Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Each year, the OVTA (Overmountain Victory Trail Assocation) stages a Reenactment of the Crossing of the Watauga at Sycamore Shoals, commemorating an event that occurred before the Battle of Kings Mountain in the Revolutionary War. They work in conjunction with Watauga River Regional Water Authority to control the level of water in the river for the days surrounding the event.

I like this shot because the river looks "almost" like a placid lake, with very little current flowing downstream. Here a couple of reenactors got up early in the morning to ford the river. I was interested particularly in the relection of the clouds in the river. I was also very happy that there were no discernible "modern" distractors in the background.

Canon 5D MK II with 24-105mm f/4 IS lens, shot at f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO 200, Program Mode, Evaluative metering

C&C invited and feel free to edit the photo with your own view as to how it should be presented.

First Crossers of the Day

snails_pace Loc: Utah

You were at the right place at the right time and got a good image!

Well ... a picture needs a subject ... and either it is the people fording the river or the landscape. This is probably missing the point, but since the people are so small in the image, I decided to make the landscape the subject. I also love the reflection of the clouds in the water...

So ... I removed the people and sharpened and adjusted levels a bit. A very nice picture I think .. it has dark shadows that aren't really clipped, very nice midtones, and highlights that aren't overexposed.

edit ... I'd love to see a reenactment so I hope this isn't missing the point

Nightski

I would keep the people and lose the foreground foliage. It's not attractive and it gets in the way of those gorgeous cloud reflections, and the top one competes with the background trees.

Chuck_893 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Bob, I keep looking at this, which is a good sign (lingering), but I agree with Nightski. One of the first things I thought was that the little group in the ford is nearly dead center in the frame. I am NOT a fan of "rules," but in this case I'd have preferred to see them more to the left of the frame, closer to the intersection of the "thirds." I think it would be more dynamic. A minor point that keeps bothering me a little is questioning why the forders seem to have stopped. The boy looks to be moving on but the women seem to be examining something mid-river. I'd rather see them all wading along in the same direction.

I AM normally a big fan of the "foliage frame" trick to add depth to a landscape (I use it all the time), but in this case I think it is intrusive. The branches down right intrude right into the magnificent reflection of the clouds, and as Nightski points out the ones up left compete with the background trees. I even tried a crop from up left to get the forders away from center and remove the up left distraction, hoping that the down right branch would work better, but I still don't think it does. I think it would have worked way better with no foreground foliage at all. (I suspect cloning out all that busy branch would be pretty nightmarish, though.) :(

Overall I think the scene had tremendous potential. I don't suppose you tried some without the "foliage frame?" :-)

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

First of all, this was always about the people in the stream, so taking them out is not an option I would embrace. That being said, I have noticed on this forum although a lot of you say that the Rule of Thirds is just a guideline and meant to be broken from time to time, almost invariably you come back to it, saying such things as it would make your subject stand out more. OK, OK - I get it (but won't always be bound by it). I recropped this photo to more closely comply with the rule, using a grid during cropping. If I had adhered strictly to that placement, I would have lost a lot of interesting stuff, both in the treeline and in the reflection of clouds in the water. Ergo, I present my "almost there" rendition, sans the foreground distractions.

So, about the original ..... I use a rollator to help me walk and wading out into the river was not an option for me to get a shot without the branches in the foreground. I was lucky to find just enough break in the trees to get the shot in the first place. And the reason I didn't originally attempt their removal is that "nuisance removal" is not always satisfactory - it becomes noticeable in blurred sections, and the edges don't always match up as beautifully as they do in nature. However, I gave it my best shot.

I appreciate your comments and have incorporated some of your suggestions.

Variation 1 on Crossing at Sycamore Shoals

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

The ladies were being careful of where to place their feet so as not to slip on a stone and fall in the river. You might notice, the boy has a walking stick in his hand, so he just charged off fearlessly.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Hi, Bob,
I really like the image and your explanation of the historical tradition. It is touching to see the early forders taking part so early in the day that the approbation of a watching crowd is not their motivation...that it goes deeper...

My only suggestion is a half-nit less than a nit pick, but I do think that moving the two forders about their combined width to the left would put them very effectively on the left standard of the R.O.T. .... and then leave the rest alone.
I like the foliage framing for definite depth effect.

As one who loves history I especially like this image; it is effective at several levels; not only visual, but also emotional and intellectual.

