Late afternoon sunlight illuminates submerged rocks in a stream in the Tutuko Valley in Milford Sound.
Typically, this region would be wet, but, after having experienced the heaviest rain in a decade, the entire valley was full of streams, creeks and rivers which made trekking a lot of fun! Light was fading quickly, and I had a couple of hours to get back to my lodge for the evening, so I packed up, turned around and headed back straight after having nabbed this image.
This is a very heavy crop from the full frame image, less than 50%.
Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
4s f/16.0 at 36.0mm iso200
Not sure what it is mate, but even at thumbnail level, this image is strangely hypnotic. I find myself drawn to the grain in the feature stone, then it leads my eye up and to the left, following the trail out of the photograph.
Thanks for sharing the experience and kinda weirding me out...
You got it! I'm so happy that you've picked up on the abstract nature of this one. That was my entire intent and purpose. Hole in one.
Landscapes need not be grand sweeping vistas of mountains or fields. They can be up close, as well as personal works, too.
Shane, the fact that this image does nothing for you is good. It works for both of us; for me: it tells me that it either blows chunks -- I have to do better, and, for you: perhaps as an opportunity to look at it not as a traditional landscape, but, a little tiny artistic representation of nature in its own right.
I shy away from abstracts as I'm not good at them, and, it's very, very difficult to convey the emotional message, and, produce an impact that a good abstract photo/painting should do. I have immense respect for photographers/artists who can get that message across through their works. It is something I will work on in future.
Thanks, Barry. I guess my intent has worked, to an extent. 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
Brace yourself... I'm kinda with Shane on this one. Thinking it might have looked better from a much lower angle so there's more foreground and background, more depth or something.
Hi I am in the negative I looked at it for a while to see if I could draw anything out of it, but to no avail
Maybe I am not very receptive to the abstract
It's a cool shot but maybe no suited for a close up. What makes your shots interesting, waterfall shots or streams IMO is the clear difference between the still (sharp parts) and the moving (soft blurs). It works well with a wider FOV but a close up like his one would have been better with very short exposures. I bet looking at those rocks in real life and seeing the crystal clear water, reflections and refraction must have been quite nice but it wouldn't translate to a longer exposure shot. But of course you're the expert on the matter. Those are just my personal views on what I like or dislike.
Thanks, heaps, Marc. I appreciate the thoughts, and, I know exactly where you're coming from.
You know, this is a crop from a cascade. I was going to process the whole image, but, when I was zooming in looking for any artifacts/dust particles, I found a crop which I thought looked abstract-y. Something flicked on in my head and said to keep it. I will eventually end up processing the full frame. That might do the scene some justice.
Cheers, mate. Appreciate the comments. These are the types of comments from which I learn. And, I am by no means, any expert. I'm still a noob!
Sorry if the comments came off a little harsh. I was going to mention in my first post that I'd like to see the full frame shot because you said this was a heavy crop. Well? We're waiting....
From your NZ visit, were all your photo's taken with the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens? The details in the photo's are amazing - I didn't realise zooms could produce that sort of quality.
Is this one of Canon hi-end zooms?
Hi H,
You are about to get two responses to your pic in my reply. Hubby walked in whenI was sitting in front of your pic staring it out and he came over to the computer and said "oh, very abstract". So that was his response. My response is that I literally stared this out for a good 10mts, went out to a restaurant and had dinner, came back and stared further. I'm very much into anything relaxing (decor wise) and if I had paint on my walls that would give that pic justice I would buy it from you. My first reaction to your pic was that it was a great decor for the wall. I like the subtle patches of contrast, the tiny bit of green on the rock on the front left, the little brown rock amongst all the grey ones, and then there is some beautiful texture from the water mist to the beautiful textures on those rocks. I first thought maybe it would look better in a wider view, and then decided not as it would detract from the subtleties of this picture. It's a very relaxing piece.
I looked at it for a while to see if I could draw anything out of it, but to no avail
