs a bit of cropping... I was stuck without a good processing software for some time... I tried most of the free ones... picasa from google is surprisingly good... Also you can use GIMP which is great but a bit more complicated...
I would love to see a waterfall at an angel... I think it's missing the third dimension which is a bit of a shame in this shot because I feel the area behind the waterfall is amazing

[shruggy63]

Hope you got some close shots of the iron stain on the rocks? Mmm colour & texture :-) Download Gimp, it's intimidating at first but so's Photoshop & there's loads of online lessons. UFRaw is Gimp's equivalent of Lightroom I think, though other contributors may know better?

[jdgeier]

@baajero I did take a few from the side angle I don't think i even cropped this one but can't remember. I know the spot I was in was getting snow thrown into it and i found most of the best shots had some water spots in the lens. I really can't wait to go back and spend some quality time here as its 20 mins from my house.

@Barry Thanks, I can't really say that I set out for this but my eye liked it and sometime that works.

@shruggy I didn't get any close up shots of the iron stains but will be going back soon and will work on that.I love shale rocks and the back of the wall is all shale.

[baajero]

That is great Another trick to employ with running water is to show where the water is heading.... it might be difficult here (physicaly getting too close to the waterfall) ... I like both shots

[Krusty79]

That ice next to the falls is really cool! It never gets that cold out here.

I would use a tripod, shoot RAW and bracket your shots. You can then make one jpg for the brightest areas, one for the rest and blend the images using a layer mask. If necessary, you can even make 3 jpgs, one for the highlights, one for the mid-tones and one for the dark areas and blend the 3 images. I've had to do that on some tricky exposures with a lot of contrast.

[NgaiHill]

Really nice shot. I like the cold blue colouring to this, really gives an idea of the time of year.
I agree with the cropping to show a more square view however be aware that this could post problems if you want to print.
Compostition wise I think this looks good although I wonder how low to the ground you were. I'd like to see more of the foreground rock, it would help to anchor the scene.
You are so lucky to have this beautiful waterfall only 20 mins from home, it is going to give you endless options throughout the year, can't wait to see an autumn shot!