angler Loc: StHelens England

Excellent set.

Swede Loc: Trail, BC Canada

I know what I would do, I'd go back and shoot it again only this time using a faster shutter speed!

There is no place anywhere that I know where I can go and see running water that looks like that. Huge distraction in what could of been a memorable image.

That's a pretty place, next time shoot a few with a faster shutter speed, and compare them, you might remember those more, the way it really looked

Swede

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

Could be. In my time here, I've learned to not count Bob out.

grandpaw

Very nice set of images!

cahale Loc: San Angelo, TX

Very nice shots, and also you picked a good time to go. The last time I was there, the crowd was so thick that good angles and time were not possible.

deanfl Loc: Georgia

Here are three photos I took using a faster shutter speed.

1

(Download)

2

(Download)

3

(Download)

deanfl Loc: Georgia

Thank you, everyone!

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Dean,
Here's what I'm seeing in these. The issue is Ambient Color Contamination. To illustrate, I've analyzed two of the photos. In photo 1, the light is affected by the green tint the leaves through which it is being filtered. In the 5th photo, the red/brown of the rocks and bed of the stream have tempered the green a bit, as one can observe. This color contamination affects the presentation of the scene and can reduce the contrasts between the various subjects included therein.

Analyzing the color contamination one can see the predominant hue in each. The first photo shows a pronounced green contamination that affects the entire scene. The 5th image shows that color green contamination is not as pronounced, but still leaning toward green and this is the color that affects the entire scene. The overall effect is that it reduces the local contrasts.

This happens with almost every photograph taken. If one were to photograph a scene with an open sky, blue would be the contaminating color. Reddish colored canyon walls will push the influence toward the red/brown hues.

Accommodating these color contaminations will provide a more true view of the scene. It will also provide a better contrast within the photograph. Along with a bit of burning/dodging and vignetting will subtly draw the viewer to those areas you wish to "feature" as the "star" of the photograph.
--Bob

Image 1

(Download)

Image 5

(Download)

J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio

Beautiful images Dean

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Very nice images! Will be renting a cabin near Helen in a couple of weeks. Can you give me a little more information about trail conditions. How difficult was the hike getting to the falls? Did you have to wade through any creeks to get there? Is this the only falls you visited? Plenty of water flow in the falls, etc.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

Beautiful images Dean!

deanfl Loc: Georgia

Thank you! The trail to Anna Ruby Falls is .4 miles long, totally paved, uphill going to the falls, and no need to go through water....a very pleasant hike.

Here are my favorite waterfalls in the area:

1. Amicalola Falls State Park(43 miles SW of Helen)
2. Tallulah Gorge State Park(31 miles East of Helen)
3. Dry Falls, Highlands, North Carolina(38 miles North of Tallulah Gorge or 56 miles NE of Helen)
4. Toccoa Falls(19 miles South of Tallulah Gorge, on a college campus; extremely short hike)

Tallulah Gorge can involve more time and hiking, with more to see. The hike to the top of Amicalola Falls has many steps and may be worth it to you(I did it once. Or you can take a road to the top).

There are other waterfalls in the area. Unicoi State Park used to have waterfall maps to hand out. I don’t know if they still do that.

I am sure exploring Helen is something you already plan to do.

I think you will have fun....I will look forward to your photos.

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Thanks for the info. Hopefully I will get some good photos.

Bayou

Brilliant. This is a little understood flaw of jpeg compression. Colors are smeared all over the image, to varying degrees depending on the subject matter. I first observed this when scanning 8x10 photos (shot on film and printed in a darkroom) of beautiful custom made guitars for a web site. The photos were shot by a pro in a studio and were spectacular. There were three shots, each of a single guitar on a black velvet background. Each guitar was a different color...one a deep red, one a golden color, and one a dark brown.

Scanning these photos altered the black velvet to three different shades, each one picking up color contamination from its guitar, particularly the golden one. A side by side arrangement of the three scans on the website were useless...the blacks looked so bad. I scanned with three different scanners with a variety of settings, but it always happened, until I saved to .tiff instead of .jpeg. Of course I couldn't use the .tiff files on a website so it was a problem that was eventually fixed with tedious post processing to get the blacks to match.

I researched the problem and learned of the .jpeg contamination. Now that I'm aware of it, I see it all the time in photos people post, particularly those with a lot of blue sky, or a lot of green woods. It just dumps those colors all over the place.

It's a .jpeg problem.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Nicely done.