Minneopa State Park

[mmeyer]

Hey Everyone,

I was down at Minneopa State Park on Thursday on a photo day. Thought I would share some of the results. Any C&C is always welcome.

Me in front of the lower falls

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

Upper Falls Tree

Upper Falls different angle

Lower Falls with Upper in Background

It was a very nice place. I'd never been there before but I will go back.

Thanks

Mike

[Steve Foss]

I like the last two a lot, Mike. On the second to the last, if I may, you might try it with a bit more of a pano crop, getting rid of street/cars at the top of the frame, and see if you can clone out the branches on the right and left over the water. Cropping is kind of personal, and what works for one viewer doesn't work for all, so just a suggestion to see if YOU like it better.

I went to high school with a Mike Meyer (Grand Forks, N.D., Central High), and when you started posting I wondered briefly. But I see you definitely are not him. Nice self portrait. Never enough redheads in the world, either. Or, um, was the color temp on the pic warm enough to turn brown hair red?

The color temps look like they vary quite a bit from image to image, with some quite cool (blue) and some warm (red). Did you just go with auto white balance? Were you shooting RAW and changing the white balance/color temp in pp?

[mmeyer]

Steve,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try your suggestions and as for the color temp, It didn't make my hair red. That's natural . I did use auto white balance and shot these in RAW but i don't think I changed all of the temps. I didn't realize that til later. They were too cool from the start but I think the last one is maybe a bit too warm. What do you think?

Thanks again

Mike

[Steve Foss]

Mike (no bottle hair, there ):

It's up to you to decide which color temp looks the most natural. When I pull up images that seem to my eye warmer or cooler than I remember things, I take the first image and duplicate the color temp that my mind's eye says looks the most like what I saw when I was shooting.

As an example, a person can pull up a RAW image shot during the last 15 minutes before sunset and cool down the color temps to remove all the warm sweet light and make it look more like cooler mid-day light. Or a person can warm up that cool mid-day light. You can do a lot of different things, and you're the one who gets to decide which makes your art the most right for you.

I'd only recommend that, when presenting a series of images from the same place in the same lighting conditions, you arrive at a color temp and stick with it when delivering them as a series. That makes it less jarring for most viewers.

Unless jarring is what you WANT to achieve. Sometimes art SHOULD jar, not soothe.

[Paul]

I really like the one with the tree in the water.

[mcary]

Mike, I like the first shot. The lower falls make a nice portrait background and would also make a nice scenic photo with the same scene you had framed. You should try heading there in winter when the huge ice towers are there. I lived in Mankato for a couple of years (before I started in with photography) and Minneopa was one of my favorite places around. The other side of the park by the campgrounds has a lot of great wildlife photo opportunities as well. I've seen numerous whitetails, songbirds, raptors, owls, turkeys, coyotes, etc. If a guy had a ground blind down by the river (on the campground side) would be a good spot for a kingfisher setup as well. Nice shots.

[fishinchicks]

I like the upper falls with the tree, and the last one with both falls in it.

Where is Minneopa State Park? It looks like a beautiful place.

[MN Shutterbug]

I also prefer the upper falls with the tree. I've always liked dead trees. Very nice shots. The first one could have looked great, if there wasn't that hoodlum in the shot.

[dustin85]

Where is Minneopa State Park? It looks like a beautiful place.

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Minneopa State Park is 5 miles west of Mankato on State Highway 68 and U.S. Highway 169 according to the DNR HSOforum.

[mmeyer]

Thanks everyone. Minneopa State Park is right by Mankato. I will definitely be heading there this winter. I plan on hitting quite a few waterfalls this winter. Yeah that guy in the 1st photo wouldn't quit following me around. Nice looking guy though and very friendly.

Thanks again

Mike

[finnbay]

Well done, Mike. Like the last two the best. Spent some time at Minneopa myself when I went to Mankato State in the '70's.

[dukhnt]

I will have to hitch a ride with you down there in the winter. Awesome pics buddy.