Avalanch Brook cascade

[bikehikeskifish]

Avalanche Brook cascade

Another of my personal favorites. This is Avalanche Brook, from alongside Livermore Trail, en route to the Tripyramid Loop trail. I cropped this to get the cascade flowing in and the bubbles in the stream flowing out. The original is next to it in the album.



My hiking companions took a break, but I wandered down into the stream to take this. Things which I think could improve it include having a polarizing filter to cut back on the glare (again I am limited to my P&S for now.) Also, perhaps a time-exposure to blur the moving water, ala w7xman, although I'm split on weather or not I like that look. Also the leaves in the top left foreground are a bit bright and distracting.

File Modification Date/Time     : 2006:07:03 08:34:29
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Modify Date                     : 2006:07:03 09:34:29
Y Cb Cr Positioning             : Centered
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Tim

 

[Mark Schaefer]

You did find an attractive pool and cascade. This cropping is an improvement for the reasons you stated. The crop also eliminated the white rock and cascade on the right which is ambiguous. It almost appears to be a lump of snow - which we know it can't be given the season. There were also many bare branches on the right which did not help your photo, and you were correct to crop them out. The bare branches on the left are also a distraction. Perhaps if you could have waded to the left and shot more toward the cascade you could eliminate them, but then the angle of view on the cascade and pool would not be as attractive.

These pictures can be very problematic on sunny days. Cascades tend to become a white streak, even more so than waterfalls. A polarizer would help to tone down the bright leaves above the pool and help to eliminate the glare.

 

[Grumpy]

I like the uncropped version better. The dark areas left and (especially) right frame the scene. The uncropped version also is more whole and complete. To be candid, this particular photo has more documentary than artistic / aesthetic appeal to me.

G.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

To be candid, this particular photo has more documentary than artistic / aesthetic appeal to me.

Candid is good. Let me ask: Why?

I will be upfront and state that all of my photos are of a documentary nature. I take photos while hiking, rather than hiking to take photos. That goal isn't going to change, rather I want to improve the photos I am inclined to take during my travels.

Tim

 

[nartreb]

I can see you were thinking about the rule of thirds when you made the crop - the steep part of the frothy section is 1/3 from the right side, and close to 1/3 from the top.
Unfortunately, the blindingly bright froth just below and to the left of that section (ie, almost dead center in the frame) comes closest to filling the role of subject. It's hard to describe what makes a part of a photo seem to be the "subject", but high contrast is a big part of it. Similarly, the leaves at top and left are distracting - they really stand out against the completely black areas behind them.
There is a pretty good diagonal sweep to the scene in general, which I think would work better in gentler light (a cloudy day, or at a time when shadows cover the froth evenly. Maybe a polarizer would help a little.)
There are lots of potentially interesting parts to this scene: sunlit leaves, white froth, clear pool with pebbles, sparkles of sunlight on the pool surface. To get them all to work together in a single shot is very difficult, consider picking one or two and really showing them to their best advantage. What happens if you crouch close to the surface? If you hike around so you're above the little falls, and/or you've got the sun at your back? If you zoom way in?
I'd also be interested in seeing what a long exposure would do here. "Waterblur" can be a cliche, but sometimes it works. Also, I wonder what the foreground sun-sparkles would do in a long exposure.
What makes an "artistic" photo is that it expresses an opinion: "hey, this is cool, look at this!" and it's very clear exactly what "this" is. You have to grab the viewer by the eyeballs and hold them right on top of whatever you want them to pay attention to. That usually means you have to exaggerate and simplify. Figure out what's visually interesting, and do everything you can to show that in its best light with no distractions.

 

[Grumpy]

A Rambling Reply -- Bear With, Please!

First of all, let me tell you that saying the Avalanche Brook cascade photo “has more documentary than artistic / aesthetic appeal to me” is not a negative comment, by any means. I’ve worked for 40 years as a photographer, most of that as a photojournalist doing “documentary” type work – recording scenes to convey (communicate) what happened and what the action or place looks like, and then some if possible. I regard that as a high calling.

It’s the “and then some” that makes the difference between a basic documentary of what the scene looked like, and a photo that also has aesthetic / artistic appeal to make it visually arresting and special.

The Avalanche Brook photo (uncropped or cropped) has natural aesthetic appeal that you have documented well – flowing water spilling into a quieter pool, surrounded by green foliage. The diagonal lines make a nice composition. It is peaceful, and inviting, and even a bit mysterious, as such places invariably are. I want to wade right in and enjoy the soothing cool water on my feet and legs. And I wonder what’s below the surface and lurking in the shadows. To the extent that the photo tells me what the place looks like well enough to evoke this impulse and wonderment, it is a successful documentary picture. I suspect what this photo evokes in me results from my having been to places like it depicts as much as it arises from the picture itself.

What I see lacking on the aesthetic / artistic side are two things: the element that makes the picture visually arresting and the element that takes me beyond my own experiences.

On the first count, I probably would not be immediately drawn to this photo if it stood amidst a collection. The lighting is “ordinary” for scenes like this encountered in fair weather during full daylight – I am given to wonder what it might look like with the light filtered through and diffused by morning’s mist, still visibly present, for example. Or in the rain. Or at sunset or sunrise, when the light color is shifted to warmer hues.

On the second count I find it difficult to locate or identify the central idea in the picture – what the photographer is trying to convey other than a snapshot of what this charming spot looks like. The central idea is what may take me beyond my own experience and give me a peek or a thought that I haven’t had before. Is it the movement of the water? Is it the textures and contrasts created as dynamic falling water enters the placid pool (although this pool really isn’t placid at all, by appearances)? Is it the romance of the setting? And so on. This absence of an evident central idea is the photo’s weakest aspect.

I hope this isn’t all confusing. I find it difficult to articulate. But all along I’ve had a couple of things in mind – other photographers’ work to point you toward for consideration.

The first are those magnificent documentary / interpretive photos of natural splendor by Ansel Adams. They all have that “and then some” element.

The second are the hut crew photos posted here by Brambor. Every one of them could have been made using flash to illuminate everything, and perhaps we would have seen the crew very nicely that way, thank you. But the photographer chose to use dramatic lighting extant in the actual scene. Thus, we have very everyday slices of life not merely documented, but elevated to the level of art that gives us a view of things we perhaps overlooked before. Neat stuff.

G.