High Water

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 3, 2011406 views27 comments

This is a picture I made along the Wisconsin River while the water was high. I had hip boots on and was able to get in the water trying to find a comp that might work for a shot like this. It was pretty hard trying to come up with something but thought I would give this one a try. I was at my limit here with the water depth and was starting to get a little wet. Not sure how you might feel about this with the bright highlightes and background but guess I ended up liking the way it feels. Shot in the early morning light.
7D, 70-200L @70mm, iso 400, f/11 and 1/100 sec. and my old tripod that I only use for these water shots.

Comments

27 comments

Comment posted by Hamed Musharbak on December 3, 2011 at 10:53 AM

Love it, awesome condition & light

Hamed

Registered on June 1, 2009, 372 Posts, 2282 Comments

Comment posted by Anthony Vincent on December 3, 2011 at 11:15 AM

Hey Nick,

This is really special light. Great job at finding this scene. Im not sure but to my eyes there seems to be some heavy cw tilt. Maybe you were sinking in mud

This is just personal taste but I want to focus the composition in a 50/50 split creating a graphic display of reflection and trees. Hope that makes sense. Please tell me you shot tons of images here

Your processing looks perfect for the scene.

Beautiful atmosphere, wow

Registered on February 5, 2009, 199 Posts, 2775 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on December 3, 2011 at 11:28 AM

Realy nice shot, in great light. No problems at all with the highlites to my eyes. This looks as it should imo. I can see the percieved tilt too. I can see how finding a comp while wading could be difficult. I like this a lot!

Chris

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie Baugh on December 3, 2011 at 11:33 AM

Great realism here Nick. I can see why you composed this in this way as the hazy light coming through those trees is a nice part of the mood. I agree with Anthony that more of the trees reflection would make a great shot also and hope you have more of this scene coming.

Registered on April 18, 2011, 329 Posts, 1985 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on December 3, 2011 at 11:34 AM

I think that this works beautifully. The bright highlights don't bother me at all. They look fine. I love the quiet detail in the foreground branches. My only nit is that it appears that the opposite bank of the river is sloping to the right, but maybe it does that in actuality.

- Dan.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Atkinson on December 3, 2011 at 12:02 PM

I also like this image a lot. But the thing that made me click the thumbnail was the "excitement" (probably the wrong term) generated by the vertical elements vs. the horizontal features.

Registered on July 22, 2005, 20 Posts, 171 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Lowe on December 3, 2011 at 12:22 PM

Works for me. I also like Anthony's idea of a 50/50 crop.

Registered on February 11, 2004, 777 Posts, 5252 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on December 3, 2011 at 12:24 PM

Thanks guys for your comments. Here is a repost with about 5 degrees of CCW rotation. The high ground in the back did slope some as I remember but still I don't think I had the camera level after looking closely at this. I do think it needed this rotation for a better overall look. Anthony, yes!..I was sinking in to the muddy bottom and was having a hard time getting back out without loosing my hip waders! Thanks for the suggestions guys! Nick

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Jeremy Cram on December 3, 2011 at 12:24 PM

Love the light and tree, but that reflection at the bottom is just awesome. Wanting more of it.

Registered on June 4, 2006, 204 Posts, 818 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on December 3, 2011 at 1:57 PM

This looks fine, Nick. I like the layering created by the atmosphere. It not only adds depth but separation of he trunks which is vital to making this work.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on December 3, 2011 at 4:09 PM

Nick,

It's all about the light here and I think the highlights are important here and work beautifully. Even with the bright areas, this has a dark and mysterious look and feel to it. I was going to mention the slant as well, but just saw the repost and that looks better. Nice work.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Richter on December 3, 2011 at 4:16 PM

Nick, you handled this difficult lighting very well in my opinion. I feel like standing in the middle of the scene. The almost monochromatic character fits in well with the atmosphere to me.

Peter

Registered on November 10, 2010, 218 Posts, 2723 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on December 3, 2011 at 7:50 PM

Love the bold lines of these trees, Nick, creating a wonderful abstract with beautiful light. Fantastic image in my opinion. Hope you tried a few from a little further back, with a bit more of the reflection. Good idea using an old tripod in the water; never thought of that.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on December 3, 2011 at 8:13 PM

Thanks for posting the corrected version. Now I can enjoy it without mentally trying to straighten it out.

- Dan.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on December 3, 2011 at 8:29 PM

Nick - I like the monchrome nature of this. Dreamy.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by David Chauvin on December 3, 2011 at 9:05 PM

The processing looks very true to the lighting conditions. I can relate to the difficulties of wading and the feeling of being stuck in the mud.

Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments

Comment posted by Phil Pogledich on December 4, 2011 at 12:14 AM

Excellent work, Nick. I think this works very well and the repost does feel a bit more balanced. I'd be curious to see how this would look with a cooler white balance.

Registered on August 24, 2009, 123 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by David Edwards on December 4, 2011 at 1:19 AM

Magic shot, Nick!! Love the arrangement of trees and the fg reflections. The back lighting really sets this one off.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 142 Posts, 2623 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on December 4, 2011 at 7:50 AM

Nick, this works well for me. You captured some very special and interesting light. I also love your comp. The highlights are no problem for me here.

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on December 4, 2011 at 9:17 AM

Very cool! Love the light and the dreamy feel to the image. She's a beaut!

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on December 4, 2011 at 9:38 AM

Moody and mysterious; I love it. The highlights look perfect to me, Nick. I too hope you have more comps from that morning.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Bruce King on December 4, 2011 at 1:04 PM

Very nice NIck...I like the sepia look to it. Nice job of making sense of all the chaos and I do prefer the repost.....but only slightly.

Registered on January 14, 2010, 276 Posts, 2212 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on December 4, 2011 at 2:02 PM

Nick,
beautiful image with a strong comp and great light. Great atmosphere.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Cameron on December 4, 2011 at 8:52 PM

Nick

Lovely the reflections are pretty special too and I concur with some of the others that I would like to see a little more of those reflections too.

Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on December 5, 2011 at 11:42 AM

The lower half is much cooler than the top half, but overall this is nice image, Nick!

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on December 5, 2011 at 1:45 PM

I reall like the bright light in the background Nick. The light and mist combine to create a wonderful mood along with the reflections.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on December 5, 2011 at 7:15 PM

Thank you to all of you for the nice comments and suggestions! I wish I could say that I had several more comps of this, especially with more of the reflection, but I don't. Have a couple more shots pretty much like this one, but I was sinking into the muddy bottom and was having a hard time trying to move. I decided to get out of there while I still had my hip boots and gear with me

Of course now I wish I had more frames exposed! Thanks much! Nick

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments