Wade On In

[Judd Patterson]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3281/2582733093_26d4d58b71_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/juddpatterson/2582733093/)

I had a meeting up in Chattanooga and extended it into the weekend to revisit Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For this image I waded waste deep into the middle of the stream (dunking my remote release in the process). There was a huge rock just out of view on the front side of this image or I would have probably included more foreground water. I also plan to revisit this image and tone down the whites a bit more...but Photoshop is out of commission for a short period. :)

Canon 5D, 17-40mm
1.3s, f/16, ISO 160

[Harold Stiver]

Very nice, Judd. I like a lot of things about this, particularly the aspect you shot it from, worth a bit of soaking.

I agree the whites are a bit too dominant, not only high but a bit too expansive for my tastes. I would probably trim the bottom as much as I could to the edge of your large foreground rock.

The color of the background greens looks very fresh, well done.

[David Kennedy]

Judd,
I was just there--which part of the river was this captured at? It reminds me of an area just north of the Smokemont campground, near a footbridge that leads to a trailhead....next time I'm bringing my water shoes!!!

I agree that the whites are a bit much, but the perspective is killer. If you find a way to tone them down, please re-post the image.

Cheers
,David

[Judd Patterson]

David, this is over in the Tremont area...I'm much less familiar with the NC side of the park (another trip!). No water shoes necessary...just shed the shoes and socks and wade on in ;) (forgot my water shoes too). Looks like we were both been in the park around the same time; June 13-15th. Too bad we didn't know that in advance!

[Arthur Morris]

A well done classic. I too would love to see it with the whites a bit more under control. Getting wet is a good thing!

[Robert Amoruso]

Nice work Judd. When I was there last year I waded too as it give you the best persepctive most times. Unfortunately, an infected in-grown toe nail really put a kaboosh on a lot of my hiking.

My suggestion would be to clone the edge of that stick on the rock touching the edge of the frame. Not the whole stick, just the part that touches the edge - the bent part.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Judd,
Get that PS fixed so we can get a re-post with a bit of detail in the whites. You not only have the river as a leading line but also the tones of the trees going from dark to light. This is great composition......hope to get to see the corrected version soon!

[David Kennedy]

David, this is over in the Tremont area...I'm much less familiar with the NC side of the park (another trip!). No water shoes necessary...just shed the shoes and socks and wade on in ;) (forgot my water shoes too). Looks like we were both been in the park around the same time; June 13-15th. Too bad we didn't know that in advance!

No kidding--I was there from the 13th to the 16th.......Sheesh! And I did wind up taking off my shoes and socks for Midnight Hole in the Big Creek area (NE part of the park), but then the clouds broke up and I got my tripod waterlogged for nothing.......Next time!

[Judd Patterson]

Ok folks, thanks for the patience. I just got Photoshop back up and running tonight and gave this image proper treatment. Let me know what you think...

http://www.juddpatterson.com/BPN/new_smoky.jpg

[Arthur Morris]

Still a classic, but much improved.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Judd,
Glad you got it back. A ton of detail now in the whites. Sweet!

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Absolutely excellent image. Liked everything about it. The greens looks so good. If at all I have to pick a nit, it would be the slightly (just slightly) annoying stick which is protruding from the left edge of the frame.