flowing water Creek near Council, Idaho

My friend tells me this photo is missing something. I cannot put my

finger on it. What do you think?

Hi Yelena,

It is a lovely image.

I fully understand the technical side of what you are doing to produce such an image, showing the flow of water.

I do not know if you tried various exposure rates, but for me, the 5 second exposure was a bit too long as the smoothing effect does not  provide the sense of "motion" . At first, I thought this was a scene of a frozed stream from the cold North.

Best Regards,  Mike

Really beautiful work with impressive lighting.

The only thing I find missing is me; I wish I were there.  The gold reflections on the blue water are wonderful.  Being relatively dark in the foreground and leading to sunlight in the background also works very well, and your exposure and balance of light are perfect.  Very nicely done (and complete).

Opinion: it does not fit the format well. I don’t think it is missing anything but that it has too much foreground. The two lower corners are dead. You have got a really nice lead in line in the bank on the left but you are losing it in the additional water. Try cropping up to just below the large rock in the foreground and the photograph looks more comfortable. Crop even higher to where the lead in line actually starts in the corner and it looks even better.

I do not find the overly smoothed water to be a problem. In the first place when you use slow shutter speed to smooth water you have already given up any claim to realism and are entering impressionism. Who is to say at what point impressionism becomes abstraction which you are close to in the water. This is no longer an realistic interpretation of the scene it is an idealized, impressionistic rendition--a dream. Dreams have no limits beyond their pleasures. It is some place that has princes and princesses and fairies and knights on white horses and even Wanda the Fish lives and the Little Mermaid vacations. Enjoy it as a photograph, a creation, a piece of art--not as a mountain stream with trees in fall colors. Think of it as a Thomas Kinkade without a cottege.

Gary raises some good points (IMO), and his suggested crops are interesting.  One of the biggest issues I have with photographing streams, whether I'm looking downstream or upstream (BTW, looking up is often the most preferred viewpoint), is where to cut the stream off.  Too often we're left with a short section of water that is relatively featureless, yet we need enough to have the proper perspective.  I don't like the prospect of losing that spot of yellow in the foreground, but perhaps better corners would make up for that.  It really gets tough when you have a stream with lots of elements; deciding which to lose and which to keep can be difficult, especially if a proposed crop cuts through one of those elements in the "wrong" way.

Hi Yelena,

I like this type of photography. I think the F.22, ISO-5 cause the 5 seconds of exposure, resulting in a very dragged from the water. However, the picture is gorgeous. !!

I agree with the person above. I think that, rather than missing something, there is too much foreground where not much is happening. Here's a crop that I "feels" better to me. Otherwise a lovely image. There might be more action from a perspective looking upstream, but the long exposure smoothing the water from upstream looks great to me. 

I know what this photo is missing. You need 4 black riders on one side. One woman on white horse on the other side with a sword in her hand and yelling at the bad guys. LOTR in case some one is not into movies.

On more serious note, I wish water had more texture in white areas. Still a beautiful photo.

Best wishes... Sandeep

I don't think this shot is missing something, I think the green bush on the left is distracting from the great colour on the water and yellow tree. I think if you went into the river mid way and just focused on that yellow tree as a focal point it might be a stronger image.  With the combination of blue and yellow light on the moving stream, coupled with a good vantage point of that tree could work.

Great image though!!

i love the colours and water the crop works or if you had a big rock in bottom right hand corner leading in it may complete it, great shot

Very little meaningful to add. The reflection of gold in the water is exquisite. Part of what may be distracting is that the right half is so bright and colorful and the left is not. This is not a comment on exposure, which is good, just the way nature is.

Or, it needs a fly fisherman in there...

Thank you everyone for the comments.  All are greatly appreciated.  Despite the cold weather, I did venture into the stream, but could not make the composition work, as the creek looses its bend and you can see the highway too much from that perspective.  I do like the panoramic crop.