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Last weekend, we went up to the Blue Mountains.. again It's fast becoming my favourite spot to get away from it all. Didn't go for a walk quite as long as the 6-hour Wentworth Pass, but still had a great 2-3 hours trudging around a walking track. Sadly this area is not as bountiful in photo opportunities as the old Wentworth Pass. Got a couple of photos worth having a look at though...





Still on a bit of a waterfall kick. #1 was the one of Leura Cascades that turned out the best. Not real happy with the lighting though. There's a big massive highlight blowout in the top right, but that's where the sun was shining, so not a lot I could do about it except maybe try again later in the morning.

Comments and suggestions appreciated

(Minimal PP, simple cropping, curves and just a hint of sharpening)

ALL very nice...

I will have to go up and have a look

Ree

I like them both. I see what you're saying about the lighting in the first one. It doesn't look like there was much you could have done though. If you over exposed you'd totally blow out the top corner, if you under expose then you lose the foreground which is more important. It looks like you got some lens flare too. Still, it's a cool picture and I really like the perspective and soft water.

The second picture is also good. I like the low clouds.

Leura cascades is a very photogenic and yet convenient spot too huh... You could possibly lessen the blow-out if you shot raw by exposing a second version of the image, and just laying that over the top of this one and erase all but the high-light areas... Works a treat for high dynamic range stuff like waterfalls... Think waterfalls need a strong foreground interest too, like a mossy rock, or a fern etc... Not sure whether you were using one or not but I find that a Circ Pol helps a lot too, slows the shutter (I think about 1-1.5 stops) seems to help color contrast and the clarity of under water details too...

Love the clouds just gently rolling over the valley in the second, would have been awesome watching that unfold from where you were...

Losfp,

Nice photos that bring back memories. I used to live in Sydney and as a boy I would spend as much time as I could walking the Blue Mountains. Great thing about them is that there are so many tracks and the mood of the place changes constantly (making for great photo ops).

Cheers

Michael

Thanks all, for the comments

Mudder, I didn't try overlaying a second version of the image, I might do that tonight. In fact, I might even have taken one or two other shots at varying exposure levels without touching the tripod/zoom settings, so I might be able to get a lot of detail in that top corner after all.

Didn't have my CPL for this shot, but I did use a 4x ND filter, I find that provides about the same endarkeningness as a CPL.

number one looks like the sun was shining direct into the lens.
the purple spot bottom centre looks like lens flare and that would also account for the lack of saturation.
Composition wise it works, just needs more colour.