Whitewater -- a different way.

Airedrifter · June 13, 2011

Another whitewater trip, another set of typical whitewater shots?

Nah, small group and plenty of time.

What do you think?

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digidrone · June 13, 2011

A little bit different but I like!

AceCo55 · June 14, 2011

If you are looking for an abstract / painterly feel then I think you have succeeded. I'm not sure I would want to see a lot of these in a group. I admire your willingness to try something out of the box and produce a different interpretation. I certainly think you have conveyed the constantly changing nature of white water kayaking. The chaotic unpredictability comes through strongly. I wonder if you experimented with a wide range of shutterspeeds to get some areas of the images in different states of sharpness? I imagine that this style of shooting as a low keeper rate? For me I would love to see one part of the image almost sharp with the rest showing various states of blur (but hey, they aren't my photos so you can quite happily ignore what I want and keep capturing images YOU want!). I think there is great potential to develop a really dynamic style of images. Great concept and certainly a striking effect.

Airedrifter · June 14, 2011

AceCo55 wrote: »

If you are looking for an abstract / painterly feel then I think you have succeeded. I'm not sure I would want to see a lot of these in a group. I admire your willingness to try something out of the box and produce a different interpretation. I certainly think you have conveyed the constantly changing nature of white water kayaking. The chaotic unpredictability comes through strongly. I wonder if you experimented with a wide range of shutterspeeds to get some areas of the images in different states of sharpness? I imagine that this style of shooting as a low keeper rate? For me I would love to see one part of the image almost sharp with the rest showing various states of blur (but hey, they aren't my photos so you can quite happily ignore what I want and keep capturing images YOU want!). I think there is great potential to develop a really dynamic style of images. Great concept and certainly a striking effect.

Contact sheet for that day's shooting.

http://mikesawyer.smugmug.com/Portfolio/2011/06112011/17531605_ch6zj7

torags · June 14, 2011

AceCo55 wrote: »

If you are looking for an abstract / painterly feel then I think you have succeeded. I'm not sure I would want to see a lot of these in a group. I admire your willingness to try something out of the box and produce a different interpretation. I certainly think you have conveyed the constantly changing nature of white water kayaking. The chaotic unpredictability comes through strongly. I wonder if you experimented with a wide range of shutterspeeds to get some areas of the images in different states of sharpness? I imagine that this style of shooting as a low keeper rate? For me I would love to see one part of the image almost sharp with the rest showing various states of blur (but hey, they aren't my photos so you can quite happily ignore what I want and keep capturing images YOU want!). I think there is great potential to develop a really dynamic style of images. Great concept and certainly a striking effect.

I agree.

To be fair the images posted may be too blurred (you contact sheet shows stages of blur).

You might like to consider rear curtain flash with a slow exposure.

AceCo55 · June 15, 2011

You look like you had an awesome day!!! I really like the photos that have the kayak-er in a depression so that they look like there are walls of water all around them. With them sharp the rest is thrown out of focus. Really neat. I think with the blur/abstract look you need to lean more towards your original posts here. Halfway just seems to look like a mistake rather than a deliberate interpretation. It would be nice if part of the person was sharp - less motion blur. Now that might take quite a few before you get some keepers! (but I think it is well worth persevering).

Airedrifter · June 15, 2011

Thanks for the feed back. The action photos are nice for the subjects and their friends, but in the tons of those I have, I've got the art value to me covered.

In the long exposures, I'm looking for conveying something different. You shouldn't have to explain a photo, so the essence has to pop out. And for my paddling friends, they get this series. That is because my paddling friends know the subjects are "surfing" not just going down a river. Rivers generate standing waves that have the similar if not the same characteristics of an ocean wave. Kayakers surf those. In essence, they are going about 25 miles an hour standing still. In the contact sheet you can see other series of kayakers actually running rapids.

The other thing odd is that I participate. So, I'm not just setting up in one place and hanging out for long periods of time. Being able to stay in one place and to schedule your time to maximize the particular rapids qualities and its interaction with the light would be ideal. The constraints of my style limit me but are good for my trip mates.

Setting up lighting or using strobes brings a whole host of issues that just don't work for me. I've got some longer exposure photos of river running that with panning, do pretty well. I've got a trip in Sept. planned where I'm going to stay at one huge rapid for a significant time.

Icebear · June 15, 2011

I really like these.

glewart · June 21, 2011

When I tried the group whitewater rafting before, I though that I would have a good chance at getting nice shots but man, it was intense down there. I even fell of the thing on a big wave that sent me down the water past through rocks while still holding on to my camera. Thank goodness it did not let go, I know it was silly to bring one.

I also was able to take so some shots like these. A little blurry and abstract and I thought they were a waste until I read the comments here.

jonh68 · June 24, 2011

I think I like them, but they could use some more brightening and contrast. Maybe a even a bump in saturation to make the color stand out more.

theprincereturns · June 27, 2011

I agree with bumping up the exposure and contrast. Enhancing the colors (especially the red and blue) i think will help you convey the intended message/emotion. Picture 1 is processed closer to what i think the others should be as well.

jhefti · July 4, 2011

I have paddled for many decades--and was a pretty serious racer for a while in my youth--so I can see through the motion artifact to what is really going on. I like your ideas, and if you were trying to create an impressionist rendering of the sport, you succeeded well. As others suggested, you could play with exposure, color, and contrast some more, but this is a matter of personal taste.

One of the defining experiences for the paddler are the contrasts between chaos and predictability; speed and stillness, hard and soft. I might suggest that you experiment some more with shutter speed and movement to try to capture this. Perhaps keep the boater still but show the water rushing past (such as when the paddler is surfing but sitting still on the wave and holding his paddle above him) or perhpas emphasize the movement of the boater against the water (such as any of the aerial moves or simply blasting through a wave). I suspect the contrasts of sharp areas and blurred areas will be striking. Never tried this myself, but it gives me something to think about. Thanks!!

Whitewater -- a different way.

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