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04-28-2015, 04:12 PM - 1 Like   #1
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Elowah Falls
Lens: Pentax HD Ltd. 20-40mm f/2.8-4 Camera: Pentax K5IIs Photo Location: Elowah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon ISO: 100 Shutter Speed: 1/2s Aperture: F11 

Two shots from my last weekend hike to Elowah Falls (showing some friends new to the area how great the nature is out here). I'm curious what you think. I know that with the first image I'd like to have few mm wider lens, but even though the waterfall is not fully visible I really like the result.





04-29-2015, 02:21 AM   #2
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Nice shots, you should be very happy with the lens. I am torn between the two compositions #1 with the waterfall hitting at the start of the bridge and #2 showing the whole waterfall.
04-29-2015, 05:19 AM   #3
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Nice work. My only gripe on the composition is that the fall seems to be rushing out of the frame, I'd put it right of the center instead of left of it. And on the first shot, it seems to be falling directly on the end of the bridge. apart from that, excellent, and nice inclusion of the stream in the foreground.
04-29-2015, 07:58 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by voy-tech Quote
Two shots from my last weekend hike to Elowah Falls (showing some friends new to the area how great the nature is out here). I'm curious what you think. I know that with the first image I'd like to have few mm wider lens, but even though the waterfall is not fully visible I really like the result.
to be honest, the composition of both photos makes me emotionally uncomfortable.

the first photo strikes me as illogical, in that a waterfall is spilling onto a walkway (when I know it's not) which then forcefully drags my eyes off the screen to the left, yet there is outflow also going off the screen to the right. it feels disjointed with no connection between natural elements and no contrast with man made elements.. Technically you nailed it with the right shutter speed for the water flow and good exposure control.

the second photo has much of the same disjointed feel in addition to what feels as if is a violation of space and time. there is so much going on left and bottom but this giant void of interest from center to right and right top plus the bottom left corner is an empty jumble of small stones. it looks like a photo I would take as part of a 3 or four shot purposely taken panorama. by itself it is confusing and not very useful, but when stitched with shots on either side it becomes valuable.

I apologize if the critique is a little harsh, and I would be curious as to your conscious decisions and choices for these images. perhaps you had a great idea and didn't quite execute it, or perhaps you executed the image exactly as planned but I did not connect on the same level to it as you do. I am very familiar with this waterfall, since it is on my "must-do" hike list the next time I get to the Columbia Gorge. I have seen and studied perhaps a hundred different angles and perspectives represented in those images, so I know what a special place it is. Unfortunately, for me, these images don't convey that magic.

I have commented on some of your other photos, and I have noted that your work generally is pretty good, with a good sense of continuity and storytelling. I was not there, but I would almost hazard a guess that you were too busy playing tour guide and salesman to really immerse yourself in the scene and find the best angles. You may have felt rushed because you were on a time limit or too tightly packed agenda. As I typed the above sentence, the thought popped into my head, "this looks like what you often see in a camera phone drive by shot." If that was the case, then maybe this a great lesson learned about how much focus and attention to detail is needed to make a good photo. How one really must slow down and process the scene and contextualize all the elements before clicking the shutter. Hopefully you have a chance to get back there soon and take some more.


Last edited by nomadkng; 04-29-2015 at 08:08 AM.
04-29-2015, 08:11 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by nomadkng Quote
too be honest, the composition of both photos makes me emotionally uncomfortable.

the first photo strikes me as illogical, in that a waterfall is spilling onto a walkway (when I know it's not) which then forcefully drags my eyes off the screen to the left, yet there is outflow also going off the screen to the right. it feels disjointed with no connection between natural elements and no contrast with man made elements.. Technically you nailed it with the right shutter speed for the water flow and good exposure control.

the second photo has much of the same disjointed feel in addition to what feels as if is a violation of space and time. there is so much going on left and bottom but this giant void of interest from center to right and right top plus the bottom left corner is an empty jumble of small stones. it looks like a photo I would take as part of a 3 or four shot purposely taken panorama. by itself it is confusing and not very useful, but when stitched with shots on either side it becomes valuable.

I apologize if the critique is a little harsh, and I would be curious as to your conscious decisions and choices for these images. perhaps you had a great idea and didn't quite execute it, or perhaps you executed the image exactly as planned but I did not connect on the same level to it as you do. I am very familiar with this waterfall, since it is on my "must-do" hike list the next time I get to the Columbia Gorge. I have seen and studied perhaps a hundred different angles and perspectives represented in those images, so I know what a special place it is. Unfortunately, for me, these images don't convey that magic.
No apologies necessary - best critique is harsh in my opinion, that's how we learn
So to be honest I didn't put too much effort into thinking about the composition of those two shots since I was showing this hike to friends new to the area and I didn't want to make them wait for too long, so I primarily looked for a good place to catch the outflow in the foreground while having the bridge and the waterfall in the back - and this spot was easy enough to access and allowed me to quickly get those two shots and move on. I've seen some great shots of this waterfall and I know that I didn't found the best spot to shoot this one - I have few ideas where to take the pictures from but those places are very hard to get to and I need to be better prepared.

Last edited by voy-tech; 04-29-2015 at 08:43 AM.
04-29-2015, 08:40 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by voy-tech Quote
No apologies necessary - best critique is harsh in my opinion, that's how we learn
So to be honest I didn't put too much effort into thinking about the composition of those two shots since I was primarily showing this hike to friends new to the area and I didn't want to make them wait for too long, so I primarily looked for a good place to catch the outflow in the foreground while having the bridge and the waterfall in the back - and this spot was easy enough to access and allowed me to quickly get those two shots and move on. I've seen some great shots of this waterfall and I know that I didn't found the best spot to shoot this one - I have few ideas where to take the pictures from but those places are very hard to get to and I need to be better prepared.
when you DO pull off those "better" shots from the hard to get to places, I'd love to know the "when and where" for when I get there...lol
04-29-2015, 08:42 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by nomadkng Quote
when you DO pull off those "better" shots from the hard to get to places, I'd love to know the "when and where" for when I get there...lol
Haha - I'll try to document those if I do find an easy-ish path.

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