I think it paid off for sure I mean - wow, what a great shot! I love this, exactly as presented and the texture, the streaks caused by the rain, really make this image.
Hi Donna,
I can see why you feel like you got more than you bargained for. 
There’s a lot going on in this scene, I’ll share my observations and my interpretation.
Elements that show or imply motion or action:
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The “Dancing” or “Jumping” water in the FG portion of the river adds a lot to the sense of “Action” (not necessarily movement or motion, just random action). BTW, this kind of action with water usually happens where two flows of water meet, not sure if that is the case here or not but that’s the way it appears to me and it creates a sense of curiosity, it makes me wonder where the two flows are coming from.
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The rock shelf or platform in the center FG where there are a few micro waterfalls show motion.
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The small sections of snow sliding off that rock shelf or platform show motion as well. The small snow sections apparently broke free from the shore due to the rain, and the waterflow carried the snow across the river to the rock shelf (from right to left, this adds a heavy since of movement in my mind).
Of course, the snow could have been on that rock shelf all along and the water level rising caused it to break up and wash over the edge. Either way, its’s dynamic and it elevates my curiosity. -
The small area of snow in the LRC adds definition to the shape of the river (as you have mentioned).
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And of course, “The rain”
There’s a little bit of confusion for me though, I can’t tell which way the water is flowing but this adds to my sense of curiosity and interest in the scene, and that may be the result of two waterflows converging at that point.
The elements that draw my attention into the scene:
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In the first half, or bottom half of the scene, the tree branches on the left lean in over the river while the leaning trees on the right reach over the river’s edge, these two features form a sense of convergence and that pushes my attention into the center of the scene as well as into the BG portion of the scene.
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The trees in the BG on the sloping hillside are leaning heavily to the right, while the trees on the right side of the river in the BG lean to the left in a converging way which forms a sort of arrow that points in an implied direction of the flow of the river (whichever way it actually flows, and it doesn’t matter).
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The gradient from clear FG to an almost completely obscured BG adds a sense of depth and weather conditions throughout the scene (Rain and mist
).
This image has several dynamic elements and several static elements that work together to add to the sense of movement and rapid change overall, I think all these things together in one image is what makes this so appealing for me.
Even if the rain were not so prominent, as presented, I can’t help but feel that this scene would still have a lot of impact and interest because of all the elements mentioned above.
I’m sure you’re glad that you captured this when you did because I’m also sure that this scene would have changed quite a bit within a few hours (daylight not withstanding).
I do wish that there had been a little more detail in the FG so I could see the rain splashing in the calm (ish?) section of water, but that’s a minor thing really
Wonderful scene and well presented IMHO
And finally, you may have gotten more than you bargained for in my response as well 
@Youssef_Ismail @John_Pedersen @Eric_Bennett @Eva_McDermott @David_Haynes @Steve_Layman @Mark_Seaver @Tom_Nevesely @Merv Oh my, all of you have been so kind with your comments. I can’t tell you how much this raises my confident level. Now I worry about what the next follow up post will be 
. I must tip my hat to all of you for making me a better photographer. Since I joined NPN this past August, I have received so many wonderful critiques from ever one and I know I wouldn’t have improved near as much without your help. Thanks!!!
Youssef, we have many waterfalls where I live. Taughannock Falls, the highest waterfall in the East is just 7 miles out of Ithaca. In fact , this stream in the picture I posted flows from Taughannock Falls. I was about 1/4 mile from this fall when I took it. I have much practice in taking photos of falling water, so I can make a close guess on where to set the SS by how fast the water is falling. I just took this photo and one other one that had a small change in composition. Some of it was luck too.
Mervin, I enjoyed all of your comments. It’s inspiring to know that someone would take this much time to express what they see and feel. Thank you. Paying attention to your viewers reaction is a great way to learn what moves people. I thing we as photographers usually strive to move people with our work. As I told Youssef, this stream was coming from Taughannock Falls. This fall was the only water source. I was standing on a snow bank that jetted out into the stream bed. The water was flowing from the left to bypass the snow bank. The fall was behind me, so the water was flowing away from me. In the summer if we don’t have much rain, the stream bed can be almost dry. The bed is made of dark granite and I love walking down it when it’s dry.
I really love this photo. you can feel the weather and the TONE is so good. You have the whites and the blacks and lots of gray tones in this shot… and the movement of the rain. Really nice.