Falling Waters Trail, Franconia

[kmorgan]

Went to NH with my wife and one of our Siberian Huskies (female, 10 years old with Lyme and diabetes). We were up for June 14th through the 17th (bike week) but stayed in North Conway instead of our usual spot on Squam Lake.

We arrived early and decided to continue up Rte. 93 to Franconia and do the Falling Waters Trail from the Mt. Lafayette parking area.

This is one of the shots from the trail:



1/4 Sec, f/11
@18mm with 18-55 kit lens on a Rebel XT
ISO 200,
handheld.

About 1/2 way up conditions were getting a bit too rugged for Lakota (our husky) so we had to turn back. At least we got up to where the 2 cascades face each other at a 90 degree angle. Very nice!

Kevin

 

[bikehikeskifish]

At least we got up to where the 2 cascades face each other at a 90 degree angle. Very nice!

Cloudland Falls is the top one
Swiftwater Falls is the middle one
Stairs Falls is the lowest one.

Nice trail.

Tim

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Kevin, Good job hand holding the photo with a slow shutter speed. There is a nice motion blur in the water. You also found a vantage point for a good composition.

In terms of improving the photo -- the major problem area is the fallen branches which distract from the waterfall. This is very common situation with forest and stream scenes. It does takes time to clean up a scene. It is possible to do this while adhering to environmental ethics - just moving dead material, and being careful not to cause stream erosion.

You could chose to work around the distractions and photograph portions of the waterfall. If the cleaning job is impossible - there is nothing wrong taking a photograph for the record. Also as hikers we often have other obligations and priorities for our time.

I would also recommend cropping out the sky as it does not add much, and it can be removed with harming the composition. There appears to be some glare on the wet rocks which a polarizer could remove.

 

[w7xman]

Kmorgan,

Very nice capture here! First off, I commend you for a great shutter speed on this, good texture to the water... The light is also appropriately even across the scene, and the greens come across very strongly...very nice spring/summer scene!

I don't necessarily feel that you needed to clean the clutter of sticks around this, as there are so many, it adds character to the usually static and perfect waterfall shots. However, I ofter find me cleaning scenes like this. Personal preference, nothing wrong in this shot though IMO!

I would however crop of the sky, as it pulls the eye up and away from the focus of the falls. A standard 4x5 format should take care of it and allow for easy printing.

Again, nice shot, just one little tweak IMO!

 

[kmorgan]

Here's the crop:



Kevin

 

[w7xman]

Much improved with the crop!

 

[Grumpy]

I agree that the cropped version is a superior composition for this scene.

G.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

That's "Dry Brook" from Mt. Lincoln, I do believe. The right side is Dry Brook, Little Haystack branch.

Interestingly enough 8 months later and the birch tree is still there. Since is is a popular photograph, it's interesting to see the changes year to year, especially down below (at the 80' Cloudland Falls). Bob & Geri have a really nice winter version on their web site (I'll leave up to you to find it, although I doubt if the mind me posting a link, but...)

A much starker version October 15, 2006. The only real color left was ever green and dark red ash berries.



Tim