This place got hit by the major fires in 2009 and I was keen to see how nature bounced back since then; and wow has it bounced back!
There are still burnt trees littered across the forrest, but so much new growth is everywhere, you would almost not notice. And in the centre of this reclaim of nature is this masterpiece of a waterfall!
This shot is from the lower portion of the falls, just before the water carries on to power the local town.
Canon 6D MkII | EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM Lens | Nisi CPL & 10 Stop
35mm · f/4 · 30sec · ISO 400
As I'm quite new to photography, I would love any feedback (good & bad) so I can continue to improve.
Hi Steve! Nice to see a fellow Melburnian, lending some Aussie class to this Yankee fest. ;-)
I like your image. In particular, it's well composed, something a lot of not-so-new photographers don't manage as well. The pool reflection is a nice touch. I went there in 2016, and didn't come away with anything great, but FWIW here's an image I made, sans pool.
One thing I wonder about is using 12-13 stops of filter, a wide aperture, and an ISO of 400. It depends on what filters you carry, but with long-exposure water, I always use the lowest ISO (I think yours would be 50) and then the least filtration to get the result.
If you used f/16, you'd have overall sharpness, and if you'd used ISO 50 as well, you'd have 7 stops less light to filter out i.e. could have used a 3-stop filter if you wanted a 30s exposure. Strong filters with an SLR give a very dark viewfinder, and Live View often doesn't work well, if at all. Then it can be very hard to see the effect of the polariser, which can radically alter such an image as it's rotated. In addition, stronger filters are harder to make without colour casts.
I carry relatively inexpensive 3- and 6-stop filters and a very expensive 10-stop as well as CPL. (OK, I've lashed out on an expensive 6-stopper. And I carry spares of all except the 10, after dropping a filter early in a photo holiday in the Grampians.)
You're off to a good start!
Thanks Chris, I appreciate the feedback. I've taken notes :)
I have NISI filters (a CPL, 10 Stop and a gradual one) as they came in a pack together. But I'll take a look at a 3 & 6 stop :)
I'll keep working away. Thanks again!
This is purely a question of taste. Steve, but as you can see my water is blue compared to yours. Personally, I find the cool colour just seems more "wet"! In reality, the water IS often brownish from grass tannins, but this can spoil images - for my tastes.
thats a beautiful image Chris! Did you put it up in the group?
Thanks, Danny! I didn't think it was so special, but rather a bit generic-waterfall! Maybe I'll have a rethink.
Hey Steve! Fellow Melbournian hey! There's a few Melbournians here mate which is encouraging :)
Nice composition and a vertical crop works well in this.
Just curious why the 10-stop but you have aperture at f/4 and iso400?
I think its personal taste but I typically use CPL for waterfalls and it is dark enough to capture the flow with details.
Nice one mate!