There’s just something about the rendering of water at various shutter speeds; forms, shapes, lines; grace and elegance can all be revealed from what in reality is fast, powerful, loud and violently flowing water. Some don’t like silky water, I get it (maybe more so for ocean waves…) - But I also don’t think we see in freezing 1/2000th second snaps either. Our eyes and brain see and record it all. If one tries hard, they can pick out the water drops flying through the air, or with enough concentration and pick out forms and shapes of the flowing water.
Would love your comments, impressions an critiques on this one.
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Processing; colors, saturation, WB.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any, all impressions. Enough detail in some parts of the water?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D800E, 28-300 @98mm f/18 .3s iso 200.
Full dislosure. Cropped from single frame, resulting in a little CA Cloning in the UR and LL corners (intruding rock!)
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This works really well for me. A fine “fuzzy water image” as mG+ would put it. It is nicely abstract but only so much so. Good choice of shutter speed and the water detail looks good to my eye. No nits here, I like it.
Lon, what stands out for me on this scene is how well you captured the power and chaotic nature of this section of rapids. As Harley said it is kind of abstract “lite”. Your natural looking water color is a nice choice as opposed to the temptation to bump up the saturation. I have no suggestions for improvement. Nicely done!
Lon, this is a great opposite to my Pacific Ocean image (mine was shot at 1/1600 - close enough!).
There is a great texture here and I really appreciate the rocks showing through the water. They give an anchor to the image. The water is natural looking but to be honest, any kind of color will work here depending on the kind of emotion you want to evoke. This color brings me to Yosemite and evokes the memory of the stream near the Bridalveil Falls - I totally have no idea why I am transported there.
The composition works, but I would clean up a few things. The triangle right at the LL corner is a little distracting which I would consider cloning out. There is also this triangular rock showing through on the middle left edge of the frame. I am not quite sure how I feel about that, probably the color is just different from the other rocks in the frame. I might consider shifting the color that to be less reddish and more similar to the big rock next to it. PS’s selective color adjustment layer comes to mind. This is a wonderful image, Lon. It can go in any direction you want as an artist. To me, that’s a very powerful and successful image.
Beautiful shot here, Lon. Alan’s note about the natural looking water is noted, but I might have been tempted to bump the saturation a wee bit. Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth in between favoring silky vs. frozen water. Being here in Florida, I don’t get to see this type of flowing water very much unless I travel to north Alabama/Georgia or into Tennessee. What I did manage somewhat successfully on my last trip to Tennessee was shoot the same stream at many different speeds and hand blend where necessary so that I did away with what I call Water Ghosts, or areas where there is little of no definition, ie, in the bottom center and bottom right of your image and, for my current tastes, I was pleased with the results. You might want to play with that sometime.
Thanks for the comments folks, @Harley_Goldman, @Alan_Kreyger.
@Adhika_Lie, thanks for your comments. Keen observations and well noted. Interesting, the LLC was already a result of a CA clone for a rock that I left in on the crop. I think as has been suggested elsewhere, multiple/different selections could result in different outcomes. I also concur with your catch of the small exposed triangle along the left edge. I hadn’t paid too much attention to that, so thanks for pointing that out Great comments and suggestions!
@Bill_Chambers, Thanks for your comments and suggestions as well. funny, I know exactly what you mean on getting some detail/texture back in those areas of the water where the detail is lost. although I didn’t here, I often will clone in detailed areas of the flowing water at a lower opacity. And I too will shoot at different shutter speeds for potential combining texture in post.
Thanks everyone!
Lon, I’m like @Bill_Chambers in that in my area there are next to no places to shoot moving water. I’ve taken most of mine in GSMNP, same along the Nantahala and a few in Zion. And I’m in complete agreement that, depending on shutter speed, water velocity and distance from subject, these scenes can be interpreted in many different ways. Another thing that makes it fun for me is that the different shapes of rapids can also vary from one instant to the next. I like your choice of shutter, and you could also go a little faster as an option. The stream bed detail give it a good sense of scale without going completely abstract.Another good thing is that you have no blown areas in the whites, not always easy to avoid.
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