Waterfalls for Play

kap55 · July 19, 2025, 2:53pm

I’ve tried processing this photo dozens of times with various editors and I’ve never come up with a version that doesn’t hurt my eyes. Finally decided to see what people here could come up with.

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

2017-06-15_12-44-33.NEF (30.7 MB)

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Tim · July 19, 2025, 3:07pm

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tankist02 · July 19, 2025, 5:54pm

ART with AgX:

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AtaraxicShrug · July 19, 2025, 9:02pm

My take. Its not the easiest scene to balance for my eyes. Thanks!

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martin.scharnke · July 19, 2025, 9:36pm

I had a similar thought - cropping out the sky reduces the number of bright dark transitions.

martin.scharnke · July 19, 2025, 9:45pm

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Thanks, @kap55 for this capture to play with - I have become convinced that the framing is always going to be a compromise - if there had been much more sky, the overall scene would have been different, but with just a sliver of sky, it becomes a distraction. Short of going back with a still wider focal length, re-framing on a chosen subject is my compromise. The titular waterfall, emerging hidden from the left of the rocks and the mist are the main subject - I like the craggy pinnacles top-left of frame and the right-foreground.

kap55 · July 19, 2025, 10:33pm

Thanks very much for your efforts Martin. I agree with everything you say but I think there is still something more that “hurts my eyes”. I took about 60 photos that day from every angle and with varying amounts of sky showing. None of them are very good. It may be something to do with the various colors or the amount of detail throughout the image but I just can’t get a decent processed image. It was a cloudy/rainy day but it should still be possible to get something a little more satisfying. Maybe i’ll make it back there one day and have better luck.

Sunhillow · July 19, 2025, 11:24pm

Thank you for this waterfall!

Without a strip of sky something is missing IMHO

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Terry · July 19, 2025, 11:38pm

Your capture didn’t hurt my eyes. I decided to do a vertical crop since you were unhappy with your shot. DT 5.3
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AtaraxicShrug · July 20, 2025, 12:16am

Have you gone a very diffused path? This is overboard, but maybe gives you a place to start fiddling.

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martin.scharnke · July 20, 2025, 12:43am

One could try a monochrome treatment:

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AdamFromCanada · July 20, 2025, 1:09am

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Oof…I got way too in to this one.
A LOT of color look up table, haze removal masking to sharpen the rocks at the precipice of the waterfall, removed the perimeter corners of the surrounding landscape using the retouch (albeit, a bit sloppy and obvious), masked exposure to try to emphasize that bit of light sweeping over the hilltop…pretty much threw everything at it that I have limited experience with.
You have a great looking waterfall there, hope I didn’t mess it up too much.