Hey everyone! This week’s “Story Behind the Photo” post actually has a video to go along with it. A good friend of mine, Brian Matiash, works with onOne Software and produces a great weekly series called Perfect Inspiration. Well, Brian was in town a couple of weeks ago and he asked if I’d do a guest spot for the series. After we talked about what I’d write for a little while, we realized that we should do a video. And I think it fits in perfectly because I can tell so much more of the story that way. I don’t want to spoil the video for you (it’s below), but you’ll find out how I had to go back to this location twice. You’ll see a full size before and after and even see the Lightroom and Photoshop post-production I did for this photo.
So, while Brian is leading this one, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and turn it into one of my “story” posts (and because I’m lazy) 😉 The photo was taken at a place called Panther Creek. It was on the same trip as last week’s post, so you’ll see the waterfall theme repeated. Here’s a larger version of the photo if you want to check it out.
(click to see the photo larger)
The Details
• Location: Panther Creek Falls
• Camera: Nikon D800
• Lens: Nikon 16-35mm
• Focal Length: 16mm
• Aperture: f/11
• Shutter Speed: 1 second
• ISO: 100
• Metering Mode: Matrix Metering
• Tripod: Gitzo Traveler
• Really Right Stuff BH-40 ballhead
The Video:
One Quick Note About Getting To The Falls
I had a number of people thank me last week for putting the location of the falls I was at. If you decide to go to this location then keep this in mind. The website label’s Panther Creek as “easy” access. That’s because they have a viewing platform that you can walk to. To get down to the actual falls where I was, you have to climb down a wall. For a rock climber, I’m sure it’s no big deal. But for the rest of us, you could definitely get hurt if you’re not careful. So if you go… BE CAREFUL.
Make Sure You Check Out Brian’s Weekly Series
First off, there’s a big before/after, a free download and a full write-up over at the Perfect Inspiration website (I’m featured in Episode 30). And if you’re not following Brian and his Inspiration series from onOne Software, then you definitely need to. He’s got killer writing style and his series and posts really speak to photographers.
Thanks for stopping by today. Have a good one! 🙂
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Lovely result – Chapeau!
Amazing shot , looks like you can walk right into the picture.
Great shot Matt and thanks for the walk through video too. PS I know how you feel after falling – I did something similar earlier this year at a waterfall, navigated the hard parts then slipped on a flat rock shelf, landed on my camera bag and knocked the lens clean off the camera despite it being ‘safely’ inside the bag.
Hey Matt,
Saw this video over at onOne this weekend! Sounds like the hike to the falls is pretty difficult in some areas. The photo is great and the processing tips as usual were very beneficial. Thanks again for sharing!
Dennis
Yeah, the two most infuencing people for my post processing workflow on one screen 🙂 Thank you very much!
I’m counting days for next week’s release of Perfect Suite 7. Also for you “promised” post about Perfect Portrait 😉 I gave it a real try lately and are very pleased with the results but haven’t tried to work on studio portraits yet. It seems to replace my workflow with Shine Off and Portraiture in Photoshop. Just Lightroom and the Suite – sweet!