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Archive 2017 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)

  
 
Kris Sproul
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


This past weekend, I went down to the Columbia River Gorge to catch a few waterfalls surrounded by ice and snow before the warmer weather returned. I processed a few shots and would love some feedback on them, especially since snow/ice shots are something I haven't had a lot of experience processing. Thanks!


1a - Horsetail Falls (original version):




1b - Horsetail Falls (edited version with different waterfall exposure and tighter crop):




2 - Horsetail Falls:




3 - Upper Horsetail Falls (aka Ponytail Falls):




Edited on Jan 21, 2017 at 06:11 PM · View previous versions



Jan 18, 2017 at 11:29 PM
Timmeh
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


Hi Kris,

I really like #1 and #2. The compositions in #1 has a good flow and the blue flow moves up to the textured moss perfectly. #2 is my favorite and gives a good sense of detail and the shutter speed works perfectly. It's difficult to tell there's a waterfall in #1 because of the shutter speed though. Do you have a variety of shutter speeds for that composition?

#3 doesn't work for me as much because of the dried brownish moss and the tangle of branches on the right.

Tim



Jan 19, 2017 at 09:07 PM
Kris Sproul
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


Thanks for the detailed feedback, Tim!

Regarding the shutter speed in #1, I completely see your point and had the same thoughts when processing that one. I do have some shorter (and longer) shutter speeds, so I'll see what I can do with this one. I agree that the waterfall kind of gets lost due to the lack of water detail. I just don't recall being happy with my other water choices there, but I'll revisit my options.

I'm glad you like #2. That's my wife's favorite from the weekend as well. I just loved that blue ice caked along the sides of the waterfall, especially on the left.

On #3, the tangle of branches on the right annoyed me a bit, but I couldn't seem to get the composition to work otherwise. I did try some tighter compositions, but I didn't like them as much. As for brownish moss, I wonder if you're really seeing moss or just the rocks. Maybe I could process the rocks/moss to provide some more separation between the rock and moss color. I could probably make the rock a bit grayer and the moss a bit greener, but I'm not sure how it would look. I might have to play around with this one a bit.

Thank you!

Kris



Jan 19, 2017 at 10:50 PM
Kris Sproul
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


Per Tim's suggestion, I just posted an edited version (#1b) of the first Horsetail Falls shot with more texture in the water (from a shorter exposure) and a slightly tighter crop. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Kris



Jan 21, 2017 at 06:13 PM
chez
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


Number 2 is a killer. Love it. Maybe shutter could have been a tad faster to put a bit more character into the water.

Number 1 the moss bothers me. It is lifeless and detracts from the image. I'd love to see an abstract crop of just the bottom half of the image, removing all the dead moss.



Jan 21, 2017 at 06:50 PM
psharvic
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


Kris, I like the flow of water on the first so much that the falls seems secondary. I like the 2nd. Well done.


Jan 21, 2017 at 06:51 PM
Kris Sproul
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


chez wrote:
Number 2 is a killer. Love it. Maybe shutter could have been a tad faster to put a bit more character into the water.

Number 1 the moss bothers me. It is lifeless and detracts from the image. I'd love to see an abstract crop of just the bottom half of the image, removing all the dead moss.


Thanks, Chez!

I considered some other exposures to get different texture in the water for #2, but I didn't really like how the water looked in any of the alternatives. In the end, I decided that I liked the smoother texture of the water in this one contrasting with the texture of the ice. I appreciate the feedback though, and I'm glad you like it!

As for #1, I believe most of the exposed surface in the background is bare rock. There may be a bit of moss or lichen mixed in, but even at full resolution, it's really hard to tell. I'm looking at some photos on Google from other seasons, and it looks to me like most of the moss is outside of the comp I've shown here (or behind the ice right next to the waterfall). Either way, whether it's moss or rock, I can see your point. I wonder if it would look better darkened a bit? I did boost the shadows a bit to bring out some detail in the rock, but maybe that was the wrong choice. As for a crop of just the bottom, that's something I hadn't really considered. I might play around with that, but it kind of makes me wish I had tried some shots of just that foreground area alone, which I did not.

I appreciate the detailed feedback!

Kris



Jan 21, 2017 at 07:54 PM
Kris Sproul
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


psharvic wrote:
Kris, I like the flow of water on the first so much that the falls seems secondary. I like the 2nd. Well done.


Thanks for the feedback!



Jan 21, 2017 at 07:56 PM
gordon l
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


The 2nd shot is my favorite of the bunch. I love the clean and simple composition and lines and circles in nature. the effect is very nice.


Jan 22, 2017 at 07:35 AM
Kris Sproul
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


gordon l wrote:
The 2nd shot is my favorite of the bunch. I love the clean and simple composition and lines and circles in nature. the effect is very nice.


Thanks, Gordon! The circle at the bottom of the waterfall is a big part of what drew me to the composition in #2. It was amazing to see how much the ice changed between Saturday and Sunday (when I took that one) last weekend.



Jan 22, 2017 at 12:37 PM
kellyakinsart
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


Nice set. I love the formations in #2.

Kelly



Jan 24, 2017 at 01:07 PM
xterra07
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


Nice composition with all. I like 1a and 2 most


Jan 24, 2017 at 01:13 PM
Kris Sproul
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Columbia River Gorge waterfalls with ice and snow (+edit)


kellyakinsart wrote:
Nice set. I love the formations in #2.

Kelly


xterra07 wrote:
Nice composition with all. I like 1a and 2 most


Thank you both!



Jan 24, 2017 at 08:28 PM





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