An image captured from my last Yosemite trip in November. This is just a few dozen yards downstream from the “Autumn on the Merced” image posted a month or so ago.
The water flow at this time of year is low which reveal many different opportunities than when the river is raging in the spring. I was immediately drawn to the greens of the most covered rocks beneath the surface. They were quite literally very green! Now of course, I have compare what I see on my monitor with what I think I saw and what my brain thinks it remembers. I’m pretty sure these two things don’t always match up. So I’m not convinced I got the hue or sat correctly. But as long as the white water is white and the above water rocks look natural, then I guess it’s ok.
Oh, and the slippery reference… try wading across this part of the river without slipping and getting dunked…
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I’m just looking for general feedback, suggestions. I wouldn’t classify this as a very compelling or original image. But I’ve always been drawn to water images like these so I think this just falls in the category of why did I photograph this? Because it’s beautiful and an image like this will always take me back there…
Thanks for any comments, suggestions.
Technical Details
Nikon D800E, 28-300mm @150mm f/16 .3s iso 200. probably a CPL
I think it’s completely natural and believable. I love the motion and what I can see beneath the water. I might wonder about raising the exposure just a bit, but that might lose some of the special feeling. Forget it…
And after you slip and get dunked, you’ll freeze to death.
Someday somebody will make a camera that records things just as they are. And it will be really (and justly) unpopular.
You’ve done a nice job capturing the green, slippery feel of the moss or periphyton. I really like the color contrast between the yellowy-orangey-red surfaces of the exposed rocks and the almost electric green surfaces of the submerged rocks. There must be a source of nutrient enrichment upstream stimulating this growth. In that sense, the image tells a story. Nice image!
The colors in this image are rightfully memorable. I like the green as it’s not what you might typically see but still believable given the moss. There’s a nice subtle S-curve with the water flow as well.
Hi Lon,
that’s a really beautiful little scene. I also can’t resist when it comes to photographing water.
As the others already have said, I wouldn’t change anything about the image either. You hit the perfect shutter speed in my opinion. I love it when you can still see structure in the water.
You left it to our imagination whether you were successful with it.
A friend of mine recently recommended wearing crampons even on slippery rocks. They are supposed to work excellently here. I haven’t tried this yet, but since then crampons have always had a place in my backpack.
Your excellent composition make this a very good image. I like the contrast between the green and red colors, the upper part with structure and the smoother lower part, and the more still water and the flowing water. The colors are great and the shutter speed very well chosen to get the white streaks together with just the right amount of texture. There is also a nice diagonal.
It is just a pleasure sitting and watching this image getting a calm feeling as you always get when taking your time sitting down at a creek just looking at and listening to the flowing water.
Lon, Is this your candy store where you found this beauty. I don’t have such wild water in mine.
Wonderful colors and composition . It will be beautiful as printed I think .
Work of the master !
Excellent work. There is a wonderful balance in this image. All the elements seem to form a complete whole even though there doesn’t seem to be a relationship between them. The color palette is also just right. It’s an overall warm interpretation with that version of the colors working together in harmony. In some ways it looks like a still life. The whole thing looks very artistic and I wouldn’t put it down because it doesn’t have a narrative. How to improve it? Maybe a better title. Lol.
I wouldn’t even try walking across those rocks, Lon!!! Looks like a disaster waiting to happen. I have never seen the rocks this color but I like it! Very Zen like as Kerry mentions sometimes. The oranges mesh really well with the greens and the water has wonderful texture in it, just the way I like it. This is a near perfect composition with all the rocks in the upper portion of the image angled the same as the water flow and you included that small rock in the upper ight corner which provides balance. You say this isn’t a very compelling image but I say you’re wrong. This is very cohesive in a way I can’t explain but it really works well partly because the colors are so unusual. Well seen. Did you actually try and wade across this, Lon?
I love this, Lon. It is simple and clean with nothing extra added. I particularly like the detail in the water and the implied diagonal motion as it swirls around the rocky riverbed of the Merced. I could see the greens dialed back just a touch, but that is just a matter of personal taste, not a critique. This has a wonderful refreshing feel to it that I find very inviting. Beautifully done!
Can’t argue that one Igor. “Flow” came to mind, but that was so unoriginal. I tried to be cute I guess. Thank you for the kind words and vote of confidence. I need to stop being so self-deprecating…
No sir David! Actually down a steep and unstable bank
I don’t have such wild water in mine.