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Cellpic Sunday – Niagara Falls Up Close

Niagara Falls view (altered reality.)

Niagara Falls, New York.

Regular readers may recognize this series of images as part of a photo challenge I hosted in April. I thought I would focus specifically on this journey and how the photos were altered. We knew we’d get good and wet when we visited Niagara Falls. From the American side, we took the Maid of the Mist boat. We then visited the Cave of the Winds attraction. To get the close-up views at Cave of the Winds, you descend on an elevator, walk through a tunnel, and venture outside. Wooden walkways, decks, and stairs built on several levels lead us closer, higher (and wetter), to the best viewpoints at Bridal Veil Falls.

Despite its name, the Cave of the Winds is not a cave anymore. It was initially a natural cave behind Bridal Veil Falls, discovered in 1834. Visitors were even able to walk behind the falls at one point! However, the cave collapsed in 1954 and was subsequently dynamited due to safety concerns.

Once down, we were outfitted in ponchos before embarking on the series of wooden walkways that led to the “Hurricane Deck.” The image above was captured from one level below the Hurricane Deck. I walked up to that deck, which is just 20 feet (6m) away from the cascading waters of the falls. It was so wet there that I wasn’t comfortable taking my phone out to capture an image at that vantage point.

About the photo: The opening is the final image that resulted in an experiment comparing Photoshop’s AI generator with the AI tool built into Luminar Neo. The original image is below:

Shot from one level below the Hurricane Deck.

The original image included the very left edge of the Hurricane Deck and the intrepid person willing to take the pounding. He was taking a photo, so his camera was hopefully better protected from water than my cell phone.

The final image came from Photoshop’s Generative Fill tool. After selecting the structure and person on the right and clicking on the Generative Fill tool, I was presented with three possible choices. The choice I picked generated a rock in the area where the staircase was removed.

The image was modified by Luminar Neo’s Gen-Erase tool.

I then loaded another copy of the original image into Luminar Neo. After selecting the decking, I clicked on the Gen-Erase button. Neo only creates one version at a time, so if I didn’t like the “first draft,” I could just select the same area again. There is no need to return to the original image, as the software will simply redo the highlighted area. Neo’s engine appears to be slower than Photoshop’s tool. Still, since both tools are server-based and the image must be uploaded to the cloud, modified, and downloaded to the workstation again, the difference may be simply in Internet traffic at the moment of processing. One thing I found interesting is that the Neo image is very similar to one of the other choices made by Adobe’s Generative Fill. I can only go from memory since I didn’t keep that choice.

Once the image was turned into an altered reality, the processing was precisely the same. I used Neo’s Enhanced AI to highlight the contrast while still hanging on to the mist in the air. Then, I used the Structure command to add sharp contrast to the bigger water droplets. If you’d like to pixel-peep at the original and two altered images, you can see them in 2K HD in my Flickr gallery here.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s also acceptable. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

60 comments

  5. Hi John. I love your experiment and your explanations. In the end, I like all versions of the image, too. Something about the “real world” feel of the photographer getting soaked really added drama to the already dramatic image!

    Reply

  19. It must have been a thrill to be “in” Niagara Falls without having to go down them in the barrel, John 😉 Fab photos, and what an experience! I like how the images came out but I like the original shot with the rustic deck that gives it some scale. Thanks for hosting, as always. Here’s mine taken mostly with cell phones of various iterations over the years. Some of these shots go back as far as 2007.

    https://secondwindleisure.com/2024/06/30/sunday-stills-landscapes-of-the-great-outdoors/

    Reply

    • I came to the same conclusion after doing the work. Hindsight being 20-20, I should have included more of the steps and photographer. It would have been a more interesting composition.
      In any case, it was an exercise in learning the generative tools.

      Reply

  32. I’ve been to Niagara Falls, and yet the volume of water that goes over it always just stuns me. You captured that so well here!

    Reply

  34. Wow! Many years ago we went to Niagara Falls and went on the Maid of the Mist boat. It was so much fun. I’ll have to dig around and see if I can find the old photos. Also, many thanks for explaining how you edited the images.

    Reply

  35. John, what an interesting conversation you have going on here. I agree with the group that is pro-deck and people. I like the drama. It looks fearsome. If I hadn’t seen the original first, I would have loved the AI version. You guys sure are brave!

    Reply

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