Fragility

Gallery: LandscapePosted November 21, 2016187 views15 comments

Nothing is ever truly broken. That's the philosophy behind the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi which repairs smashed pottery by using beautiful seams of gold....the proof of it's fragility and its resilience is what makes it beautiful.
This fragment of a falls brings both fragility and resilience in the grace and beauty of a fragile branch before a powerful yet caressing fall of water.
Devil's Punchbowl Falls, New Zealand
f/5.6, 1/80s, ISO 125
three images blended for depth of field and water motion.

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Mattia Oliviero on November 21, 2016 at 5:34 AM

I cannot stop looking at this picture, Hillary. Charming mood and subject. The tree really stands out. Love this image. Congrats.

Mattia

Registered on August 24, 2016, 43 Posts, 254 Comments

Comment posted by Ronald Murphy on November 21, 2016 at 8:42 AM

Beautiful image! I might try brightening the tree a bit to separate it from the BG. Disappointed there was no large image to enjoy.

Registered on March 13, 2012, 279 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by Walt Sterneman on November 21, 2016 at 10:17 AM

Just an outstanding Image Hillary. Love this composition. Would love to hear the story behind how you got into position for this. I hope your not just standing on a bridge somewhere ;}

Registered on March 24, 2010, 73 Posts, 1268 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Jirka on November 21, 2016 at 10:21 AM

Image is confusing at first but then it becomes evidently clear. Wonderful. I would suggest to lighten it a bit to provide a more 3D effect to come through.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 254 Posts, 1620 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on November 21, 2016 at 2:09 PM

Hillary,

Don't want to be redundant, but agree with Walt on this being an outstanding image! You mention Japanese Kintsugi - the tree also reminds me of Bonsai.

The backdrop of the falls is just gorgeous and perfect. the silky texture with just enough detail just sings and marrys up with the bonsai tree.

The only suggestion I have agrees with Jim in perhaps just boosting the overall brightness just a bit. Otherwise, this is winner and a wall hanger.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Ana on November 21, 2016 at 2:32 PM

That's fantastic! I love how the texture of the rock on the right side has repeating shapes that are so similar to the tree, and all the little silver streams in that water in the background is just luscious.

Registered on February 10, 2004, 191 Posts, 1446 Comments

Comment posted by Prashant Khapane on November 21, 2016 at 3:28 PM

really really nice. Well done.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 492 Posts, 4580 Comments

Comment posted by Dave Dillemuth on November 21, 2016 at 8:57 PM

Outstanding image! It does come across a bit dark on my calibrated Mac and agree with the comments to brighten it a bit.

Registered on December 10, 2015, 104 Posts, 1112 Comments

Comment posted by gary phillips on November 21, 2016 at 10:30 PM

Beautifully done, Hillary. I love how you isolated the branch in front of the falls. I do see that some brightening, particularly the isolated tree would help. I might also consider bringing down the saturation of the vegetation on the sides of falls. That would further separate the colors from the tree. Outstanding as is.

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Schrayer on November 21, 2016 at 10:35 PM

This is very nice. I like the texture in the waterfall and the tree has a very exotic quality appropriate for New Zealand. Very nicely done.

Registered on May 28, 2004, 114 Posts, 2890 Comments

Comment posted by Marylynne Diggs on November 21, 2016 at 11:24 PM

This is fabulous Hillary. Great call on the multiple exposure for dof. I love the texture in the rock combined with the clarity of the tree. I would be interested to see a version with the tree brightened, but I really like its nearly silhouetted quality here.
Nice work.
ML

Registered on December 14, 2010, 122 Posts, 1034 Comments

Comment posted by Kathy Barnhart on November 22, 2016 at 12:48 AM

This is a wonderful, beautiful scene with an unusual take on a tree with such an unusual shape. Very Asian looking, which greatly appeals to me. The shutter speed for the water in the background is perfect and the comp works very well. I agree that you could try lightening it a little, but I also like it as is, looking somewhat mysterious.

Registered on November 11, 2011, 404 Posts, 1639 Comments

Comment posted by Hillary Younger on November 22, 2016 at 4:19 AM

Hi all,

Thank you so much for all the feedback.It's my first post here in a long time, and it's refreshing to have such great critique from you all.
I've lightened the image and the tree a bit, as that was a pretty unanimous critique. So here it is....and there was a desire for a larger version, so again, I posted this ligtened one at the maximum size :)

Registered on October 2, 2011, 17 Posts, 167 Comments

Comment posted by Hillary Younger on November 22, 2016 at 5:30 AM

...and Walt, no I wasn't just standing onn a bridge. this is just a 30 minuts hike from the trail head, though, so not a giant effort involved. This is a vignette of the falls. The temptation was there to shoot the whole falls in wide angle but that didn't satisfy me. I saw this tree from another angle entirely, but saw it in my mind's eye with the falls behind, so then had to manouvre to let reality coincide with my inner vision. :)

Registered on October 2, 2011, 17 Posts, 167 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on November 26, 2016 at 9:46 PM

Well this is awesome. I cant imagine blending the images for this was easy.

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments