Smith Falls 1

Our family vacation this year took us through north central Nebraska,

where we stopped to play in Nebraska's tallest waterfall. This

spring-fed creek plunges 70 feet before eventually trickling into the

Niobrara River. I was standing in the pool below testing the weather

sealing of my camera and lens as I hand held this shot. What do you

think? Suggestions for improvement?

I think this is one of the more creative shots that I have seen. The composition is what clinches it. I love the texture of the rocks and the clarity of the water as it breaks into so many tiny drops. I am not experienced enough to suggest areas of improvement, but I would have liked to see the sky a bit more brooding. I suppose that would compromise the rock details and also hide the water towards the bottom of the photo, wouldn't it? This goes straight to my favourites.

Samrat, thanks for the compliments (did you rate it?). Be sure to check out the other three from this series in my gallery. I played with darkening the sky in post, but it made the bright lighting on the water look unnatural. Also, the highlights in the clouds on the right half are blown out (the sun was over that direction), so there's not much you can do with them. I agree, though, this would also be good with a more ominous sky. I'm just glad I got any clouds at all. We visited the falls on a rainy day, and the rest of our vacation week was clear and sunny.

 

I submitted this shot to our state fair photo competition to be judged next week. The only change from what you see here was to slightly brighten the water spray. I'll let you know what the judges think of it.

No, I did not rate this photo. I do not rate photos these days; I'd rather interact and learn. Also, I have seen the same photo rated 3/3 and 7/7. I'd probably start rating again when they make it mandatory to provide comments with ratings 4 or less in either category.

 

Enough moans for now. I'll see the other photos as you have stated. Thanks for explaining the situation as you composed the photo and all the best for the upcoming competition.

Of the four i like this the bes... the composition is well balanced and the water looks great... it has pleasing areas of brightnessand shade

Thanks for your kind words. The State Fair results are in, and this photo didn't make the cut. However, I did win 11 ribbons for the 21 photos I submitted, include first place in one class for this photo:

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=9186831

This is the one. The composition, the distortion, it all works very well.