Small Waterfall

[PrevailingConditions]

I shot this small waterfall the other day, but it doesn't really capture the scene the way I was hoping. What can I do to help this shot?

Thanks,

PC



Here it is in B&W

[swmdrayfan]

Hard to say PC, maybe get a little closer or try a different angle, maybe a different pov?

[schrackman]

Get up early in the morning to avoid the harsh sunlight on rocks, throw a ND filter on your lens, place camera on tripod, and slow your shutter speed. Should come out real nice.

[Frog]

I've tried to shoot small waterfalls and rivultes without much luck. Its hard to get the surroundings right, I think.
This might have benefitted from more surroundings added but can't tell.

[PrevailingConditions]

Thanks for the comments.

schrackman, I would also ordinarily make the same recommendation, but this particular spot is in a fairly deep canyon surrounded by trees. In the morning and afternoon it would be in pure shadow (which may not be too bad). FWIW, this was shot on a tripod with an ND filter and a slow shutter. I wouldn't have got the water that way without it ;-).

I think I'm going to have to head back in the winter time on an overcast day when there's more water and less glare.

[GB1]

Love the sharpness! Also the tonal values, esp on the B&W. To me those two attributes make it a professional looking shot. It is a bit barren but think that it works. The only part I don't like is where the top of the rocks above the water meet the edge of the photo - seems a little close for comfort and/or too many conflicting geometrics. But it is still an impressive shot.
GB

[Greg McCary]

You need another element. A tree, a person? I can't tell anything about how big it is???

[Loupey]

To me, the only unique story here is that small rock and how it's wedged there precariously. So I would recommend using a longer lens and isolating that particular region (enough of the waterfall so people recognize it as a waterfall - but not the entire waterfall).

Might look better in the winter with snow and ice on it.

[LongInt]

Another thing to try, PrevailingConditions, would be to move your angle more to the right and take in more of the shaded rock and less of the sunlit rock. Then you can expose for the darker areas without blowing out the foreground. Also, if you'll settle for less than the whole fall, zoom in more to cut out more of the bright area.

[mongoose]

There's too much contrast between the light and dark areas. Wait until early day/evening when the light is more even. Get in more of the pool too. If you can see more of the pool and frame in more of the white "fan" spreading out from where the waterfall hits the water, I think it would look better.

[PrevailingConditions]

Thank you all for the comments. I have other shots with a little more of the pool, but given the time I took the pictures, they all suffer from too much sun. This site is an hour or so away so I'll have to make sure I have good conditions before heading there again. At this point I have really written off this batch of pictures and will have to try another time. It's a pretty little spot and should yield some nice shots one way or another.

Thanks,

PC