Behind the Image- Blog #03

The Story

If you’re reading this blog on the day it comes out, Happy Thanksgiving, and I appreciate all of you!

Deep, deep, DEEP in the woods of the PNW a waterfall known as Kentucky Falls sits; fully submerged in the boondocks and far out from any civilization. A 3.7-mile hike near Mapleton OR, about an hour and 45 minutes from Eugene; though that might be a tad bit of a stretch because it’s one hell of an adventure to get to this spot. My trip started early on a beautiful, moody, and wet fall morning. I’ve been once before, a few years ago, but after my experience then; let’s just say I have been hesitant on returning. Back in 2018 when my GPS told me it’s going to take 45 minutes to go 10 miles by car, and I was driving a 2002 Honda Accord; yeah I’m sure you guys can play out how well that went. But, this time was different. I’ve already been once before so I’m more experienced, learned from my mistakes, and driving a much more equipped vehicle. Well, not all of that is true; in fact, the only true part of that entire sentence is me driving a more equipped vehicle now. You can forget the rest because so did I; making the same mistakes once again. Let me explain.

To get to this location, many, and I mean many National Forest roads are involved; some, more groomed than others. I’ve come to the conclusion there are 2 ways to get to Kentucky falls via NF roads, a gnarly way, and an even gnarlier way, if those are even words. Google maps likes taking you, of course, the worst possible route. Not me actually repeating the same mistake as last time, and following the directions? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, because that’s exactly what I did. Instead of continuing straight, google maps takes you on a brilliant private road. Maybe road isn’t the best descriptive word to use; let’s try trail. Yes, this road could essentially be a trail, that’s how wide it is. Fallen branches, trees scraping the sides of the van, absolutely zero overhead clearance, and certainly no way of turning around. The van is fully equipped with an awning, porch lights, and a cargo box, extending the overall height of the van to 9 feet, let’s just say it hits everything in its way, and this was no exception. With nothing left to do other than trust google maps on my phone, I kept my foot on the gas, and a grueling 30 min later… I arrived.

Now I was on the real trail, ready to shoot some stunning Oregon waterfall landscape photography!

The Composition

This is certainly a rare occasion, but I was able to come away with two images from Kentucky Falls. A horizontal composition, and a vertical composition; which I am thrilled about. Approaching a scene like this and finding a way to compose the landscape, even I felt quite intimidated at first. This is partially because of it being a busy environment, with an abundant amount of rocks, trees, and brush. This took a spin on my usual perspective and my accustomed way of looking for compositions. Rather than hunting for a more simplistic view of the landscape, which I would typically do; I decided to shoot the busy atmosphere, capturing the entirety of the waterfall. As you can tell, the horizontal image showcases the true busyness of the scene; as for the vertical, it’s dumbed down, and slightly more of a simplistic approach. No version is right or wrong, and I am pleased I was able to come away with the two.

Horizontal Image:

Let’s kick off this comp breakdown with the horizontal image first. This image works and works quite well in my opinion. I really enjoy how the bottom right side of the foreground features these gorgeous rocks both exposed above the water, and also below the surface, under the water. It adds an additional layer, texture, and depth to the image; which is a crucial component in telling the story of the scene and what the atmosphere is truly like at Kentucky Falls. You also have this large and uniquely shaped boulder that shoots out in the middle of the photo, acting as a division point between the two parts of the scene. It separates the hardscape foreground elements from the mostly softscape mid/background elements. You may be asking “But Alec, why is the waterfall such a small part of the overall image?”. My answer and approach to this are pretty simple; I wanted to capture the waterfall in its environment, with a focus on its surroundings and the atmosphere it lived in. Not only would shooting just the waterfall not tell much of the story, but it also wouldn’t be a very engaging composition and image to share. If I could describe Kentucky Falls in one image, this is that image.

