The power of water

I was hoping for a cooler day with more mist from the falls but alas clear blue skies. I took multiple images some with slower shutter speeds and silk water but i ultimately felt that this image needed to show the power of the falls. Comments?

Iso 200 17mm F14 1/250

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This is really good, John. I like the composition and its geometry. I might be tempted to lightly clone in some texture to the pure white water (8-10% opacity with the clone tool and add to taste), but the image looks quite nice.

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John, to me itā€™s all power ! I like also the dark in the image to give the white still more power. There must have been a lot of noise I think, as a person who has never seen a fall as big as this one. Very good image very much in balance!

Harley

Thanks for the suggestion. I have never tried using the clone tool that way. Iā€™m excited to try that.

John

John, this is very good. I agree with Harley about cloning in some textures to the brightest white. I really love the dramatic lighting contrast between the shadow on the left and the highlights on the right. It reinforces the direction of the waterfall as well.

John,

Despite the water being a little distant, the pure power and force of the water is abundantly clear. And if I stare at this long enough, the water seems to moveā€¦

Itā€™s a mystery where the water is coming from. It doesnā€™t really matter, in fact I think it makes this even more powerful.

Excellent processing as well. I would agree with Harley in possibly restoring some texture in the blown areas, but thatā€™s pretty minor.

Lon

Most of the time I prefer silky water, but I think you made the right choice here; it really does emphasize the power as you note. Nice drop with the framing. I tried playing with a square crop, but like yours better.

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John, Harley, Ben, Ashoka, Lon.

Thanks for all your comments and suggestion. I did go back and clone the water that was blown out and it made a big difference.

John, I think the faster shutter speed here makes the water look much more powerful than long exposure silky water. I also agree with @Ben_van_der_Sande, the dark areas in the image define the highlights and the power in the image. I love the way the warm light is hitting the diagonal rock ledges on the right, it serves as a nice counterpoint to the rushing water. This is a very powerful image with a lot of impact.

My only minor nit is that I would suggest a slight crop from the left, without retaining the original aspect ratio. This eliminates ā€œsemi-negativeā€ space on the left, and makes the falls look larger and even more powerful. I would shoot for something like this perhapsā€¦

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Ed

I agree with you that cropping the left does improve the impact of the water. Thanks for your thoughtful review along with everyone else in the landscape section.

John