Mexican Hat

The San Juan River at Mexican Hat beckoned Saturday evening before the Mitten Shadow event. The first two are of the river and anticline above the Meican Hat play wave. I am trying teo decide whether the light on the river bottom in #1 is worth sacrificing for the reflection of the red wall off the water in #2

#2
(Sorry if I caught anyone with the deletions and reposts as I attached the wrong versions of 1&2.)

#3 Mexican Hat itself

#4 Blend of 2 images of the sunset looking up the San Juan River.
(There were no good clouds or sunset colors downriver above the anticline.)

As always, honest and open critique is welcome.

As I read the text for #1 and looked at the photo, I thought, nah, there's no need to sacrifice anything. Then I scrolled down and BAM!, that second one just jumped out at me. Nice stuff! All four are excellent.

Great stuff Doug. #2 is my favorite here. Just love that warm glow, especially reflected in the stream.

I think I would also take #2 over #1 and I also like #4 as well -- nice work!

#1 is nice, but #2 rocks! #4 is a beauty as well with that sky, and it's nice to see a different view.

What the heck is a "play wave"??

Great shots by the way!

Phil, when the San Juan flows more than a few thousand cfs, a nice surfing wave for kayakers forms. I have not canoed the river at that level though.

Doug,

I prefer #2 for the classic warm light, particularly for the reflection in the water that you point out. Sorry about the mittens, but it looks like there were other worthwhile targets...

Another vote for #2. I'm surprised #1 was even in the running with the vast differences in light and river turbidity.
Probably a nitpick here, but I kinda wish you had shot #2 a bit earlier so that fine light would have bathed the entire anticline and ridge on the left.
Classic Hat...'nuff said.
Love the skies in #4, and an excellent job of blending. Foreground just isn't doing much for me. That's quite a subjective view, but there it is.
Did you see a moonrise here?

2,2,2!!!

Thanks, Doug!

I rafted through here in May (in the rain! ) and there was no such thing as a play wave! In fact, we almost had to get out and pull the rafts along!

Thanks for the feedback.
John, I noticed that too about the shadow on the ridge. May have to rectify that next June 2 or July 1, 2012 when the full moon rises directly above the river. The moon rose too far to the left /north this past weekend.

Really love the reds in #2. Great color!

Beautiful collection, Doug. The patterns in the rocks in the first two are just incredible. I really like #3 - the soft light is just beautiful.