Water Hyacinth (?)

[Julie Kenward]

I believe this is a water hyacinth plant but am not really sure. I know they are growing like wildfire all around a local pond's perimeter and had, at one point, little white and purple flowers that looked like little dutch iris. I found this one bobbing around away from the other plants en masse and took a shot of it. Looking back I wish I had moved it to the other side of the frame as it does look like it's "leaving" the image but I remember there was something on that right side I was trying to avoid and so took the shot anyway.

Canon 40D, EF 400 f5.6L
f10 @ 1/320th, ISO 400
Day WB, Evaluative metering, handheld, no flash
Processed in CS5 and Color Efex Pro 4 (added a touch of color contrast) and did a bit of cloning of small debris from the water/plant to clean it up a bit. Finished with NR.

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the colors together, and the ripples are absolutely beautiful. The reflection in the shadow is appealing, too. I wondered about flipping the image horizontally to put the plant on the other side, but I'm not really sure that'd be better. If I don't critically study the image, but just enjoy it, the plant looks like it's moving to the lower right. The shadow and the line of most of the leaves are pointing that way. I expect that the diagonal ripples, below it, keep my eyes moving left until they go back to the plant, again. That's good composition, right?

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Jules, I like how you keep managing to capture those interesting structeres and contrasts in the rippling water! Very good analysis of the composition by Dennis already provided. I would like to see a little more room on the right, placing the plant (which is indeed a water hyacinth) more symmetrically in the corner, but you already mentioned some contraints that prevented you from doing so.

[Ken Childs]

Hey Jules, another lovely water image.....the water looks tropical! I think we all agree that a bit more space on the right is all this needs to skyrocket to the top!

This is just a quick select and drag extension but I think it shows the potential of the larger canvas. I think with a little work this could be done convincingly.

103982

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jules. Beautiful blues and interesting patterns in the ripples. You're getting a lot of good use out of your 400 mm "macro." I would agree with your self-assessment of the comp. If the plant could have been in the same location on the left, this would be over the top. I like what Ken has done in the repost as the plant no longer seems like it's exiting the frame and is pleasantly placed in the ROT position. :S3:

[Julie Kenward]

Thank you everyone...I'll give it another go next spring when they come floating to the top again.