The Bwcle

This is another iconic Scottish view, it was a bit of trial and error trying

to expose for the water speed and the bright backdrop without blowing

the highlights, but think I finally got it right. The clouds were moving so

fast, but I was fortunate enough to catch the light on the mountain top

that appeared for just a few seconds. Your thoughts and comments are

always welcome. Thank You.

Yeah, I think your exposure is right on.  I think getting the mountain with light on its peak made a big difference.  When imagining it all in shadow or all in light, it just wouldn't have the same impact or interest as this version.  Great timing.

Well you've bagged another classic here Alf! The lovely light on the peak really makes this stand out from the many others I've seen. Excellent exposure, good motion in the water, and excellent foreground detail.

All the best,
Neil

Alf... Looks perfect to me!  An excellent landscape... Mike

Well captured Alf.  You have balanced the light excellently. It looks as though 1/8th sec was not to slow for the clouds, they remained fairly sharp.  Was not this location within meters of your "HIgh Land Dew" shot from 10-27-2010?  It looks it to me.  Great work; thank you for sharing.

Best Regards...

-Dave

I can never get enough of the Buachaille Etive Mor. This is an excellent shot that does it justice. The light on the peak, beautiful clouds, almost silky water, it ticks all my boxes.

The soft water works for me in this one, somehow.  The trees seem too split by the land/sky edge, though.  I think you could  have taken it from a bit lower to push the trees up higher.  That would have also intensified the near-far-landscape feeling by giving the tiny waterfall more prominence.  It's great as it is, though.  best, j

Really beautiful work with very nice lighting and details, Alf!

With best regards,

Ruud.

Hi Alf,

A nice work of art.

No comment on the technical aspects................

Best Regards,  Mike

Alf,

   Beautiful image with amazing processing.  This one could pass for a painting.  Thanks for sharing.  Take care, Patsy

Very impressive composition and the beautiful scene under your design.  Natural and nice.  Best Regards,

It's another stunner from you ! All the elements like the flowing water, clouds & the peak drenched in golden light has been perfectly captured. The exposure & processing are both fantastic with impressive retention of both shadow & highlight details. The composition goes by the book too :-)

Best regards.

I like this moment caught and exposure you did,lot of interesting elements here that are eyes catching and this makes viewer feel good,regards.

Alf,

Its always difficult shooting a classic scene as we all have scene this image taken in optimal conditions with the lovely colors and maybe even a bit of snow!. Unless you live just down the road you can't keep retuning day after day for optimal light and just have to make the best of what you have.

 I think you have done a great job here I really like the touch of light hitting the summit it works as a great focal point and makes the image stand out, you have nailed the exposure as the water has a sense of movement but dose not look unreal.

Great work Alf.

Rich.

Alf,

I agree that catching the light on the tip of the mountain really makes this image work.  There is a lot to take in and unless viewed large some of the foreground elements such as the white on the rocks may seem distracting, however when enlarged my eyes move between the mountain top and the water in the foreground, taking in the detail and beauty of the scene.

Nicely done,

Jim

A classic beautiful and technically difficult shot. The most important aspect of this shot is its exposure control, which seems awesome with respect to such dynamic range ( assuming this is a one shot capture and also no ND grads used ). There is no distinct diffraction, even though you used f/22, and color tonality is top and impressive. As a suggestion ( which i sure you did it already ), a vertical shoot including one of better looking cascades at f/g , larger tree at mid and montain/sky at the b/g, whould be a collection of another classic in this scene. This is awesome and a top notch shot. Bravo.

Hamid.

Simply beautiful!! I love it.

Cheers.

STEPHEN

Sincere Thanks for your interest and positive feedback, it is very gratifying tol earn that your thoughts followed my own regarging the shadow / light aspect of the image.

Best Regards

Alf

NEIL

I think the classic view of this is usually in a portrait orientation, which suits the compositional aspects of the scene really well, but I wanted a wider view, and the 14 - 24 mm does offer that versatility. The light on the peak was a stroke of luck, the sun was dodging in and out of the clouds with spots of warm light appearing sporadically for seconds at a time, I just managed to get this before it disappeared again.  Thanks for your invaluable feedback Neil.

Best Regards

Alf

MIKE M

Ahhh perfection, does it really exist?........never usually from the photographers perspective of his / her own work, and this is no exception. But I do appreciate your feedback, much appreciated Mike.

Best Regards

Alf

DAVE

You are most observant and have a good memory too. Yes indeed this is the very same location as "Highland Dew" taken some 12 months previously within a couple of feet of the exact spot. You may also have noticed the huge difference in water levels, there wasn't a fraction of the water flowing through here this time as there was previously and consequently it made the composition that much difficult to arrange. Many thanks for your thoughts and observations Dave.

Best Regards

Alf

BOEBOE

It is a great location and indeed the whole area is inspirational as far as photographic material is concerned. It's always difficult to follow the many excellent images of such an iconic viewpoint, so its really gratifying to learn that you liked this one.

