Christmas Day saw us receive rain and wind which prevented me from getting out for some photography. I don’t mind light rain or gentle winds but the rain came down hard at times and the wind, while not reaching the predicted 50 mph, was enough to keep me out of the woods. Saturday, however, provided some strong flow in Dean Brook…it was almost too much water. I’ve a few other images to work on and see if I can make some order of them but this is the one I enjoyed making the most. Bad advertisement for the others, I guess. 🙂
There’s no “rule” for capturing water in motion. Slow speeds, fast speeds, moderate speeds, all work at different times, in different lighting, and according to taste. I experimented with many combinations of exposure times and ISOs. This was 0.3 secs at f/8 and the ISO was 1600. It did require some noise reduction in Lightroom but the detail was maintained. I sharpened with both Pixel Genius’ Photokit Sharpen and the Detail Enhancer in Nik. I made a few targeted contrast adjustments to bring out a bit more of the action in the splashes and did look at converting to black and white but like the color so abandoned the change. There’s a lot I like about this capture but especially the one tiny splashed drop suspended almost in the middle. I made 32 exposures, some vertical and some horizontal, and this is my favorite and actually the first of the bunch.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Fabulous photo.
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Thank you!
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When I enlarged the photo, I found three little drops above the spray, and my mind went immediately to “three little drops from pools.” In the ‘different strokes for different folks’ category, I probably would have removed them, since I found them drawing attention away from the larger and quite wonderful symmetry in the image.
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I’d never seen The Mikado so that was a treat. Funny that one of my favorite elements here you’d prefer to not see. I often try to capture something suspended over a splash like that. I am glad that the rest of it appeals as the composition was one of many and I felt the better of them all.
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I love the energy and movement of this! 🙂
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Thanks, Ann. Water is a wonderful study for that.
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I appreciate the technical details you provided in your second paragraph.
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I don’t usually feel that a list of techs is all that interesting for folks but in an image such as this they can be a little helpful.
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Nice abstract and feeling of motion, like ocean waves.
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Thanks, Eliza! There was a lot of motion. 🙂
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I may be reading into it, but I like the way this photograph feels animalistic, the long straight lines of water remind me of a horse’s mane in motion, especially with the variations in colour, and the fluffier corners more like sheep’s wool or goat’s hair.
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You are not alone. Both here and in my post on Facebook most people are seeing hair. The question is hair from whom. 🙂
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I always find it fascinating when our first attempt ends up being our favorite. This photo and one I recently viewed by William Neill of the Merced River has me thinking about a specific section of a local creek. I’ll have to see what I can make of that one of these days. Thanks for the inspiration!
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It’s just too hard to judge the fine detail in an image like this. I blow it up 10x on the LCD and travel around the frame but can’t really tell until it’s on the display. I’ll look forward to your image when you share it.
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It is art – I can easily imagine someone using a big brush to paint that in oils. 🙂
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I tend to not describe what I do as fine art because most of my images are natural history with a touch of art. But I do think about presenting artful images when I have a subject that lends itself to that interpretation. Thanks, Adele!
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