Hey folks, yikes, already been nearly a month since my last post - and still some images to share from my early May trip to Yosemite. This is from the same fork of the Merced several of the previous images were captured from. Maybe later I’ll show the broader vertical view that shows all the pieces.
This is about many things - flow, texture, color… I’m wondering how they all meld together. Just not sure if there’s a visual anchor or if the eye wanders too much.
Specific Feedback Requested:
As always, all comments and feedback are appreciated.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Nikon D800E, Nik 28-300mm @72mm f/18 1/4s. I did composite a little water/texture in the URC, but otherwise a straight show. TK LUM masks with various adjustments. Also had the occasion to use one of my favorite TK actions from years back - the TK Lights Triple Play! (Thank you Tony for retaining this in all your panels since!)
I sense the water in this image as clouds in the sky. In fact, in some way it reminds me of the cloud image I posted. The water seems light and diaphanous and since the rocks are not well defined the entire image has that feeling. I’m pretty sure that was your intention. On the other hand you could see this totally as an abstract and go in that direction as well. In fact, people often see abstracts in clouds. There are also suggestive shapes. So the image works on many levels. The composition is solid, as it always is in your work. The colors are pretty muted as well and that’s pretty typical too. In terms of suggestion, I could see giving this a color cast maybe.
Hi Lon,
Love the play on the water here giving it a very unique texture. For me an anchor point is the small falls near the URC but I’m loving just wandering around the image as well.
Really beautiful, long exposure, abstract looking image. I think I see a few anchors but I think it really is an image that needs to have the viewer wander around in. It has a lot of motion and energy to it and that is really what it seems to be about to me! It feels joyful! Great capture, Lon!
I like this a lot, Lon. It has so much energy. Compositionally, it really works for me. It feels balanced without symmetry. I love that you’ve kept the colour subdued because, for me, this photograph is really, really about the energy. There are a couple of small nits - that dark bit on the upper edge left of centre and the dark bit tucked up in the urc, and maybe the dark bit, not ulc but just approaching it. But when I say nits, I mean nits. I love taking photographs of moving water. I can literally sit for hours. It is so meditative watching a phenomenon that remains fundamentally the same but, at the same time, is constantly changing. Very nicely done.
This is so energetic. The cool tones make me feel the icy flow. My eye moves around in the frame, but it’s not annoying. I move from rock to rock, and their arrangement keeps me in the frame. I use TK Darks Triple Play all the time - it is good that he kept it.
Thank you so much for your thoughts @Igor_Doncov , @Allen_Sparks , @Vanessa_Hill , @Kerry_Gordon and @Bonnie_Lampley . Much appreciate and glad to know you like this one. I had 2 other variations with slightly different makeup and flow. And I did try and keep the color in check, although my natural tendency would be to boost more than presented.
Funny, I don’t recall ever connecting the two… So thanks for that 'cause from now on I’m sure to remember!
Lon, this works very well as a “semi-abstract”, where my eyes wander nicely throughout the frame. There’s a subtle lower left to upper right movement, that gets pulled back left at the top. The subtle color change between the greenish rocks and the bluish water looks good. Although the water looks a bit blue to me, toning it down may lose the blue/green balance.
