Confluence

Gallery: LandscapePosted October 25, 20042,554 views19 comments

Capture: Canon 1Ds, 16-35
Location: Cooking Lake, Alberta, Canada

I composed this so that the clouds would offset the lines formed by the cracks in the ice. I think I might like it even better if the sky had been completely clear (which is wasn't).

As I was out photographing these cracks the following line from Pink Floyd's song 'Thin Ice' (off the Wall) kept repeating through my head: "Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice appears under your feet...".

Cheers,
Eric

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Collin Orthner on October 25, 2004 at 12:25 PM

Hi Eric,
Nice image. I don't mind the clouds as they allow the image to be a step back from pure abstraction. Although maybe the abstraction is what you are after.The clouds simulate the shape of the dark ice, only in the opposite direction, which to me keeps balance in the image. I also like the horizon line echoing the rough dark edges of the ice. Square works nicely here.

Cheers,

Registered on July 7, 2004, 35 Posts, 30 Comments

Comment posted by Bret Edge on October 25, 2004 at 12:32 PM

Eric:

This is awesome! I liked the thumbnail and I really like the larger version. Nice strong angles, great texture in the snow/ice and good contrast between dark and light. The clouds don't bother me at all. Just an all-together great photo.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 711 Posts, 6363 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Hobson on October 25, 2004 at 12:41 PM

yo eric,

so far, so good.

Registered on December 3, 2003, 702 Posts, 1062 Comments

Comment posted by Robbie George on October 25, 2004 at 12:49 PM

I like the image with clouds as well. Did you try any with the sun in the background? Robbie George

Registered on November 1, 2003, 19 Posts, 49 Comments

Comment posted by Juza on October 25, 2004 at 12:52 PM

Eric,
the clouds don't bother me. Very graphic image.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 374 Posts, 10466 Comments

Comment posted by Anil Rao on October 25, 2004 at 1:09 PM

Hi Eric,

Powerful and graphic. Very lovely. I dig the square framing.

Regards.

Registered on November 15, 2003, 234 Posts, 4923 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Hudon on October 25, 2004 at 1:55 PM

Dude, wow like <i>angular</i>, man.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 315 Posts, 2246 Comments

Comment posted by Eric Fredine on October 25, 2004 at 2:57 PM

Thanks folks.

Colin - Yes, it was the angle of the clouds that I liked - I wish nature would be a little more cooperative and give me a little more angle on those clouds!

Robbie - I didn't shoot in to the sun. Primarily because the shore shooting that direction is much closer and I knew I just wouldn't like the line of trees there. The water and ice around the cracks did look great when backlit though!

Thanks,
Eric

Registered on November 1, 2003, 148 Posts, 1464 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Schroeder on October 25, 2004 at 3:09 PM

Outstanding Eric. I love the simplicity and the textures. Very provocative.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 147 Posts, 518 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Podrid on October 25, 2004 at 6:50 PM

Wow, great photograph. It took me a few min to figure out what it actually was. The photogrpah definitly goes along with the Pink Floyd song

Registered on October 19, 2004, 7 Posts, 10 Comments

Comment posted by Thomas Creel on October 25, 2004 at 6:58 PM

I reserved commenting until I got home to view this on my good monitor. The angle is very cool. I am ambivalent toward the clouds. Altogether, this is a nice addition to your series.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 104 Posts, 852 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Dolde on October 25, 2004 at 8:04 PM

Outstanding- I feel like I am right there.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 305 Posts, 3900 Comments

Comment posted by Michel Legendre on October 25, 2004 at 8:20 PM

Eric, this one could be seen as a major fracture in your work.
Absolutely superb.

Salut

Registered on November 1, 2003, 93 Posts, 668 Comments

Comment posted by Andrew Joslin on October 25, 2004 at 11:41 PM

Everything that's happening from the horizon on down is so exciting that I'm not too worried about what's going on in the the sky. Can see why you wouldn't want the clouds there but they provide an interesting bit of familiar sky in an otherwordly scene (what Collin said more clearly). If you told me it was shot on the surface of a moon of Jupiter I'd be tempted to believe it.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 15 Posts, 137 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on October 26, 2004 at 12:10 AM

This is fascinating. I like the strong lines and sharp angles rendered in soft pastels - very surreal.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by Michael E. Gordon on October 26, 2004 at 1:30 AM

Pretty bitchen', as we say here in Kalifornia, Eric. Great work.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 90 Posts, 2482 Comments

Comment posted by Marko Trebušak on October 26, 2004 at 7:10 AM

Hi Eric!

The crack is very dominant, but when one passes it, there is much more to discover. The texture in snow and it's blue/pink colour is the nicest thing I discover while looking at it.

Good light
Marko

Registered on November 1, 2003, 98 Posts, 1260 Comments

Comment posted by Cory Freeman on October 26, 2004 at 7:13 PM

Eric,

I like the clouds and feel they "balance" the bend. When I first looked at this image I thought it was water on a dry lake bed or salt flat. Your images are very unique and abstract. Keep 'em coming.

Registered on December 16, 2003, 107 Posts, 1341 Comments

Comment posted by Andrew Joslin on October 26, 2004 at 7:44 PM

It finally hit me what I like so much about the ice fracture. It reminds me of a giant calligraphic brushstroke drawn on the landscape. When a brush loaded with ink is drawn across paper, the center of the line is darker where there is the most ink coverage. On the edges of the line there is a transition area where the ink bleeds into the paper. The ice fracture in the image behaves very much the same way, a dark stroke bleeding along the edge into the snow/paper.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 15 Posts, 137 Comments