Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

No, you aren't crazy. I don't like milky water. It's a matter of personal preference and what's going on with the art community. One day some famous artist will create another popular method and people will follow.

CO

That's an outstanding image. I don't think the flowing water takes away from the image. I think you got the blur just right. You get a sense of the rushing water without the water loosing its turbulent character.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Raddad Loc: Lake Oswego, Oregon

I try to shoot for both sharp and blurred effects, varying degrees of blurring. There is, more often than not, one of the blurred images that looks better than any of the rest. This is seldom the most blurred image. Not infrequently, the sharp high-speed image is my clear choice. In short, your eye and your preference is worth more than the critic's opinion who "knows" what is perfect, and "knows" that perfect is always superior to "pleasing." Don't ya just love photography! Keep shooting! "Perfect" has perfect alternatives in the eyes of the beholder.

anotherview Loc: California

HDR has its place, like all photographic effects.

Good photographs combine technique and art. (Feininger)

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

These seem to depict/duplicate/capture true waterfalls witk tke proper "white"

illininitt

I like the blurry effect...but without a tripod/special settings on the camera. Unless somebody can not come up with a way with no settings/tripod....I don't need it that bad. God made auto for a reason....
I think it bad enough to carry camera gear around on like...but ADD a tripod!? AND have to set it/unset it up...no way!

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

It is seldom that I carry a tripod when venturing far from my car - it is ten I use the camera stabilisation methods of: finding something solid to brace against, an improvised "bean bag"

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

Tom,

I replied to this post earlier, but have been following it and wanted to say your photo example is absolutely beautiful to me. I know you said you thought it was too much, but it is not overdone in my opinion. But that is the key point I and others have made... what I like, you may not like and vice-a-versa. It is up to the individual photographer, what pleases the person taking the picture is what matters. Same as all the rules.... some say all images should meet the rules, but that is not always the case. Sometimes you have to break a rule and take the photo as you see it and how it pleases you, and conveys what you want it to. Some may not like it and others will. Photography is an art same as painting, and therefore the image is an expression of what the photographer saw and his view of it.

sazfoto

For me it depends on the shot. Sometimes blurry works sometimes it doesn't. Not sure about what others see? When I look at the water flowing from a stream, it doesn't look blurry to me. Sometimes creating unnatural blurriness, ruins the photo.

Silke Loc: Germany

I like both of them, for different reasons. :)
The first is very surreal and saturated, and (to me) highly artistic, with a lot of detail that's been pulled forward. That makes it an interesting image for me. Lots to discover -- but also (in my opinion) lots of mystery lost because of the extreme mirroring.

The second is natural looking, with some depth, but not a lot, and with less distractions. It reminds me of a SSS Render I once did. :) (Subsurface Scattering)
Of course, if I saw this posted without explanation... I would suspect it to be a 3D Render. (Albeit a VERY good one lol.)
It seems bland in comparison to the first, but it is an excellent image, and without the distraction of the first, stands very well on its own. I like how you see the reflections, but they aren't as overwhelming as those in the first.

Either way -- good job!

But... I digress :) The topic was about flowing water, not HDR, which is a whole 'nother can of worms. :)

To me, if I can no longer recognize water as being water -- then there is too much blurring going on.
But as they say: Eye of the Beholder.
Something I like isn't necessarily something someone else likes.
And that is perfectly fine.
If everyone had the same taste, the world would be boring!

BlackRipleyDog

If the marketplace is any indication, go to 500px. Insane number of photographers doing it and getting sky-high ratings for their work.

BlackRipleyDog

Since this image is essentially HDR in nature, the effect on the water is secondary since at least three frames were probably shot and the water did move during those exposures.
I feel the HDR is done well and appealing. The flowing water was an artifact of the HDR process.