Landscape Bridalveil Falls

Bridalveil Falls · 11:21 PM

A kind of abstract view of the base of Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite. The fall was really pumping and I wanted to get a sense of the power. I tried out Topaz Adjust for this one. Not sure I like it but it does have some interesting abstract landscape appeal (to me anyway!). Maybe a little overdone, but that's OK because the original out of the camera was pretty uninteresting, so on pictures like that I feel I have the license to go over the top. :-)

mikeSF · 05-10-2012, 05:56 PM

hmmm, i am having a problem with those blue patches. they look like they were hand painted in.

GeoJerry · 05-10-2012, 09:01 PM

Originally posted by mikeSF

hmmm, i am having a problem with those blue patches. they look like they were hand painted in.

What you have to realize here is that the lighting conditions for this picture were atrocious, but I fired away anyway because I liked the scene. Below is what it looked like coming out of the camera. An interesting subject I thought, with all the mist and the waterfall, but the bad light made it a throw away. In such cases where the result is bad but I like the subject, I turn to Topaz to see if I can get something out of the picture. After applying a few presets, I got essentially the picture you saw. The blue just popped out of one of the presets, but was very subtle. What the heck, I liked it. So in Aperture I saturated it up a bit. The post-Topaz result was already a big departure from the ground truth, so I figured a little extra color would not hurt. :-)

Dewman · 05-11-2012, 08:36 AM

Having grown up within 100 miles of Yosemite Park, I'm very familiar with it's grandeur. To stand at the base of Upper Yosemite falls, within arms length of the pounding water, is one of the most thrilling, exciting, scary things I've ever done....with maybe the exception of working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier back in the Vietnam era.

Very nice photo. Love the composition! Being a real novice to digital photography, I have no idea what "Topaz adjust" is. Just out of curiosity, what would the photo have looked like without using it? Less blue tones, I suspect?

Ah yes....the fire falls. Such magnificent images that brought forth from many years past. "Hello Camp Curry!"

Ops....I just went back and read the other post....and I see what "Topaz adjust" does. Great!

GeoJerry · 05-11-2012, 10:24 AM

I climbed to the top of Yosemite Falls when I was about 18 and I agree with what you said. I don't think I'd do it now!
Topaz Adjust does all kinds of things - it has dozens of presets and a "feeling lucky" button which you can just try and see what effect you like. Then you can fine tune the result. It's very good for difficult or punchless subjects.

I'll be posting some pictures of other falls when I get around to it. Bridalveil (from a distance), Yosemite, Vernal and Nevada, and Sentinel Falls. Wanted to get Ribbon and Ilillouette too, but forgot the former and couldn't get a decent shot of the latter. Early May is the best time in my opinion to visit Yosemite: before the mad rush of summer, warm enough to be comfortable, and above all maximum flow of water. We had a late rain this year and all the falls were really smoking.

Thanks for your comments.

GeoJerry
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05-10-2012, 05:56 PM	#16
mikeSF Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: East Bay Area, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,620	hmmm, i am having a problem with those blue patches. they look like they were hand painted in.

05-10-2012, 09:01 PM	#17
GeoJerry Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Santa Barbara, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,158 Original Poster	Originally posted by mikeSF hmmm, i am having a problem with those blue patches. they look like they were hand painted in. What you have to realize here is that the lighting conditions for this picture were atrocious, but I fired away anyway because I liked the scene. Below is what it looked like coming out of the camera. An interesting subject I thought, with all the mist and the waterfall, but the bad light made it a throw away. In such cases where the result is bad but I like the subject, I turn to Topaz to see if I can get something out of the picture. After applying a few presets, I got essentially the picture you saw. The blue just popped out of one of the presets, but was very subtle. What the heck, I liked it. So in Aperture I saturated it up a bit. The post-Topaz result was already a big departure from the ground truth, so I figured a little extra color would not hurt. :-)

05-11-2012, 08:36 AM	#18
Dewman Veteran Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Idaho Posts: 5,492	Having grown up within 100 miles of Yosemite Park, I'm very familiar with it's grandeur. To stand at the base of Upper Yosemite falls, within arms length of the pounding water, is one of the most thrilling, exciting, scary things I've ever done....with maybe the exception of working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier back in the Vietnam era. Very nice photo. Love the composition! Being a real novice to digital photography, I have no idea what "Topaz adjust" is. Just out of curiosity, what would the photo have looked like without using it? Less blue tones, I suspect? Ah yes....the fire falls. Such magnificent images that brought forth from many years past. "Hello Camp Curry!" Ops....I just went back and read the other post....and I see what "Topaz adjust" does. Great!

05-11-2012, 10:24 AM	#19
GeoJerry Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Santa Barbara, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,158 Original Poster	I climbed to the top of Yosemite Falls when I was about 18 and I agree with what you said. I don't think I'd do it now! Topaz Adjust does all kinds of things - it has dozens of presets and a "feeling lucky" button which you can just try and see what effect you like. Then you can fine tune the result. It's very good for difficult or punchless subjects. I'll be posting some pictures of other falls when I get around to it. Bridalveil (from a distance), Yosemite, Vernal and Nevada, and Sentinel Falls. Wanted to get Ribbon and Ilillouette too, but forgot the former and couldn't get a decent shot of the latter. Early May is the best time in my opinion to visit Yosemite: before the mad rush of summer, warm enough to be comfortable, and above all maximum flow of water. We had a late rain this year and all the falls were really smoking. Thanks for your comments.