"Swift Current of Spring"

The snowpack in the Sierras this winter was substantial. The end of April brought our first summer-like weather, which initiated a furious snowmelt. We travelled along the Kern River last Saturday on the way to my daughter's talent contest in Kernville. I couldn't help returning on Sunday morning to try and capture the fury of the river. The power of the Kern was almost intimidating. I was very careful while descending along the banks to try and build a composition. The Yucca blooms were inviting my attention and this one stood out, but the slope was precarious. One wrong step and I might become another statistic. Since 1968, over 250 people have perished in these fast moving waters. I held my ground for about 20 minutes while waiting for a lull in the incessant breeze that was causing the blooms to dance. I wanted a slightly longer shutter speed to give some blur to the water while retaining some detail. Half a second was the final choice and seem to do the trick, meanwhile not so long that the Yucca bloom would be blurred. Three panned verticals enabled me to produce a square panoramic that captured the bloom on the right along with the swift cascade to the left. It was now time to get back to stable ground!

Tack sharp image, as usual.  The commentary brings the image even more to life as well.  Now, having said that, it is pretty, and pretty busy; if you get my drift.  There's a lot going on here, and the eye flits all about.  You've got drama in the sky, drama in the Kern, drama with the yucca blooms, but I think I'm kind of lacking that singular feature that pulls me into your image.  Your processing is spot-on impeccable though, Mark.  Keep on doing what you do so damn well, my friend!  Cheers!  Chris

Thanks Chris! Honestly, that was my conclusion once I had completed the processing. I stepped away for a short while and when I returned, I stated almost the exact same words; "too busy". I really like peering into images that have lots of information. I find that a well composed image that has many components keeps my interest longer. Probably why I am not a big fan of minimalism, but I do admire that ability to extract the most vital element. Problem is, busy compositions fail more often than they succeed. I actually think the one component here that imperils this effort most is the willow square in the middle. I really struggled on this morning to come away with what I had previsualized. I am always trying to gather several pieces of the story and then arrange them harmoniously within the frame. So often, the elements merge and separation is lost. In this case, I could not get the angle because of the precarious position. It's nice to get honest feedback. Thanks! Now, on to the next effort! 

Mark...  While busy, I find that totally natural and sympathetic with what my eyes would be doing if there with you.  An interesting format choice that works well compositionally, but seems a tad constrained; however, that could be just my preference for landscape format landscapes.  Your signature fine detail and the shutter speed is spot on for the water...  a real wish I were there shot... Mike

And great mood it has! Only maybe a little bit more contrast?

Warm regards Mark!

PDE

Thanks Mike! The weird format is a result of a three vertical pano, the sum total of which is shy of two verticals. My camera was not level and I was not using the L bracket, so the camera was way off it's nodal point. I knew I would have to overlap heavily to get this to stitch, I just didn't consider panning once or twice more. Even if I had added two more frames, the end result would have been a substantial crop of the sky in order to include the additional frames because the camera was dropping down on each panned frame. That's a lot of typing just to say it didn't really work that well. If I only used the single vertical of the Yucca bloom, then the willow would be cropped right and the best part of the stream would be absent. So I am basically presenting my fudge of a Hasselblad format. These were tight quarters I was working with, using my full wide angle, so the bloom is really right against me in order to give it some prominence. I am not totally unhappy with the results, however I am ready to move on to anything new. There are days where things fall into place and more days where you rush around for almost nothing. I think the frustrating days provide more learning!

Sorry Pierre, I missed your entry while I was responding to Mike. Thanks for the input. I will try some more contrast!

California sure is nice...