Abiqua Falls, OR

Gallery: LandscapePosted February 20, 20161,020 views10 comments

I heard a bit about this falls and wanted a first-hand look. Rainfall for most of the hike and photo-session was a bit of a drag. Better than sunshine, just hard to keep the lens dry. I was disappointed at the lack of moss or green. Still too early. Maybe another couple months and this will come alive. But the volume of water did not disappoint. There was no way to contemplate a perspective that required crossing the raging creek. Save that action for the warm dry month of Sept.

Nikon d800e with Zeiss 35mm and polarizer

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on February 21, 2016 at 3:10 AM

Ken,

A very straight forward and direct composition; the symmetry working very well here. This actually showcases the geologic features (is that basalt?) of the wall just about as well as the waterfall - but they all work together quite nicely. I like that there is some texture and lines in the falls instead of just cotton... ;-)

The only suggestion I have would be to address some color shifts I'm seeing. There is some bluish/purple cast at the base of the walls on both sides of the waterfall, pretty much where the water meets the rock.

Definitely worth the visit, too back about the rain.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on February 21, 2016 at 10:01 AM

Beautiful waterfall shot, Ken. Good timing to capture the volume of water. I like the look of the bottom of the falls with the spray of water and the mossy trees above.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on February 21, 2016 at 11:03 AM

You may have been disappointed by the lack of greens, but I am not! The palette of colors on the wall is great, and I really dig the look of those basalt columns. Lon is spot on with his suggestion about the color shifts though, that looks a bit funky.

Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on February 21, 2016 at 12:21 PM

With the lack of green and color shifts, have you played with a BW Ken? This one might make a nice one, especially if you allow most of the photo to be very dark, leaving the water and those trees as the points of contrast.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on February 21, 2016 at 4:57 PM

Beautiful falls and fine capture. I see what Lon is seeing, but hard to say if that isn't just the wet rock wall?

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Bruce King on February 21, 2016 at 7:32 PM

Nice classic composition Ken. Agree with Lon's observation. 35mm?....some new "Z" glass?

Registered on January 14, 2010, 276 Posts, 2212 Comments

Comment posted by Igor Doncov on February 21, 2016 at 10:49 PM

I like the color composition of this image very much. If you could add just a tad more sharpness to those cliffs this would be a great image IMO.

Registered on November 22, 2014, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on February 22, 2016 at 4:00 PM

Nice job on this Ken! Very inspiring!

Such an amazing area. Getting pretty darn popular these last few years. It used to be a long held country secret.

I now live very close to here and I am waiting for the greens of spring to start coming out. This image is making me itch to go!

For those who don't know it is pronounced "AB - I - KWAH" falls. Not "ABICK - WAH." If that makes any sense at all... :) Almost all my clients have thought it the latter. :)

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Smith on February 22, 2016 at 11:44 PM

Thanks for all the comments. I selected the lower misty areas which had the blue/pur tint and desaturated it to filter out the color shift. Could be a polarizer and long exposure effect.

I laughed at Mark M's comment on pronouncing the falls. I had thought it was Ab-eek-wah...to which the local said, "You must be from Portland. It's Ab-ick-wah." I said, "It's worse, I'm from Seattle." When the water level drops and the ferns sprout...this will be sweet to re-visit.

Registered on September 5, 2008, 449 Posts, 2444 Comments

Comment posted by Ryan Shain on February 24, 2016 at 6:23 PM

A beautiful portryal of the Abiqua falls Ken. The only nit I have is in regards to symmetry, this could be just me, but the upper left hand corner tree branches are slightly drawing my attention away from the gorgeous waterfall and the surrounding cliffs and vegetation. Since we are looking at the waterfall as the main source of interest, maybe there is another composition you have that just emphasizes the waterfall.

Beautiful work regardless of those thoughts for sure Ken

Registered on February 20, 2007, 226 Posts, 4571 Comments