A couple of photos from the Smoky Mountains

[shaknbak]

Good day all. I took another trip to TN/NC and managed to get a couple of decent shots while I was there. I would like to hear some feedback if you don't on what you might do differently as far as camera settings, composition and post processing. I've played around with cropping both images but wasn't happy with anything I came up with. All images have had some level, saturation and sharpening enhancements.

The story:

I pulled and and saw the young boy fishing with his grandfather and loved the backdrop and the hat he was wearing. I was happy there were a few clouds in the sky as the sun made it's decent for the day. Jokingly I asked the boy to hurry and catch a fish as I would have liked to have had a shot of the tip of the pole bent over but try as he did, no fish while I was there.

Its common for there to be fog on the river in this area. This evening is seemed to be there earlier as there had been rain showers that had passed by a bit earlier. I haven't decided if I like the lens flare so I would be curious to hear what other have to say about that element as well.

This one I'm just curious if the green rock is enough of a focal point to make the picture interesting.

And finally the waterfall photo. I took quite a few of this waterfall and while I managed to get a few decent shots with a slower shutter speed, I'm curious as to what people think of a quicker shutter speed and detail in the water as opposed to shots that are more mystic and soft.


Many thanks for looking and for your comments.

Gregg

[Mike Buckley]

The first one is magical and the last one is straightforward and excellent. Both are solid keepers!

In the first one, I suggest darkening the blue sky or cropping most of it. (That's just my take.) Notice the halos around the silhouetted objects and the boy. They are easy to get when you have such a contrasty situation. It's easy to erase some or all of the sharpening only at those areas.

In the second one, I don't like the lens flare. (I rarely do, so take that comment with a grain of salt.) Even so, I dislike the blown highlights in the sky even more.

The green rock in the third one doesn't appeal enough to me to hold the rest of the image together. This is the sort of image that I always think works when I capture it. Yet when I get home and look at it on my monitor, I'm always disappointed.

About the waterfall: My approach is to stop all of the action when the water is a powerful force and to let the water become silky smooth when it is elegant and tranquil. Your shutter speed on this one produces something in between the two. Again, that's just my take that is purely personal choice. Determine a style that you like and run with it.

[Geoff F]

For me, Gregg, the first two are fine.

The third definitely lacks something - but don't give up on it. I find the greatest problem is that out of focus rock in the bottom right corner; and with nothing of interest behind it.

So I would crop it out, or a mixture of crop and clone, then look at some other crop options. Possibly crop the top to fit the side crop. Or change the ratio to 5 x 4 for example; even 4 x 5 would be worth a try, which would lose most of the uninteresting right quarter.

Personally, I like to see water, and surf etc, really fresh and sparkling. So, ideally, I would have shot the waterfall at 1/500 or faster if possible. It is a good composition.

[shaknbak]

Thanks Mike for taking the time to comment and saying a couple were keepers.

I'll see what I can do about possibly darkening the sky. I'm not picking up on the halos on my monitor but I wouldn't be surprised by their presence as I did use Unsharp Mask a bit but can't remember the settings off hand.

I'll take a stab at cloning out the lens flare and possibly crop the sun/blown area out.

I agree with you on the green rock. It seemed like a good setting at the time but I think I may be trying to force something out of a picture that doesn't have much to grab you attention. If only a little black bear would have come by for a drink...

As far as the waterfall goes, I tend to agree with your strategy. I think the slower shutter speed works better in creeks and rivers when the water may be navigating through rocks but it doesn't look as good in a waterfall situation. I took a number of photos there with a variety of shutter speeds and didn't care for the slower speeds.

Thanks,

Gregg

[shaknbak]

Thanks for the reply Geoff.

I played around with different crop settings and didn't find anything I liked. Oh well, they can't all be keepers.

Re: the waterfall. I agree with you on the fresh water statement for the most part. Where I struggle with it is times of indirect light. I think crisp pictures with direct sun are great. It's at times of indirect/ambient light that I struggle with water. The composition was one I didn't think I would like as it seemed to be cluttered with the foliage in the bottom but somehow it just added to the shot and drew me into the scene once I looked at it on the monitor.