John Roach  


Dunloup Creek Falls by John Roach

July 2017 - Dunloup Creek Falls

About the Image(s)

This water fall is near Interstate 64 in Appalachian New River Gorge area a little east of Charleston, West Virginia. It had rained very had the night before and most of the morning while I was in the area. In the afternoon, it cleared for a little while I was looking for interesting things in the gorge region. Dunloup creek raced down to New River newly swollen with the heavy rains when I found this falls. It was a bit hard and slippery to get to, but rewarding. This was captured with Nikon D750, 24-120mm at 38mm and was the near normal middle exposure of three bracketed images (my first attack was to process in Aurora HDR the three images, but I wasn't very pleased with the melding of each image). So I processed just the middle normal exposure. I used only a polarizer and the tripod with remote cable release, ISO 100, 1/5s, f/13, -0.7 EV, Aperture Priority, Lightroom adjustments of the RAW image.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
7 comments posted




Mike Cohen   Mike Cohen
Very pretty and a powerful composition in my opinion. I love the color pallet and particularly the splashing water on the lower right side. The green and the yellows go wonderfully together. I'm sure due to the great volume of water it was hard to keep the water from blowing out but you managed to do it. The only thought I can add is to see what effect adding some clarity just to the water would have, and maybe bring down the highlights on the left side. That said, I like it as is.   Posted: 07/07/2017 16:01:33



 
I like the force of the water juxtaposed with the calm of the tree branches. The water has many leading lines forcing your eye down. The bright spot of tree branch in the top left hints of the sun without being overexposed. The colors work well together.
My one suggestion is to coax a bit more color/texture out of the bottom left river water. I played with a vignette and levels. I suggest you use the method you prefer to see what you might like.
  Posted: 07/08/2017 10:12:44



Carol Sheppard   Carol Sheppard
(Group 95)
This has a strong composition and perfect flow to the water. I perceive that it gets a bit darker in the lower right corner, and I'm not sure if that is some intentional vignetting to draw the viewer's eye back toward the center? The only other thing I had a difficult time with was the color cast....it feels very yellow or greenish to me? To ensure it wasn't just me, I checked various areas around the image, including the rocks, and there's a definite color cast. Would this be something Color EFEX and white neutralizer could address? Or just adjust the temperature a bit? Nice image, though!   Posted: 07/10/2017 13:56:22



Sharon Prislipsky   Sharon Prislipsky
This looks like a pretty little waterfall. I like the colors and the diagonal lines in this image. The loss of detail in the lower left is, for me, a detracting element. A slight crop on the left, but not enough to eliminate that sweet little rock with all the detail around it, might help. I am thinking that you might try a luminosity mask to adjust the highlights in just the water. Also, a tiny bit of glow on the water fall might, in my opinion, add interest.   Posted: 07/15/2017 08:39:53



Judith Lesnaw   Judith Lesnaw
Great composition and silk water. I agree with cropping the left side but preserving the small black rock and the green branches that curve towards it. This crop would remove some of the glare on the left side that is distracting for me. I think this image would also look great in black and white or sepia. The large rock on the lower right has a faint halo outlining it. Is this a result of sharpening/highlights?   Posted: 07/15/2017 13:27:19



 
John, I felt the image had too much of a yellow tint to it as an initial thought. But I also realize that it is heavy water run off that includes a lot of muddy water giving it that color. I tried to back off a little on the yellow and also included the crop the others have mentioned. I really do like the setting and the shear power that is presented.   Posted: 07/18/2017 10:01:45
Comment Image



John Roach   John Roach
(Group 64)
Gee, that sure doesn't work for me. It subdued the color and drama too much and took away the foaming creek. Nonetheless, thanks for the thoughts. BTW, to all in the group, thanks for your impressions. For the most part I do not agree especially regarding color and crop. You just would have to have been there to appreciate the vivid and dramatic conditions. The comment about edge sharpening in the near ground actually is mist glow. Very little sharpening done to this image, but some clarity and some light dehazing done.

Anyway, always interesting to see the various thoughts.   Posted: 07/18/2017 13:00:17