Time

Image Critiques Landscape Critiques
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Time
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Greetings - it’s been a while since I last posted! Been trying to comment and get myself re-engaged and I hope it continues!

Just got back last week from a couple days in Yosemite - an annual affair. Spring was way late this year in the valley so very few dogwood, the oaks we just barely leafing-out. About the only consistent subject matter was the Merced River, waterfalls, etc.

Captured at Happy Isles, one of my favorite places in the valley - still seemingly unscathed from the crowds, the construction and otherwise natural and man-made mayhem that seems to be Yosemite these days… And despite all the reasons that keep many away… I will never stop visiting this magical place - yes, we can still find magic if we look.

I usually don’t attach much meaning to photographs or images I capture. But there has been one driving force that has always driven my photography. And that is simply time. for every single press of the shutter release an image is being captured that can never be duplicated, repeated or experienced, ever again. Sure, one can capture the same composition, season, time of day, all those things, but the passage of time can never be repeated or recovered.

Cynically… this is what allows me to shoot the same old cliched subjects over and over again. No, I’ve never photographed this particular scene before, but of course, silky, flowing, rushing water converted to b&w (or not) have been done, over, and over… so why?

This is why (unknown source):

Your thoughts, comments and critiques greatly appreciated!

Specific Feedback Requested

Feedback - processing, composition. Curious about the inclusion in the rocky shore up top. Can’t say the comp is very organized, so hoping the upper part helps in that regard.

Technical Details

NIkon D800E, iso 200, f/14 @ .3sec. This is a composite. I often combine 2 (sometimes more, but rarely) frames of moving water simply to cover/blend those washed-out areas of white water that lose detail and clip the edges of the exposure range. In this particular image, this was primarily done in the turbulent area around the left side where the water is most chaotic. also, CA-clone a few errant twigs up top; although left some as to not be unnaturally tidy… :slight_smile:

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I shoot a lot of this kind of thing and while it might be popular, it gives me joy so I keep doing it. This is a terrific arrangement of rocks and water and I like the shutter speed quite a bit. Keeping the far bank rocks dark is the way to go here, but I felt the scene was muddy and needed some contrast. So I hope you don’t mind -

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That’s the layer stack with what adjustments I made using the TK8 panel. A really energizing bit of the river you caught!

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@Lon_Overacker I love the motion of the water in this image but there is just something a little unbalanced in the composition that I can’t put my finger on. @Kris_Smith work to increase the contrast in the water does help this image and brings more focus to the water and helps balance the composition. I do enjoy taking these types of images and playing around with shutter speeds and moving water. You never know exactly what you are going to get. Well done.

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I think with this composition, you need the rocks on the far shoreline. I was immediately drawn to the large boulder in the URC and initially thought that it threw the composition off but the more I look at this, the more it sets a boundary that’s needed on the right side of the image. I urge everyone to look at this image large because the water is exquisite. I can look at the swirls and splashes all day long. The lichen on the rocks pop in the larger view (everything pops in the larger view) and there is so much energy.
Yeah, unfortunately, Yosemite is one of those places that has been photographed nearly to death but every time I go, I find impossible not to photograph the icons and there are many, many icons there. There is just something about that place that makes you pull the camera out no matter how cliché the image is. Keep on keeping on Lon.

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Lon, really good to see your post here. I think we all find a comfort zone we enjoy working in and with population overrun it has narrowed down.
This is a scene that would keep many of us busy & inspired for various photographic options. I like @Kris_Smith 's rework and can only say I find we’re probably never really done with changes over time. I was leaning toward a boost in contrast upon my first review. But again, I find once we have a solid image to work with there is always something in post processing to try for yet another look… :upside_down_face:

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Lon,Time is like a river, so true !
And then all this roaring water. I take it will make a lot of noise.
To my feeling, taking off a part of the bottom brings your image more in balance. See my rework.

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Happy Isles is one of the places I would always check out during my trips to Yosemite. It was always fun to look at the colors in the water from that bridge. I fully agree that the dark rocks in the back are necessary because there is no other good place for the upper boundary of the image. In this image I particularly like the upper left quadrant which could have been a fine image on it’s own.

I like Ben’s modification to the composition and was thinking of something similar.

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Thank you so much @Kris_Smith , @David_Haynes , @bryannelsonca , @Paul_Breitkreuz , @Igor_Doncov and @Ben_van_der_Sande for chiming in and offering your comments and suggestions.

Kris - absolutely, I welcome suggestions and appreciate you taking the time to suggest and demonstrate your thoughts. I struggle with b&w in the sense that since b&w by definition is altered reality… who’s to say what is “natural”? I like the higher contrast, but for me deters from the visual experience of the river itself - and not so ironically, “natural b&w” is an oxymoron, right? :slight_smile:

And Ben - I think you’ve nailed it! Given Kris’s contrast work with a purposeful crop… thank you!

Interesting as I go back to the original - and I did no crop what so ever, which is unusual… there’s usually something going on around a frame that warrants cropping, even if just a smidge. Anyway, I think your crop significantly improves the composition, which several of you had already pointed out - seemed to be lacking.

thank you all for chiming in! Much appreciated and so I think I’ll go work on an edit.

