The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
A common theme at Yosemite while we were there was the Merced running well enough to surround vegetation that braved the edges of the river. This scene was along the far shore opposite the road leading into Yosemite Valley.
Feedback Requested
I don’t have specific technical questions on this image, but would appreciate your feedback on the overall composition/presentation/appeal.
Technical Details
Camera: NIKON Z 7_2
Lens: NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR
Focal length: 250mm
Shutter speed: 1/4s
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 31
John, I love the story being told here, with the river splashing around the small tree. Nature does some amazing things and this shows that well. Your shutter speed does a great job of showing the action in the river.
Hi John,
I love the energy in this, and the sense of a spring rinse for the roots of these two trees. Composition and processing work for me. I wish there were maybe just a tish more head room? But I don’t know what that tree on the left looked like or whether it would have distracted from a portrait of the main tree.
Lovely water, and that zig and zag. Fantastic all the way around.
ML
John: What a great scene and terrific capture. I get a greater feel for the scene when viewing your techs. If there is this much water movement at 1/4 second it must have been going strong but there is no hint of movement in the leaves. For me it is easy to imagine the conditions. Superbly crafted image IMO. >=))>
I love this! What a fantastic, intimate composition. You’ve really isolated and compacted the scene to it’s very essence and nature story.
The shutter speed and the texture/motion in the water is perfect. The emerging spring greens on this little tree are only surpassed by the story of perseverance and determinaion.
Love everything about this. Beautifully processed as well. Kudos!
Hi John,
I love these kind of intimate scenes as they share a moment in time that all too often gets missed and passed by a large majority of people. The spring greens are absolutely gorgeous and your chosen SS is perfect as it has created some lovely textures and details in the water. I could see just a teeny tiny bit more room at the top, but that is just a personal preference rather than a nit. Great work on this! This definitely tells a wonderful story.
Outstanding, John. You have managed to create enough tonal separation between the foreground and what is beyond that accentuates the drama of the lightly curved tree standing so bravely and vulnerably in the midst of the torrent. I love the relationship between the aforementioned tree in the foreground and her shadow, darkly lit just behind. The colour palette and colour tones create a very moody image that is at the same time vigorous. Shutter speed perfectly captures the flow without reducing the drama.
I did crop the original a little, removing some of the top and right, so I do have some room to play with. To be honest, I went with this primarily to stick to a standard crop ratio. That’s just an arbitrary goal though, so I’ll play with your suggestion.
One of us from the Yosemite trip (I think it was @David_Haynes ?), commented that he found his shutter speeds were consistently shorter than typical because of the high water flow. I too found this to be consistently true where the Merced was churning. Also, your comment reminds me that I forgot to note that I removed a small seedling from below that lower left rock. It had a couple small twigs showing above the water, and they were moving!
I like how you were able to capture the energy of the water but with just enough long exposure to soften the texture of the flowing water. The sharpness in the leaves of the trees is very well done, especially with the longer exposure. The tree in the pool area really makes the composition and gives the foreground interest instead of just a plain waterfall.
