Fall on the Merced

simple yet beautiful Lon. This has a lovely reflection...you are making me jealous. I want to visit this place. One day!

Really gorgeous and peaceful view of the Merced in fall. I love the reflections and also the rocks under the water. Makes for a very interesting foreground. The burned tree trunks in the upper left tell a story, and the tufts of grass along the river add a nice touch of green. Nothing to suggest, which means it's perfect!!

This one is not really working for me. I love the foreground reflection and the view underwater. But the background I find busy and distracting and my eye just wanders back there. It is a bit radical, but I like it cropped to an abstract pano of the water only. 

You, go to the same places and photograph them again? Tell me it ain't so!!!!!! 

Great colours n beautiful reflections!
I my prefer to tone down the white fallen tree.

Jagdeep Rajput

I'm with Harley on this. The abstract reflection is the real draw for me. Might even flip it, using the river edge as the base instead of top of the image. Returning to locations over and over again is like revisiting old friends - you get to know them really well.

Personally I'm amazed how many keeps you got from just weekend. If I get one a day I consider myself lucky.

The reflection is what makes this image. But unlike most reflection images that is a mirror of the opposite sure this shows the river floor, so it's reflection and it's not. That duality is very appealing. The image is all done in pervasive warm tones and that's probably best. I'm wondering if you cooled it down but then reemphasized the yellows, what would that result in? I can't think of any suggestions that I feel certain would improve this. Working the highlights of that log is about as good as any, I suppose. 

 

Lon, I have looked at this a few times, and it is not really grabbing me. I agree with Mr. H about the busy background. I love the color in this. I think the big logs break up the, basically, vertical flow of the composition. I really like the reflection and the tones in the water.
--P

Lon, For me this image works really well. I think the water and reflections are wonderful and I love the colors. Yes, the background is kind of busy but I like the way it looks...actually I like it alot. Much of the wooded scenes around here along the rivers have a similar busy look and I just do what I can with it, and you did it very well here. The light is wonderful and your processing looks great to me. Thumbs up for me! 

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI.

Very nicely composed, Lon. The reflections combined with the water transparency is wonderful. I've read all the comments and while I can somewhat see the points made about the background, I'm not bothered that it is overly 'busy'. This image works for me as framed. I agree with Kathy on burning down that fallen trunk a bit to match the brightness of the rest of the background.

I really like this.  It just has so much feeling of being there, watching that water flow by. I really like being able to see the bottom like that.  It is interesting how different people reacted to this.  I don't feel it is busy at all. Yes, there's lots of components in there, but it has a unified feel to it for me.  Cool!

I well remember your 4x5 version of this scene, Lon. I actually remember commenting that I like everything about it but for the fallen log. It may be that this is prejudicing my view of this version, but my take on this version is basically the same. It's a beautiful scene and image but the log catches the eye and stands out. Maybe burning that so it blends is the answer. The log is not an image killer, however. Excellent as is.

I really like this, Lon.  At first glance, I thought the bright log detracted from the image.  It is about the reflection and the river bottom.  For me, a square crop, eliminating the log entirely, brings all the best out of it.  After reading all the comments, I think I'll stick to my suggestion.  I love that you keep going back to places you know and love.  The results speak for themselves.

Thank you everyone for your honest comments and critique.  Ya know, there's a thread going on in the Discussion forum on this topic.... but it's dialog like this that to me, is at the heart of why folks continue here at NPN.  HONEST critique and dialog about our images.  You can't slice it up any other way.  I provide honest review of your work, and you provide honest review of mine.  It's a pretty simple formula.

So I thank you on the honest feedback on this image.  I can't disagree at all with the comments regarding the random chaos and bright log in the upper half of the image.  If I were presenting a fine art piece, I think that's valid commentary.  

I think Genny captured my feelings the best, it's the sum of the components, the elements that compose a bigger story than the individual elements.  Yes, the log is a hot (I burned and tried my best to tone down,) but I think just as much a part of the story as the burnt trunks that Kathy noticed (I used TK's Darks Triple play on the those trunks.)   I have a dozen or more images of just the river bottom, reflection and the ones with the foam streaks.  

All the critiques and suggestions, including Gary's square crop, are completely valid, and I thank you all for them.  This may not win any artistic merit awards, but for me, is what epitomizes the Merced river scenics.

thanks for your comments!
 

What a beautiful scene!  The rich warm color is splendid.  The foreground stream is captivating with the warm reflections and the rocks beneath the surface.  Did you shoot any abstracts of just the stream?  It seems like there is a lot to work with there too.

Peace and tranquility with wonderful colors Lon. This is really smooth and easy to look at.