22-OCT-2008
Sprinkler, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2008
To find moisture in motion on our travels, we need to look beyond just the rivers, waterfalls, and geysers that are so much a part of the natural world. A sprinkler, on the other hand, is man made. While it may not be part of the natural world, a sprinkler’s moving water patterns can also bring meaning to our images. In this case, I photograph two men on a landscaping crew discussing their work in a Scottsdale city park. I shoot the conversation through the falling drops of a sprinkler, a critical tool for everything that landscapers create. The cascade of falling water creates a layer of abstraction here. My 1/200th of a second shutter speed isolates each drop in flight, yet also extends it into a tiny streak of light. The scene is doubly abstracted: the moving water creates a layer of abstraction and so does the man at right, by turning his back to us.
09-OCT-2008
Debris, Gibbon Falls, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2008
Instead of shooting the waterfall itself, I focus here on its effect. The runoff from the falls cascades through a jumble of boulders, and trees that have toppled into the Gibbon River above the falls. Such is the result of my perspective. This image is all about the tremendous power of falling water, and its impact on the natural world around it.
09-OCT-2008
Gibbon Falls, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2008
I had last photographed this waterfall in late September, 2006. (See
http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/69212132 ) I returned to the same spot two years later, just a few weeks later in the season, and made an entirely different image. I noticed that the huge rocks on the face of the waterfall were now closer to the surface, probably due to a small rate of flow. I zoomed in to abstract the scene, building it around the rhythms of water itself. I converted the image to black and white because unlike my earlier image, this entire photograph was monochromatic in nature.
18-SEP-2008
Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon, 2008
One of the most visited waterfalls in the US, Multnomah is very high (620 feet), relatively narrow, and its cliff face is heavily forested. This image takes advantage of all of these features. Using my telephoto zoom lens, I arrange the cascading flow of water from the top to the bottom of my vertical frame, and I suggest the presence of huge trees on the left side of the frame. The power of this image, however, comes through the play of light and shadow on the water itself. The falls are bathed in mist, creating patterns of falling water that suggest a cataclysmic or supernatural event.
13-SEP-2008
Upper Falls of the McCloud River, McCloud, California, 2008
This waterfall is actually a turbulent stream rushing downhill. I express its turbulence by placing it in my frame as a diagonal slice through a lush landscape. The light bounces off the leaves at lower left, skims the huge rock in the middle of the channel, and comes to rest on the opposite bank. I shifted my vantage point to make sure the large leaf hanging next to the rock soared free as if it were a bird, instead of merging it in to the other leaves on shore. It energizes the entire image.
17-SEP-2008
Rapids of the Metolius River, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon, 2008
I use the frothy water swirling around a rock as the anchor and focal point of this image. The river flows towards it, dissolves in fury, and then calms at our feet. The blue water suggests purity, while the green forest in the background speaks of this area as a protected wilderness.
13-MAY-2008
Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite National Park, California, 2008
I made this image, hand held, from the Bridalveil parking lot, using my 420mm telephoto lens. Using spot metering, I underexposed the details in the water so as not to wash out the highlights. The underexposure makes the surrounding cliffs and forest darker and more mysterious than they appeared to our eyes. I wanted the image to go beyond describing the appearance of one of the most famous waterfalls in the world. Instead, I wanted to express the essence of Bridalveil’s energy, beauty, and mystery.
13-MAY-2008
Yosemite Creek, Yosemite National Park, California, 2008
Rather than making a descriptive picture of Yosemite Falls, the highest measured waterfall in the United States, I chose instead to dwell on what happens after a waterfall “falls” by making this closeup of the rapids in Yosemite Creek, which emerges from the base of Yosemite Falls, and flows with much fury into the Merced River. Yosemite Creek is a raging torrent of water slicing its way through a field of boulders down the side of vast slope. I noticed how beautifully the late afternoon sun was backlighting a part of the flow and used that glow as the focal point of this image. My 1/400th of a second shutter speed was fast enough to stop droplets of water in mid-air. I also draw on rhythmic repetition to build a coherent layered image. The large boulder anchors the scene at lower right, while layers of curving water echo its shape in the middleground and background.
16-MAY-2008
Impact, Glen Alpine Falls, Lake Tahoe, California, 2008
I was able to stand very close to the impact point of this waterfall, which allowed me to use my long telephoto zoom to express its explosive appearance in great detail. I anchor the image on the abstracted rocks at bottom and fill the rest of the frame with layers of spray and massive water surges. It was late in the afternoon, and the low angle of the sun illuminates a layer of water droplets that hang suspended in time at 1/500th of a second shutter speed. This image puts the viewer where he or she could never go – into the heart of a waterfall at the very instant when the cascades finally strike the bottom.
21-DEC-2007
Koi, Imperial City, Hue, Vietnam, 2007
Vietnam's Emperor Gia Long built a vast citadel in Hue in 1806. Within it are three other enclosures -- the Civic, Imperial, and Forbidden Cities. The area was devastated during the Vietnam War, but much of it has been recently restored. This pond of Koi Carp feeds below the bridge over the Imperial City moat. The image is not only a study of water in motion – it is also a study of something in motion while in the water, in this case the frenzied movements of a school of Koi Carp. A tourist was feeding them and they rose to the surface repeatedly to feast on the treats. I made many images of this scene to get this emotionally charged image, featuring many open mouths and beady eyes.
24-FEB-2007
Lone fisherman, Kern River, California, 2007
The presence of a single fisherman brings a sense of scale to this image. He stands alone in the fast moving river, encircled entirely by rocks that echo the precarious nature of his perch – a context that implies potential risk and danger. I shot this scene several times in order to catch the arm of the fisherman in a forward position, repeating the lean of the huge rock that hangs just behind him. Many photographers would want to have the entire scene illuminated by sunlight. However, I prefer the half-light I am offered here. The opposite side of the river, though rocky, appears warm and welcoming. But the fisherman remains in the shadows, doggedly making cast after cast from his rock.
28-DEC-2006
Blue and white, Cascades d’Ouzoud, Morocco, 2006
Rarely do we see waterfalls with different coloration from stream to stream. But that was the case due to the intensity and color of the mixed light as is played on the various streams and flows of this spectacular waterfall about 100 miles from Marrakesh. They told us that this waterfall was best viewed in the spring, when it is in full flow. Yet I found it to be spectacular enough in the winter – with a smaller volume of water, the various streams were more distinct, creating a striking pattern of alternating blue and white toned water as it plunged 328 feet into the Canyon of Wadi e-Abid. I used a 28mm wideangle lens for this shot, which extends the amount of flow in the frame and increases the visual energy it generates.