Dorothy Falls Hokitika, a photo from West Coast, South Island

Photographer's Note

This waterfall is only 5 mins from the carpark,adjacent to the road on the eastern side of Lake Kaniere close to Hokitika. Taken in RAW format and converted in Photoshop with the scrub right and left of the falls cropped out to leave square format, which I think suits this shot. We tried lots of settings to slow the water down to a milky flow,but ended up with this shot. Light was not great hence the 400 asa.
Regards MikenGail.

Nobody has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

SteveH (8220) 2010-12-31 22:39

Hi Mike, what a coincidence - there's me between you and Ian, both with water falls in NZ!. In this one, I like the inclusion of the rocks at the bottom of the frame. Choice of shutter speed works well too with blurring suggesting motion in the water, but not completely milky - preserving the sense of the water falling. Best wishes for 2011. Cheers, Steve

ifege (48183) 2010-12-31 23:18

Hi almost neighbour, Mike. Yes a bit of a coincidence - 2 Kiwi waterfalls framing Steve's Kangaroo Island shot. Don't remember these falls when I stayed in Hokitika. A well taken shot using a slow shutter speed for good effect. you've managed the poor light well for subdued greens in the vegetation.
Cheers
Ian

phwall (6787) 2010-12-31 23:51

Hi Mike,
This looks like an interesting spot, especially so close to the parking area.
I have to agree with you, I think you've over-sharpened and at the same time you've lost quite a lot of the colour saturation.
From my point of view I wouldn't have gone for the square frame, mainly because the main focus is on the falls and they only take up a small part of the image. For me the rest of the foliage on each side of the falls is there for window dressing and there is too much of it. Much better in my opinion to go for a vertical frame where the falls become the main focus of the shot.
You guessed it.... I've done a workshop for you.
In the workshop I cropped, dropped the clarity, and increased the vibrance and saturation. I also used a mask or two to create a bit more light and shade to give the shot more of a tropical rain forest feel.

Shot through the heart and it's only day one for 2011, sorry about that.
Have a great year and I'm looking forward to critiquing more of your work.
Best wishes
Peter

[workshop] [compare] +

macondo (20449) 2011-01-01 2:47

Hi Mike.
A really excellent waterfall shot, in which you ended up with 'sharp' water, rather than a 'milky' job favoured by some, but which I must confess I don't like much. You got it just right, with very slight blur, and terrific exposure of the light and shadow in amongst the rounded rocks. Maybe it is a tad over-sharpened, but I think the saturation is quite realistic. Perhaps the shadows could have been turned down a bit more in photoshop, using levels, but overall I like this. And I don't mind the square crop, in spite of the vertical nature of the main subject. I can see what Peter's getting at, but something seems missing from the narrower crop.
I remember a lake in or near Hokitika with bright sky-blue water, obviously not the same one.
Hope you have a happy new year and all the best for 2011.
Regards,
Andrew

kiasari (62) 2011-01-15 20:44