where they meet

[Abbye]

I found this wonderful spot where a fresh water river runs into the ocean. The tide was low so I was able to capture the water flowing over the ocean rocks.
My camera and I waded into the middle of the river for this shot.  (not an easy feat when you consider all the rocks are slippery and sharp with kelp and barnacles.)

C&C please!
My favourite part is where the ocean starts and you can see all the small pebbles and kelp underwater before the ocean floor drops off. I do however always have a hard time with my horizontal compositions and I can't decided if the foreground is to busy, or does the image even have a focal point or something that draws your attention?


where they meet by abbye dahl, on Flickr

[Steve Weldon]

I'd tend to be a lot lower and further forward.  Lower is key.

Good luck!

[Abbye]

I'd tend to be a lot lower and further forward.  Lower is key.

Interesting, thank you.

I actually started shooting a lot lower, which do you guys prefer? (though this is a vertical view)


brunswick2 by abbye dahl, on Flickr

[Tony Jay]

Do you have a shot of roughly the same composition as the first post but lower?

Regards

Tony Jay

[louoates]

I happen to like this elevated (horizontal) view because it allows that wonderful look through the water at the rocks below the surface. I'd crop just below the main green rocks for a better emphasis on the green and more pleasing color composition with the water and sky. I like the silky moving water in this shot because it suggests motion without the sometimes trite overwhelming silky effect often criticized on this forum with good reason.

[Rob C]

Hi Abbye

My first impression was that I was looking at the Sea of Cortez; I've never been there, unfortunately, but I was struck by some wonderful images I saw years ago in a yachting magazine. The place was fantastic (in the shots, at least) and they would have been worth millions to the tourist department there had they ever seen them. It was in the great days of the polarizer.

I prefer the horizontal shot, but not so fond of the slo-mo blur that I think I see. It's a technique done to death and ultimate boredom, but hell, what else can you do if you think that a great view just isn't enough?

Rob C

[Riaan van Wyk]

Hello Abbye

I have a hard time with horizontal compositions too, so much so that I have given up on trying to force myself to shoot them. Having said that, I would probably have initially composed this in the same way as you did here, then moved the camera closer to the ground and then discover that there seems to be a disconnect between the foreground and the mountains in the back due to the perspective and the relative lack of interest in the rocks.

Vertically there might be some interest in the flow of the stream as an anchor for the rest of the frame but I can't be sure of that from sitting here in front of my screen.







 

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I happen to like this elevated (horizontal) view because it allows that wonderful look through the water at the rocks below the surface. I'd crop just below the main green rocks for a better emphasis on the green and more pleasing color composition with the water and sky. I like the silky moving water in this shot because it suggests motion without the sometimes trite overwhelming silky effect often criticized on this forum with good reason.

I like the horizontal one, and I agree with Louoates's cropping.

[RobbieV]

I see the expanse of land coming from the right side of the background landscape balancing the area below it in the foreground, as there is less detail there compared to the left of the foreground.