Silver Cascades

I got this shot in the White Mountains May 19, 2010. The river is called the Silver Cascades. EXIF Data: D90, 18-105mm VR, Focal Length 18MM, f/11, Shutter Speed 1/50, CPL Filter, White Balance Cloudy, Adobe RGB, Photomatix HDR, Aperture 3 Post Processing.

This is as perfectly balanced a shot as I have ever seen. You have a lot of motion in the water that is counterbalanced by the Foliage. The serenity of the trees are offset by the impending storm shown in the threatening clouds. To top it off, the scattered small boulders and the trees that have been knocked down give a lot of history to the shot.
My ONLY suggestion...

Choose a nice frame with a double mat.

Pete

Serenity, impending, threatening, counterbalanced foliage, man you guys from NC can really sling it, way to go Pete!

I almost had to get out the websters just to make sure I got the meaning of everything.

BTW, beautiful shot Joseph (as usual)...

Excellent use of HDR here...I'm very impressed! There's a perfect amount of tonal range and depth. This would make an excellent case study for the proper use of HDR. Very well done!

I would like to see more "pop" in the color, perhaps a slight tweaking of saturation would really bring out the green in those trees. Suggestions: the crop is a bit tight, I want to see the tops of those trees in the background and some sky. There's also something distracting @ bottom right of the frame. Is that something in the water that can be cloned out?

Thanks for the kind comments guys. There is more to the shot than what you see, so I can change the cropping as suggested by Anthony. That something in the water is a tree branch, easy enough to clone out. This is one of several shots to be printed out for a photo contest to be judged in January. Wanted to run it by the experts who hold no punches. It's the best way to find out if I'm just waisting my time or got something worth while. Next problem is to print it out, 8x12. They can look good on the monitor and still not translate into a good print.

I definitely think you've got something contest-worthy here, Mr. Bautsch. I know you're not a big fan of B&W, but this is also a great candidate for a conversion.

Ah, good thought Anthony. I'll give it a try and run it by my biggest critic, my wife. If it passes her critique I'll post it here and see what everyone thinks.

I also think B&W might look great.

Here it is in B&W. All cropping has been removed.

That almost looks like a fine pen ink drawing!
Looks foreboding as hell!

LOVE IT!!!

Pete

I agree with Pete. I would go with this one, Joseph, for the contest. This is a fantastic shot! Love it!

I printed out both the color and the B&W versions. Sometimes a shot will look great on a computer screen but still not print very well. It may have something to do with the computer being a radiant media where as the the print is a reflective media. In any case both versions printed out great. The B&W is more of a lithograph drawing which will require a judge that leans more toward the classic arts. Thanks for the suggestion guys.

BTW...
Did anyone else notice the catfish?

Pete

Catfish????

So I'm guessing that the answer is..."NO?".


Pete

Yes LOL ... I thought it may have been the twig at the bottom right at first...

Look at this part of the image and you will see what I mean.
Catfish with the feelers out and mouth open. Eyes on top.
Its really a rock formation, but the fish is what I saw right off the bat.
I guess its the redneck in me.

Pete

I have looked and looked until my eyes have crossed and still don't see a catfish

(I'll have some of whatever you're on LOL)

JK Pete.x

Mind you, I did see a lizard in the rock on the left

Think of it as a large mouth bass. Might make it easier to see.

Mouth open, gill slit.

Am I the ONLY one???


Pete