Running water is one of those things I am attracted to like a magnet. I have hundreds of negatives of running water. Some time ago I realized that flowing water was all I was doing. So, I intentionally weaned myself from my total addiction to water. That didn’t mean I quit photographing running water. . . I just limited it to those things that I felt were extremely important. Rather than just obsessing and concentrating on every little cascade I could find, I took a step back and tried even harder to find something unique with respect to the subject.
There are those times you look, then you look again. We have been in the area of the Riverside Walk Rapids several times before. I have numerous negatives of this area. You are in a deep canyon surrounded by walls near 1,200 feet high. Sunlight only comes in here when the sun lines up with the canyon mouth at its southern end. This occurs for about half an hour somewhere around noon. The rest of the day the light is quiet and subdued. It was an overcast day which added to the smooth even light. There was no wind and it may have warmed to 40 degrees F by mid afternoon. Perfect weather to be there with a big camera.
This photograph is another case of near abstraction, yet it is a somewhat true depiction of reality. You know where you are and objects are familiar, so abstraction may not exactly fit well in the description. What I find, what I feel, and what I see, are not always what is actually in front of my camera. Art is about showing others what you see. . . your vision, plus your feeling at the time.
Click on thumbnails above to see full-size image.
I have included several snapshots of where I was working. This will show what it truly looked like at the time we were there. I am sure it is no exaggeration that there is little resemblance between reality and my interpretation. But this is how I saw the cascading water that day. If I were to go back today, I might come back with an entirely different look and feel. But this is how I saw it this day.
Enjoy!
JB