Sincere Thanks

Alf

JAMIE

First your splitting hairs now your splitting trees : - )

I have to admit, if I could re-arrange the tree's I would, they always seem to be in the wrong place in this location no matter what angle you try. I did actually get down to the water level to take a few, with a purpose of exactly what you described but what you gain in height of the trees and prominence of the water fall, you lose in landmass at the bottom of the peak. My instinct was to do exactly the same as your suggestion, but I don't think it worked. If I still have the raw file I'll make a copy and email it, but I might have deleted it. Many thanks for your observations and invaluable feedback Jamie

Best Regards

Alf

RUUD

Many Thanks for your interest and kind words, much appreciated!

Kind Regards

Alf

MIKE P

I know you wouldn't approve of the technical aspects, particualrly the f22 aperture, but I view it as a means to an end.

Many Thanks for your interest and invaluable feedback Mike.

Best Regards

Alf

PATSY

Many Thanks for stopping b and sharing your thoughts. I guess it does look a bit painterly, probably due to the colourful terrain. I'm really pleased you liked this one Patsy.

Best Regards

Alf

WANGHAN

Many thanks for your interest and thoughtful feedback, much appreciated. The composition was a bit tricky this time due to the low water but the wide angle lens proved to be quite helpful in that respect.

Best Regards

Alf

SAGNIK

Sincere Thanks for your most generous comments and invaluable feedback, much appreciated! After viewing the histogram whilst standing there, I think I deleted the first 3 attempts at capturing this scene in camera due to blown highlights and deep shadows and the water looking too frozen, but some quick aperture adjustments and tweaks to exposure compensation this was the result, I was fortunate that the sun hit the peak at exactly the right moment, it had started off positioned on the LH slope.

Best Regards

Alf

RADU

Many Thanks for your interest and positive feedback, much appreciated. It is always very gratifying to learn that a photograph I took can evoke a good feeling.

Best Regards

Alf

RICHARD

You are 100% right, the images that have gone before are a hard act to follow, and I often wish I did live "just down the road" from some of these places but as you know this location represents about a 5 hour drive for me, and indeed it's probably a good distance from the majority of people. So it is very gratifying to learn that this image is acceptable, and its good to know you share my views about the water movement. I don't like too slow an exposure when it comes to water, it loses all semblance of reality when it looks like mush, though I dare say there are instances when this is desirable also.

Sincere Thanks for your insightful comments and observations Rich.

Best Regards

Alf

JIM

Many thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts and invauable feedback, much appreciated. I'm glad you mentioned the white patches on the rocks, as I thought to myself "will people know what they are" A lot of the time these rocks are covered in water or at least are part submerged, but the white patches are a result of moss covering the rocks for long periods, then being removed by either the water movement or other elements such as the wind, and resulting in the white bleached looking patches where the elements haven't weathered the rock. I did also share your concern about them being somewhat distracting, but then they were unavoidable. maybe someone could suggest a means of making them less noticeable? Or perhaps they are less noticeable in the larger view as you describe.

Cheers Jim!

Alf

HAMID

Sincere thanks for your thoughtful observations and positive feedback, much appreciated! Yes you are correct this is a single exposure and no grads were used. In fact without some major technical modifications to the Nikkor 14 - 24 mm it is impossible to use a grad (much to my frustration sometimes) but it is such a great lens in terms of sharpness and clarity, I tend to overlook this one shortcoming. The merits you describe are very much courtesy of this lens, and I do belive that even some Landscape Photographers who are staunch supportors of Canon equipment make use of this lens with the necessary adaptors to suit. The portrait orientated image that you describe is very much the classic way that this location is shot, and indeed I did tak a few like this. But I think mainly due to the low water on this ocassion, they didn't look as good as I had hoped. Thanks again Hamid.

Best Regards

Alf

 ALBERTO

Many thanks for stopping by, its always good ot hear from you. I'm really pleased you liked this one.

Best Regards

Alf  

As usual i am a bit late in joining in with this image so i cannot add much to what has already been said. This is a  great image, with classic composition. The foreground elements create a visual magnet to draw the eye in the picture, but the rest of the image is also very strong. The light on the mountain is beautiful and the sky is superb.  I like the contrast between the mountain symbolizing strength and stability and the water representing the flow of life.  My only very minor comment would be that i would have liked to see just a tad more of the little cascade in the lower right corner instead of it being slightly cut off. Great image and great work. Regards always - michel

Beautiful,  a place to contemplate and relax, great texture and colors.

Congrats, Mari

Like Dave, I rem,ember the 'other' image made 12 months ago and I was suggesting moving slightly to the right or something like that.  It does not get any better - Just Lovely! And even nicer when viewed larger.

Superb work from you, which we all now come to expect anyway:-)) The whole scene is fantastic and admirably captured by you. As is mentioned the light on the summit is for you the "icing on the cake" for this Alf Bailey Masterpiece!

Beautiful photo! I love the waterfalls in foreground. They add so many poi and scattered white spots on stones also add to the foreground. Water has texture and softness both. Well composed scene.

Best wishes... Sandeep

Only few words from me..Excellent,applause.Congrats.

Thanks for sharing.

My best regards.

Kallol

A very nice HDR! Congratulations! =º)