Starved Rock photo question

Mike, how could I have made this shot better?
Chuck G.

Reply:

First off the shot is pretty good as is. And I do like the variations of greens in the leaves.

Possibilities:
Since the tree trunk was being used as a frame on the right side (nice idea), maybe zoom out a little so there is a tience more room to the left of the falls.

Or maybe just crop off the tree trunk and then the falls would be closer to being in the 1/3's location

I also like the fallen tree at the bottom, it may have made a nice frame there.

Even though the canyon was dark, you could brighten up the entire shot and maybe add a bit of contrast, not sure

Also looks like it could use a bit of sharpening, but don't oversharpen, then edges get to looking flat.

And something we failed to mention much was scale, grand landscapes look even grander when there is something in it that shows just how large the falls are. You could have had someone in the shot at the bottom looking at the falls. Oh, I just saw the kid sitting on the dead tree on the left, almost perfect, maybe have the person be a bit more conspicuous, but to the side like he is so not to distract from the falls.

And the sharpening may not really be necessary as what i'm looking at is only 152k, very small.

One thing I've never done but wondered about was using a low f-stop to try to get the trees in the foreground out of focus, probably wouldn't look good, not sure

Hey just some ideas, it's a great shot just like it is.

Mike