Vertical Image:

Now onto the second composition, the vertical image. Rotating the orientation of the camera vertically allows you as a photographer to pick and choose what to include in the composition more carefully. You’re able to simplify the landscape, picking out the important elements of the scene. In this case, I chose to shoot low and close, overemphasizing the scale of the moss-covered rocks. More specifically, the arrowhead-shaped rock placed in the foreground of the photograph. This rock intrigued me. It has an organic arrowhead shape, it’s positioned directly towards the waterfall, and is also covered in beautifully textured moss. Near this rock you have smaller ones that point towards it; so essentially If you start viewing the image from the left corner, those rocks would direct you to the arrowhead rock, which would then direct you towards the center of the image. I know it might seem crazy, and certainly was not planned to this point, but it does make the image more engaging, and less confusing when viewing.

Rejected compositions

Next, I will break down the rejected compositions that I captured from this location, in RAW form. For both the horizontal compositions and vertical compositions. Please remember, these are my thoughts...NOT right or wrong statements.

This composition may look very similar to the final image, but it has some key differences. Most importantly, it was shot at a wider focal length, which in this particular circumstance I feel doesn’t work well. The rock elements in the foreground get very small, and you lose textures and details in the image. This wider composition also makes the scene even busier, which then causes the viewer to overlook the focal point. Without hierarchy, elements get lost by an overwhelming amount going on. As you can see, the camera is positioned too far to the right, leaving empty space open that doesn’t add value to the overall image.
Again, very similar to my final image, and to be honest, this was a runner-up in one of my favorites. With that said, there are still some things that I dislike about it. One thing I really enjoy is the back/midground and how the entire waterfall fits within the top portion of I’m the image; rather than it being semi-cut off in my final version. The real problem lies within the foreground. Though more simplified than image #1 it’s missing a main and dominant rock like the final image has; a focal point within the foreground, something that sets the scene. We go back to the hierarchy topic, when you have a bunch of things at the same weight, size, scale, or value they tend to get lost and results in a more dull, and less prominent image. (This may be where my graphic design background comes into play)

I had high hopes for this composition. When shooting on location I thought it might work. After viewing the image when I got home, It wasn’t up to the standard I envisioned. I was interested in the somewhat sphere-shaped rock, so I framed it in the foreground of the comp. It’s not the rock that is my issue. Everything just feels cramped together. There isn’t enough separation between the elements, particularly the rocks in the foreground. They don’t have breathing room at this angle, resulting in a little too much tension for my liking.
This is similar framing to my final horizontal image that I came away with, though it’s a vertical approach. Honestly, I trashed this image right away. In vertical orientation, this comp doesn’t work as well, or I may argue at all. It almost feels like an iPhone snap, just a quick capture of the scene without much thought into the composition. I am sure it’s a personal preference at this point, but it just isn’t doing it for me.
This image is essentially the same as #1 one with a few minor adjustments. It’s a wider approach, which I think is a slight improvement. The foreground is also shoved off to the right, which I surprisingly enjoy, and oddly enough feels more visually balanced to me. I still see the same issue as image #1, though it’s better, it’s still cramped and cluttered. It was worth a shot trying to improve the original composition, but it’s considered turd polishing at this point.

Post Processing

As far as post-processing goes, nothing too exciting was done; which is always a good thing. As I am sure most of you can tell, in both images I reset the color balance to a slightly more warm temperature. Other than that I adjusted the exposure, highlights, shadows, and contrast within both images. Yup, that’s it. I felt there wasn’t much that these particular photos needed and were pretty damn close to my liking straight out of the camera. Short, and sweet; just how I like this portion of the blog to go.

Wrapping up

Now, this whole shoot was a true adventure. One where the images I came away with have an experience, and story behind them that I will remember for years to come. This place is a pain to locate and get to, but I think that’s what makes these images even more rewarding.

Be sure to check out these photographs offered as prints from my shop below! %20 OFF NOW!

Feedback is always welcome, the comment section is open!

Until next week, happy photographing!

Thanks for reading,

Alec

Behind The Image- Blog #03- Kentucky Falls, Or.