Entwined

After a heavy rain, every stream, brook, and run off can turn into a spectacular sight here in Western North Carolina. Off of 441 on the way to Clingmans Dome leaving Cherokee you will begin seeing water features along the side of the road, and if you’re lucky you may yet see something truly magical. This is a small brook most of the time, a small fall off the side of the bank to a culvert under the road. On the days leading up to this photo it rained non stop, several inches dumped down onto our mountains, until eventually it broke, and I decided to go seeking out this little features. Out of all the places I visited through the day, this one really captured my imagination, trees, roots, rocks, and a soft diffused light through the canopy.

This particular photo has never been difficult to edit, never resisted, and I could of gotten away with only doing a bit of color balancing, shadows and highlights, but there were certain things I needed to change. I wanted to have more texture on the rushing water, so I brought that in from a different exposure. Then it wasn’t quite working out well, so I opted to create several masks. The waterfall itself is three masks, the moss is its own mask, and the dark tones of the photo are an individual mask.

Masking your photos can go a long way to creating a scene filled with depth, light and dark, separate scenes blended together to create a mystifying image that you may not be able to get in any other fashion. I spent some time decreasing saturation, color shifting, it can be slow tedious work, but to get the elements working the way you want, you should work on those minute details. A little at a time, take breaks, work on one element and step away. Editing is an artform just as much as photography, blend them together, but remember to take your time.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f10
ISO: 160
SS: .5sec
Focal: 10mm

Fujinon 10-24mm