Colorado River Rocks

On our last night in the Grand Canyon, this scene was directly across the river from our camp. I had been trying scenes like this all down the river, but this was the first one that I really liked. I tried a number of focal lengths and settled on this one. I was first attracted to the color of the river against the rocks, and I like the layering and contrast of forms. Any and all critique welcome.

5D2, 100-400 @ 220
f/11, 0.3s, ISO100

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I really love what your shutter speed did with the water! The colors are beautiful! I like the contrasting colors of the rocks behind it (I’m not sure about the bushes) but I really feel like I want to see more water! You captured the movement beautifully!

Craig, I think moving soft water and and solid objects always makes for an interesting composition. There is good movement captured in the water and plenty of interest in the color tones and flow. The water marks on the rocks tell a good story. I like the chunky/blocky rock forms and their sharp edges and shapes. From a composition standpoint, I would put that razor sharp edge on the big rock more to center giving more room on the right side for that nice shaded triangle piece to have a stronger setting in the image. I do like the bushes framing that piece. Wondering if the reflective light on the rocks could be turned down a little with a darkening brush…maybe bring out the nice textures and details in them that are currently washed out.

The movement in the water is fantastic. I like how the diagonal breaks in the rocks mirror the diagonal lines of the waves.

Thanks @Vanessa_Hill, @Stephen_Stanton and @DeanRoyer!

Vanessa, it was a bit of a balancing act to get the amount of water that felt right to me, and this was the best I came up with.

Stephen, I’m thinking a crop off the left will do what you suggest, as well as clean up (remove) the smaller jumble of rocks on the left. I’ll take a look at that next time I’m on my home computer. I also think the burning suggestion is a good one.

Dean, that wasn’t something that I specifically noticed, but now that you point it out, I think it does work nicely.

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This is a great, very well balanced composition. The contrasting colours in the image work great. The water itself has a 50-50% mixture of green and white, which looks really dynamic. The dark line across the bottom of the rocks adds another interesting element and another line in the composition, enriching it even if it does not immediately catches one’s eye. I also find that your cropping is correct. The smaller rock on the left provides a progress from smaller to bigger, adding another dynamic element to the image. The two small diagonal lines on it, are whole, and lead the eye from left to right. This image is really solid, just like the boulders in it. Really nicely done, and inspiring @Craig_Moreau :clap:

The blurry water against the immovable boulders is quite the scene. Beautiful!

I like what you have here. I can feel the mass of stone resisting the light viscosity of the water. I think you hit the flow timing right with just the right amount of movement. The colors are slightly muted which compliments the scene. If left in color, the only thing I might do is bring down the upper background elements. Darkening the bushes and rocks a bit will focus us more on the boulders.

You could also try B&W like below. I converted it into B&W in PS and tweaked the luminance sliders.

Thanks @Nikos, @Mark_Muller and @Guy_Manning! I appreciate the comments.