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Oh, this is lovely. I wouldn’t change a thing. Your shutter speed was absolutely perfect, IMO. You captured the wildness of the water, but it’s not totally blurred out. Ben’s crop is good, but I do like the progression of textures up the frame, from the +/- linear flow at the bottom, to the flow around the rocks in the middle upper, to the shore rocks at the top.

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“I will never stop visiting this magical place - yes, we can still find magic if we look.” - I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, Lon and I think that applies to any place because as I have long said beauty/magic can be found everywhere if we just take the time to look for it.
I also enjoyed reading about your insights and musings on time. It’s so true that any single moment will never be repeated – not exactly in the same way. What I find fun is that often when I’m out shooting, I also think of time but in the other extreme. For example, while waiting for the rising sun to light up a mountain face recently I started to think how many times this particular mountain has seen the sunrise and how many times in the past 10,000 years (since the ice from the last ice age melted and revealed these peaks) has there been a sunrise similar to the one that day. The sun has been rising and setting on our world for millions of years, long before there were any people to watch it, and will hopefully continue to do so for millions more but we are here for such a brief time and are such a tiny cog in this huge universe…
Anyway, back to your image – I really like how you’ve captured the motion and flow of the water and I like those stones in the river. I agree with the others about the contrast boost and I also like Ben’s suggested crop.
It’s great to see your images here Lon!

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I really like this one and much prefer the uncropped version with a bit more contrast added to the water. The detail in the foreground water is excellent and I hate to see it chopped out. If you were to print it, I would take the time to clone out the branches along the top. An excellent take from the happiest of all places.

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Thought this was appropriate. Remove it if you don’t think so.

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This composition has a lot of energy. The flow of the water keeps my eye engaged throughout the scene. You also captured a nice mix of motion and texture in the water. The rocks in the scene give my eyes places to land in the composition and I think they are well placed in the scene.

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Thank you @Bonnie_Lampley , @Harley_Goldman and @Brian_Schrayer for your comments - and I’m glad you enjoyed the composition as presented. I do agree and think some additional contrast/texture in the lower water works better and I think, addresses what @Kris_Smith originally considered “muddy.”

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions.

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Thanks for your welcome back Tom! I’ve missed sharing and participating!

This topic of “TIME” could easily and maybe more appropriately be a discussion post all by itself. In addition to your thoughts, here’s yet another one I almost always think about while out and about in nature photographing: How often to you think… I wonder if another human has ever set foot on this very spot? Or how long ago was this very spot under water, under ice or buried in between millennia of sedimentary layers… I wonder?

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Indeed so Igor. Love the quote and will add it to my collection. A bit more profound as well; going beyond just the mere passing of time; but what changes have taken place between those two points in time.

Thanks for sharing the quote.

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I often do think about things like that… and I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one. :slight_smile: The Canadian Rockies, where I often shoot, were once covered by a huge ice sheet, so often when I’m out there, in a valley or somewhere, I try to visualize all of that ice and how it must have towered 1000 meters above my head and how different the landscape must have looked.

One thing I always thought would be great is that if there were a type of eye glasses one could put on that would allow you to see the place you’re in at any time back in history. I wouldn’t want to time travel per say and mess up the timeline - I’d be happy to just observe and maybe even listen. :slight_smile:

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A splendid and thoroughly enjoyable image. So much to look at!

My eye is first drawn to the bottom part where it dwells on the superb water flows. It then travels to the boulders on the right and inspects the beautifully textured lichen-covered rocks. Then to the boulder on the left which is surrounded by the most exquisitely shaped water flows. Lastly, my eye travels to the edge of the river where I picture the larger landscape in my mind. This may be where, for me, the image loses some of its potency but nothing that destroys it.

Perhaps the most satisfying effect of this image, for me, is that it looks like an extremely detailed pencil drawing and I just love this! Though the crop is kind of satisfying at first sight, if it were me I’d prefer to keep the water motion in the foreground but it’s such a hard call to make, neither choice being wrong. How do we do make this kind of choices? I’m asking here because I’ve been struggling with making this kind of decisions myself and have recently come to the conclusion that I should resign myself to living in a hell of indecision and just accept that this is how things are: we almost never can be sure. I suppose, this is perhaps what separates a good image from a great one: with a great one, we are sure that we’ve nailed it 100%. But these come by so rarely that we can’t possibly survive on such a scant diet!

May I also add here how much I appreciate your thoughts about time and photography? I must admit that this is not something I’ve given much thought to, but there’s something incredibly powerful in the fact that a photography is a capture of a unique instant, never to be repeated. Food for thought, certainly. Thank you for that.

And yes, absolutely, we can still find magic if we look. The external environment is never to be blamed if it appears to be poor, but only our lack of sensitivity and imagination. Tough but true (imo).

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Wow @LauraEmerson , thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful words! They are much appreciated and for sure welcomed and encouraged here on NPN! Thanks for jumping right in and engaging. You’ll be a great asset here!

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Hi @Lon_Overacker I thought that perhaps it was too much to say (and there is more to say about your image as well), but braved it nonetheless. Good to see it’s well received, many thanks!

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