Photography 101: Water

For day three of Photography 101 the theme is Water.

“How will you interpret this theme? How can you tell a story with water?

Ever wonder whether a photograph will work better horizontally or vertically?…

After you snap your picture, rotate your camera and take a second shot from the other orientation — horizontally if you first took the picture vertically, and vice versa… ” (read more)

I thought I would be using an archived photo for today’s assignment because I knew I would be spending the day chauffeuring my mom around with probably no opportunity to find or take a picture. I brought my camera with me anyway thinking there might be a slim chance of getting a shot of some sort of fountain in the very suburban, shopping-center-filled part of New Jersey where we would be spending the day. Much to my surprise, I happened upon this little spot along the Pequannock River in Riverdale. I had left my mom to visit with a friend while I ran errands. While driving, I spotted water not far from a large Target mall area!

Water… so very…  liquid, fluid… mercurial!

That’s it! Mercurial.

Swirling, reflecting, translucent,
moving, rippling, still,
glistening light,
darkened depth.

I like the vertical version above more than the horizontal below. The vertical shot better highlights the long, meandering quality of the river.

I like this closeup of the trees reflected as well.

Here’s another long view.

And closer up horizontal. Perhaps the reflected trees look stubby here.

I prefer the vertical shot below to the one above.

And here are two more river shots, one vertical and one horizontal.

I don’t have a preference here. I think they both feature the textures equally well, and I think texture is the main feature in these two photos.

These last three photos were taken along the river’s edge. I couldn’t resist this little burst of November color, especially on such a grey day.

I guess I got a little carried away with today’s assignment. I was pleasantly surprised by what the day presented me! I also get easily absorbed in fall color and water 🙂

As a PS, I’m very amazed at how different the quality of these photos looks on different screens. I have viewed them on a desktop monitor, old Dell laptop, and on an iPad with retina display. They look by far the best on the iPad.

So how do you decide how much to sharpen an image to best present it on the web?

Update, February 1, 2015… Since first posting this, I found a note I had scribbled to myself as to the exact location of this place. It’s called Appelt Park and is part of the Pequannock River Coalition Restoration Project.