Flowin' & Growin'

Bill,

Ah, the bigger picture. thanks for posting so we get to see where all the intimate comps came from. Not withstanding the brightness up top, I think in total this works very well. At least the white sky is filled in a bit with the tree tops and so I find it less distracting than it otherwise could be. I think you did well with the exposure and handling of the light overall.

One of the benefits of going wider and bigger is that the little things like twigs and branches don't necessarily distract like they do in the more intimate images. I like your comp and balance here. what I also find interesting, and this was true in previous images too, is how monochrome the falls are - it's almost as if this was processed to make the falls b&w while leaving the rest of the scene in color. These should be called "Silver Falls" if they're not already. ;-)

The only suggestion I have would be to selective burn and pull back the sat on the mossy rocks LLC. Other than that, this works for me.

Lon

Man, that is a pretty little spot. Most of it looks great, but as you already noted, the white sky is not only white, but way overexposed, and the water at the top of the falls is also burnt out. If you get this much water again, this is a great candidate for either a GND filter or an exposure blend (which would probably work better than HDR). Still, this image can be much better with just a couple of steps in post-processing. The shadow/highlight tool (it's in PS, not sure if it's in PSE, but there are other ways to do the same thing) and/or a curves adjustment can be used to bring down the burnt-out parts, while reducing the mid-tone contrast, to keep the vegetation from getting too dark.

Love your exposure for the water flow Bill. I do agree with Lon and Wayne on the sky though. I think a crop to just above the falls makes this a winner.

This is a beautiful scene and simply stunning waterfall. The hot white sky is a little bothersome but frankly, for me, the falls hold my attention so well I hardly noticed it till I read your comment. Nice work

Bill, This really is a beautiful falls and I enjoy seeing it. I can see that it looks like a very peaceful place too. I know I would enjoy it there!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

This is terrific, except for the white sky and yes, that ouch in the water at the very top of the falls. The greens are so luscious and contrast so nicely with the white falls and the dark rocks. Well worth repeated visits.

"Silver Falls" it is Lon!! (Until someone tells me differently, lol.) Thanks again for providing spot-on critique. I'm not a fan of oversaturation, that's an understatement, so it troubles me a bit you think the greens are. But that is easily fixed.

Wayne, Eva and everyone--I was SO disappointed to see the hot spot at the top when I posted this--it just didn't stand out AS MUCH in PSE or full screen on my monitor--why, IDK. I really like this image, but that just killed it for me. I'll go back and see if I can fix it--yes, PSE does have shadow/highlight and burn capabilities Wayne. I'll also revisit my folder from this shoot to see if I have any exposures shorter than 1/2 second, that may be of help.

All-in-all, thanks again. We just had a deluge yesterday, this should be running great again. May visit it as it's only two miles from my home.