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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Not so pure after all?
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Showing posts 1 - 11 of 11, (reverse)
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 06/20/2007 02:22:47 PM · #1
I really thought this would score higher, and there's not a single negative comment to be seen, so here's your chance to rip my Pure entry apart. Okay, maybe not rip, but how about some actual critique?



Message edited by author 2007-06-20 14:23:00.
 06/20/2007 02:29:09 PM · #2
Mmm if i had to say anything bad about it its probably that the colors seem kinda bland i suppose. Personally if the shutter-speed had been on either side of where it is in this photograph i probably would have voted higher, what i mean it seems your somewhere in between smooth flowing water (long shutter-speed)and stop motion (fast speed), its somewhere in between. But thats just my opinion.
 06/20/2007 02:31:04 PM · #3
I did not vote on this image, but at first glance I thought it was a dead duck...
 06/20/2007 02:36:19 PM · #4
i like the colors,

but here is what i think, please don't take anything in a wrong way,

it's toooooo busy, meaning i can't focus my eye on one point.
the composition is a bit weird, honestly i can't tell what it is unless i click on the shot itself. like someone said it looks like a duck.
there is no WOW factor, and if the message you are trying to convey is pure power of water in breaking rocks, i guess it's a bit vague of a concept.
i did not vote , but if i did i would have given it a 4.
 06/20/2007 02:37:16 PM · #5
I think that maybe the crop was too tight. From what I can see, the colors and textures of the rocks look good, and would have helped give the viewer some perspective.
 06/20/2007 02:50:49 PM · #6
I agree on it not having one main focal point.
The initial place my eye goes is the water coming out, but after that, my eyes are all over the place.
(part of it is my old age though j/k)

I'm curious what you had to work with in the beginning, as you said it was cropped in the PP. It also seems to be lacking some punch, maybe in the way of deeper, richer colors in the rocks.

Try this with the shot you used:
Image, Adjustments, Match Color, click the neutralize button and click OK. That should have turned the water a cyan tint and washed a lot of color out of the rocks. Then get the history brush, soft-edged brush around 50-60 pixels, set to 100% and brush back the rocks to reveal the original reds and contrast. I think most associate waterfalls as having the cyan tint in it as seen in so many woodland waterfall shots. To add some extra richness to the rocks, go Image, Adjustments, Selective Color, and on the Red Channel, drop down to the bottom slider (Black) and slide to the right about 20% - that will richen and deepen the reds in the rocks. Just a thought. Well a couple of them actually.

ETA:
I forgot this was a basic editing, but much of the same end result can be achieved using the same process, just not the history brush part. That can be brought back by selective color adjustments and levels.

Message edited by author 2007-06-20 15:42:23.
 06/20/2007 03:13:39 PM · #7
Originally posted by Brad:
I agree on it not having one main focal point.
The initial place my eye goes is the water coming out, but after that, my eyes are all over the place.
(part of it is my old age though j/k)

I'm curious what you had to work with in the beginning, as you said it was cropped in the PP. It also seems to be lacking some punch, maybe in the way of deeper, richer colors in the rocks.

Try this with the shot you used:
Image, Adjustments, Match Color, click the neutralize button and click OK. That should have turned the water a cyan tint and washed a lot of color out of the rocks. Then get the history brush, soft-edged brush around 50-60 pixels, set to 100% and brush back the rocks to reveal the original reds and contrast. I think most associate waterfalls as having the cyan tint in it as seen in so many woodland waterfall shots. To add some extra richness to the rocks, go Image, Adjustments, Selective Color, and on the Red Channel, drop down to the bottom slider (Black) and slide to the right about 20% - that will richen and deepen the reds in the rocks. Just a thought. Well a couple of them actually.


I believe the original just had more rock along the top, but it's been awhile now since I edited it. I didn't want to mess with the colors too much since the natural red and yellow mineral tint of the water were so striking to me when I was there precisely because everyone thinks of the typical cyan waterfall, and messing with that seemed a travesty. This was the only shot I could use in basic editing, as it was one of few that was both clear enough (no tripod and the stairs shook with every step the other tourists took) and lacked little man-made intrusions here or there. My other favorite is this one, but I had edited out a small sign bolted to the rocks along the lower left.
06/20/2007 03:20:22 PM · #8
i gave this image a 6.

i liked it, i've just seen a lot of images with "blurred water" lately.

overall i enjoy the image, though. and i applaud you for NOT using "pure" in your title, everyone else did (including me)! i hope i never see of hear that word again, lol!
 06/20/2007 03:25:24 PM · #9
Originally posted by photogeekwithasexybrain:
i gave this image a 6.

i liked it, i've just seen a lot of images with "blurred water" lately.

overall i enjoy the image, though. and i applaud you for NOT using "pure" in your title, everyone else did (including me)! i hope i never see of hear that word again, lol!


Heh, using the challenge title in the photo title is actually a huge pet peeve of mine. This one was hard to name since just about everything detracted from the theme and I was bound and determined not to use the word in my title. "Natural" was as close as I could get.
06/20/2007 03:32:26 PM · #10
One of the much more interesting waterfall takes, but compositionwise, it just misses. And you seem to have nailed it in your unbasic edited photo which I like very much. I applaud your colours and the waterfall itself. (Didn't vote in the challenge).
 06/20/2007 03:50:37 PM · #11
Originally posted by photogeekwithasexybrain:


i liked it, i've just seen a lot of images with "blurred water" lately.



Not trying to be critical but I never can understand why we, and I include myself, tend to vote differently based on how many times we see a similar subject! I would like to get away from that mind set and vote based how well I like the image and how well it was done regardless. I do not think it should suffer because it was done before but rather it would not get a increase bump for originality. I say all this with one exception and that is bugs, I hate bugs, dead or alive....lol
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