Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Walking the Glen (4)
Much further downstream than the last picture.
(This is the first time that I've been able to make a post without using a workaround in weeks. Let us hope that the improvement continues)
Labels: colin
Permalink / posted by and copyright of Colin [auspiciousdragon.net] : 11:15 AM
Comments:
Welcome to reality! Somebody was really determined to get to grips with this river. Unusually, one could find the structure at the bottom more attractive than the broken tree/branch on the far bank. It's a pity that there wasn't an obliging sunbeam on the spring leaves of the willow but then I'm sure that they are not the primary subject matter here.
Going back to the comment I made on an earlier shot of this river bed, rivers running off from steep hills are always such a contrast to those flowing more slowly in the plains. A scene like this reminds me of the rivers in Madrid or Santiago in Chile: during the summer people used to live on the river bed in Santiago pre-Pinochet but were cleared out post-1973.
what a solid base that fallen fence makes, the nest layer of river rubble is a strong contrast, the river another and then the fallen branch and bank of the river/creek.
If you look at this as a wall rather than a receding landscape it feels like a very strong structure, if one layer was in the wrong position it woudl all fall down.
Some history: What took me off the path and down to the river was the dead tree on the opposite bank. I took a whole bunch of unsuccesful photos of that. It was only on the way back up to the path that I noticed the fence. The fence wasn't visible from the track. I checked later.
The function of the fence has now been replaced by a single strand electric fence. Keeps the stock out of the river presumably.
I can see the appeal of wanting to photograph the far tree limb in the water and with that backgound, an interesting contrast and juxsaposition.
And this is an equally interesting juxapositon of the 'idylic' stream and the downtrodden fencing.
Different organic forms; formed trees into wood slats, various and random rocks, the dark calm stream and then the textured hillside.
This leaves me wondering where does the wooden fence end up at in the foreground?
Doug - there is evidence of several generations of fence on the ground (not visible) which predate the current electric wire. The picket fence is only a short length and was probably originally at 90 degrees - running down to the water to stop animals going along the bank. It may even have once gone across the water to stop stock evading the boundary altogether.
A sandwich of colour and texture, so I see this more as an exploration of geometry, texture and colour.
The first few times I looked at this, the rocks in the mid ground seemed to o bright. On revisiting this, they look more of a soft pink than I remembered, which works well with the dark green of the far bank.
Chunks of fence like this often make good impromptu bridges for hikers.
matt - technically the difficulty with this shot was that the stones were reflecting light. The exposure had to be set to stop the mid ground burning out. That left everything else underexposed. Processing was all about regaining some balance.
Technically, an excellent job balancing this tonally. The fence in the foreground appeals, as does the background stripe with the dead branch. The center stones overwhelm me though -- the composition seems static, and that large hard, "wall" of stones keeps me from getting into the scene.
There are snippets of interest here but the fence up front dominates proceedings for me. It's trying so hard to blend in with its surroundings. Like Christina the wall of stones does hold the viewer back but as I said, there are pockets of interest in the back there to warrant a closer inspection.
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Going back to the comment I made on an earlier shot of this river bed, rivers running off from steep hills are always such a contrast to those flowing more slowly in the plains. A scene like this reminds me of the rivers in Madrid or Santiago in Chile: during the summer people used to live on the river bed in Santiago pre-Pinochet but were cleared out post-1973.
If you look at this as a wall rather than a receding landscape it feels like a very strong structure, if one layer was in the wrong position it woudl all fall down.
The function of the fence has now been replaced by a single strand electric fence. Keeps the stock out of the river presumably.
And this is an equally interesting juxapositon of the 'idylic' stream and the downtrodden fencing.
Different organic forms; formed trees into wood slats, various and random rocks, the dark calm stream and then the textured hillside.
This leaves me wondering where does the wooden fence end up at in the foreground?
Chunks of fence like this often make good impromptu bridges for hikers.