Orbit (+ 1 re-edit)

Here it is with the white foam replaced with rock -

A favorite image of mine. It’s been around a long time and seen by many, but I’m interested in any impressions you have.

Specific Feedback Requested

I can’t shoot it again, but I can process it again, so let me know what might help.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Olympus E-30
Zuiko D 12-60mm lens @ 60mm
f/14 | 8 seconds | ISO 100
Tripod

Lr processed for usual adjustments & a crop. Ps to remove a distracting leaf and to pull apart some of the tonalities with a couple of TK masks.

@the.wire.smith
4 Likes

I like this one! The branch looks like a tree, so it creates a bit of a mind bender. I might clone out the white foam lower right edge, seeing what content aware fill can do with it. No other suggestions, though. Good image.

Agree with @Harley_Goldman, Kris, this is quite a mind bender. Very creative and nicely done.

Disorienting for sure! Looks like a sizeable hemlock on a rocky outcropping. Definitely an eye-catching image. Agree with cloning the white foam in the LRC, but I recognize that may be difficult. Perhaps cloning some of the calmer water from the LLC into that area?

This is very cool, Kris! So many fun mental tricks going on here. Even though I did know immediately what this image was, it still messes with my head. I love how the swirled streaks of foam mimic long-exposure star photography, but in reverse.

You might be able to clone out the solid white swirl fairly easily, if you were so inclined, because I do find that a little distracting.

Thanks for your feedback folks - I’ve posted a new shot without the foamy blob. It works so much better. Oh Content Aware Fill how much I love thee. I forgot to darken down the rock as in the first. Does it need it?

The mix of swirling and still water and the tiny tree is very striking. Makes you look for a while to interpret what’s going on. The stationary foam on the right is exactly what I’d expect in this situation. The content aware adjustment looks very good, although there are some multiply repeated spots that a casual observer wouldn’t notice.

Thanks Mark - yeah, it takes a minute if you weren’t there watching me take it which would have been funny to see.

I did a little cloning on the replacement rock, but left that line of moss alone…almost no one would see it as you say.

Like Craig said, my first impression was of long-exposure star photography beyond a big tree. This is the sort of photo I like to look at more than once or twice, like your one of the canoeist in the cave.Even better with added rock!

Thanks, Mike. That’s what I thought when I first saw it in the computer. I had a feeling, standing on a big rock looking straight down into the water that it might turn out like this, but I was worried the tiny tree would wave around, but it didn’t.