This capture is away from my usual work, away from the grand landscape, and the more subtle "Intimate Scenes" that I have been involved for years and years. This shot was done in Bishop Creek with a Sony 100-400 lens, set at about a 250mm focal length. In this way, I am involved with small sections of the water. The shift to a tighter, abstracted slice of the creek really works. At ~250mm you’ve flattened perspective just enough to emphasize rhythm over depth, so the eye rides the diagonal flow and contrast patterns instead of getting lost in context. Waiting for that post-sunrise light was the right call—those directional highlights paired with cool shadow detail give the water dimensionality and motion, not just shimmer. I saw this one morning at my amazing campsite, let the idea roll around my brains for a day or two. I tried in the evening just as the sun went down, this is my usual approach, but the image was OK, but flat. But the next morning, a couple of hours after sunrise, the combination of highlights and shadows was just perfect. What do you think?
