The Babbling Brook

[MrB]

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A scene in the narrow upstream part of the River Colne in Hertfordshire. Any comments welcome.

Philip

[selig1656]

Love the details,especially the ripples.Would have nice too also shoot at a lower speed and see the outcome.

[Manfred M]

Very abstract image, Philip. I find images like these extremely challenging to do, because we need to use the same types of visual techniques as we use in "standard" images to engage the viewer and get them to visually stroll through our image.

This means we still need them to see a suitably located "main subject" or "centre of interest" and then have connected areas of light and dark to guide them through the key aspects of the shot. That is something I personally find very challenging to do.

Your shot has this; but is unfortunately located a bit too high and a touch too centrally, in my opinion (there is a brighter yellow area, roughly in the middle of the frame and perhaps 15% - 20% from the top of the frame. Had that been a bit lower and less central, it would have worked better. The other part that is missing are the visual guidance through the shot. There are enough areas of light and dark in the frame that with some careful dodging and burning, you could get there.

Regardless, you are close. Nicely done.

[DanK]

Nicely done.

I too find these sorts of images very challenging to do. In fact, I find it hard even to describe what's needed. They need something more than repetitive patterns, but what that is can vary. For example, consider Edward Weston's "onion halved":

https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/63.19.151/

There are clearly things to which the lines draw the eye. But it it the single line in the middle, the two centers of the onion, or the play between them?

Or consider his famous shot of a tomato field, which is one of my favorites. You can find it here. In this image, he has contrasted a repetitive pattern in most of the image with the mountains on the edge.

On the same page, you will find his "Dunes, Oceano." I can't even figure out a general description of what makes this image so powerful. It has contrasting lines, and despite its simplicity, a great deal of variation in the weight given to dark and light areas.

[Wavelength]

I liked it....

[MrB]

Thank you all for your comments.

I realise that the image doesn't have the compositional features that judges at our club competitions usually expect to see. Nevertheless, I enjoy abstractions like this one in which, for me, the subject is both the whole image and all its constituent parts. When I explore the details I am fascinated by the general waviness, the mini-ripples on each wave, and the mysteries of the stones and pebbles beneath the shallow water; and then I can also enjoy the apparent chaotic nature of the whole scene.

Philip