Out on a Limb

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 11, 2017298 views8 comments

Quite literally, I'm out on limb posting this one. Not sure why, well I do have a couple reasons. First, it seems that on recent photo outings I've been taking on the challenge of photographing things in light that traditionally most sane photographers wouldn't even consider pulling the camera out of the bag. Well, as I mentioned, I'm out here in Happy Isles enjoying Yosemite with family and this really wasn't photo outing per se (but I will always try to squeeze in some time behind the viewfinder.

This was less than 10 minutes prior to my last post. Here though, I'm facing the sun, hot and direct on the rushing, turbulent upper arm of the Merced (at Happy Isles the river is divided in the 3 streams until the reunite a couple hundred yards down stream. this is the smallest and narrowest - but with a mighty flow. Anyway... I'm setting up and my Aunt inquires what I'm taking a picture of. I told her I was photographing the tree shadows in the water; you see when you let the water blur with a long exposure, the shadows become more visible.... The honest truth is though, that I didn't know that, and I wasn't photographing the tree shadow before I set up... but once I saw the results after chimping.... I knew exactly what I was doing! Ha! angel

I was actually experimenting with my fairly new 2x-8x variable ND filter. The water was hot, direct sun, no way to slow the water down without the ND.

After all that, I was interested enough in the results to play with. I like the texture throughout, but especially the bottom. I tried to emphasize in processing the splash right of center for an anchor. The tree branches are recognizable, but not that compelling; I did play with contrast to bring out those branch shadows a bit.

Please don't hesitate to be honest and brutal. Not something I would normally post, let alone process.

thanks!

Lon

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on May 12, 2017 at 10:42 AM

I will be brutally honest, as requested. I like it a lot. Very abstract, great tones and "brushstrokes". Excellent! Sorry for being so brutal.

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

Comment posted by Igor Doncov on May 12, 2017 at 11:36 AM

I find myself more and more drawn to these unusual images and less so to the common ones. I like this because it leaves (sp?) a lot to the imagination. It may appear simple to take an image like this but it's really not. Most abstracts have nothing to say IMO. At first I thought this was your common shadows-on-snow composition. I like this very much. It may be interesting to shoot this with a shutter speed that's just a tad slower.

Perhaps it's comparing apples to oranges but I like this more than your previous image, even though the other one was more beautiful.

Registered on November 22, 2014, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Richter on May 12, 2017 at 11:57 AM

Lon, this is a great example of subjective nature photography in my opinion. To my eye, you captured a unique and fleeting moment at its best. Your b&w conversion is consistent with this intimate scene to me.

Peter

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

Comment posted by Kathy Barnhart on May 12, 2017 at 1:22 PM

I like how this photo exemplifies Cartier-Bresson's quote about capturing a "fleeting reality." This is certainly an image that says "quickly" and I am enjoying it, especially in the large view. I like the one little splash in the water and I wonder if you could brighten it up a bit, since it almost gets lost in the rush. A successful experiment, IMO. Fitting photography into family outings is indeed a challenge!

Registered on November 11, 2011, 404 Posts, 1639 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on May 12, 2017 at 1:39 PM

Lon, This turned out to be a very interesting abstract image...and I'm quite enjoying it. Some very cool motion and textures within this. The one splash does add a nice touch to this and the tree shadows also adding interest. I had a great time experimenting with my 6 stop ND in bright mid-day light and still enjoying doing that to see what I come up with. Cool stuff!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI.

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

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on May 13, 2017 at 7:00 PM

Lon, I applaud your exploration and will watch for more adventures with anticipation. There are some intriguing aspects to this view. I like the juxtaposition of tree shadows on the moving water and there's a lot of structure/texture in the water, especially the splash just to the right of center. I wonder how this would look if that splash were lower in the frame?

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on May 14, 2017 at 10:58 AM

I'll also applaud the exploration; we all need to do that more. For my personal tastes though, I much prefer the softer and more colorful prior image. The shadows have a cool factor, but add a discord that I'm not sure about.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on May 16, 2017 at 10:13 AM

Very nice concept. Just wondering if there is maybe more texture in the water that could be revealed. This feels somewhat like a color image with correspondingly soft contrast to accommodate color instead of a monochrome image where the contrast can play a more starring role.

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