Best,
Dave

Chuck_893 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Ah! The old walking-stick-in-the-ford trick! :-) Used it often myself long ago in backpacking days.

I like your second version very much better, and I cannot see where you have carefully removed the down right tree so it is very well done.

I seriously do not believe in hard-and-fast "rules" of composition. Visiting hundreds of art museums over many years and studying long at various great paintings and photographs proves to me (anyway) that many of the Giants never heard of them, so one has to study hard to figure out sometimes why something works when (theoretically, by the "rules" ) perhaps it shouldn't. I do think, however, that often a picture works better if its main center of interest, in this case the group in the ford, is not centered in the frame. I have to admit that I have never formally studied compositional theory, so I'm talking through my hat, but in this case I think off-centering the main subject works better. :D

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Damn, Dave! Really hung up on the Rule of Thirds, aren't you. Ok, just to let you know, it doesn't really bother me where the current waders are located. But, as a technical challenge, I wanted to see if I could comply with your suggestion. So I reached into my Toolbox, extracted PSE 12 and employed its new "Content Aware Move Tool". You'll have to tell me if you thought it was effective (I actually prefer the "before" image).

Variation 2 on Crossing at Sycamore Shoals

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Beautifullyexecuted! Was it effective? To my eye, ab-so-damn-loot-ly!
Thanks for humoring me, friend Bob!

I actually had hoped the foliage in the lower right could have been preserved as well.....you know....depth n'all.....?

Dave

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Just some additional musings on composition and its rules/ suggestions...for what they may be worth...

As one introduced to major museum art collections as a young child and been a devoté thereof throughout life, and having more recently availed myself of the incredible resource of art history provided by Google searches of the great artists' pictures I note that we can tour world-class collections of Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Titian, Stieglitz, Gaugin, Strand, Hopper, Steichen, Pollock, Eisenstadt, Hein, Audubon, Rothko, Rauschenburg, Picasso, Rockwell, McCurry, and innumerable others. I've come to agree that many of our modern "rules" of composition were often ignored or unknown by the greats, but also have concluded that when they, perhaps accidentally, happened or happen to nail the R.O.Thirds., or atmosphric perspective, or geometric perspective, or foreshortening (before the invention of Durer's contraption), or the concept of leading lines, or the gentle "S" curve before Hogarth appropriated it as his own, and the balance...or stark imbalance of positive and negative space...their product gained greatly in viewer appreciation...certainly mine... So, as one who also firmly believes that any and all such rules and principles can be constructively violated...and violated to incredibly positive effect...I also submit that unless there be excellent reason for ignoring them, we do so sometimes at a bit more than a little risk.

J.M.H.O.

Dave in SD

gdwsr Loc: Northern California

I agree with you Bob. It is really important to not get too hung up on the the "rules"; they should be considered concepts. I have talked about this before. But in this case, even if you were trying to use geometric composition to maximize the feeling of harmony, you would technically place the subjects according to the Golden Ratio (which the RoT is just a simplification of) which is what you did in your original composition.

While I am at it, you didn't mention the feeling or mood you wanted to depict. Since it is a reenactment of some hard times, I am wondering if you are really wanting the viewer to feel all that serene. Zooming in, I love the waders, the body language, expressions make me feel tentative. But the landscape is definitely competing with them for my attention.

Artistically, the foreground branches are distracting the way they are composed but I think provide a sense of where the waders are headed (to dry ground) and give a bit of a stealthy feel (added tension) as if someone was covertly watching the waders.

Do you have any other shots of them?

Hope this helps.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

GDWSR, I like your one rule ..... Be nice! Yes, many more shots of the event, can be seen at: http://www.revolutionarywarphotoarchives.org/OVTACrossestheWatauga/index.html A caveat: the photo gallery was shot to record a historical event, not as an exercise in good photography.

Now, one last rendition of the photo, taking into account several recommendations as to recomposure .....

Variation 3 on Crossing at Sycamore Shoals

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

I think your variation 2 version is the most appealing to me. A nice composition, a bit closer on the people, and the removal of distracting elements in the foreground. You might wish to up the contrast or add some clarity or structure to the image. 8-)

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

I like the idea and the shot. Based on what you've said, I've tried to bring out the figures and emphasize a bit where they are heading through cropping and some dodging and burning.