More than a gorge...

[whited3]

Not a cave, more than a gorge..

Very fast water in there and thigh deep in places (I'm 187cm). Waders on, cold and wet. The 5Ds fogged up afterwards so somehow moisture's got into it. Dried out over night and came good.

[Cantab]

Mark, while I was looking at your photos, the word that came to mind was grotto. Whatever is the best geographical characterization of the site, it is unusual and grabs the attention.

When I first looked at the second photo, I felt somewhat distracted by the blurred foreground. But I can see the reasons why you included it. In that shot you appear to be standing in the middle of the water flow with a good view of the caverns as they continue in the distance. Do they continue for some distance beyond what can be seen in the photo?

[whited3]

Thanks Bruce.

There's more beyond that bend but I didn't go that far. I suspect it opens up into a canyon. The main diff between #2 and all my other shots was the sunlight broke through, hence the "threads" on water flow.

Mark, while I was looking at your photos, the word that came to mind was grotto. Whatever is the best geographical characterization of the site, it is unusual and grabs the attention.

When I first looked at the second photo, I felt somewhat distracted by the blurred foreground. But I can see the reasons why you included it. In that shot you appear to be standing in the middle of the water flow with a good view of the caverns as they continue in the distance. Do they continue for some distance beyond what can be seen in the photo?

[billtils]

An excellent set Mark. Glad the camera recovered (and also that you didn't join it in getting wet ...)

[royent]

I'm sorry but I don't like things out of focus at the front of a photo
Roy

[DanK]

A beautiful spot, but I have to agree with Roy. There are exceptions, but more often than not, blurry stuff, either motion blur or material out of focus, in the very front of an image is distracting. And in the first image, that's roughly half the image.

I think that one thing making this particularly pronounced is that the water is only partly blurred. If it were entirely blurred, and if there were some cropped off the bottom, it might work, because then the blurred water would be one shape. Now it's a mix of partially visible and partially blurred rocks.

[Chataignier]

What a superb spot. As for the photos, I dont agree with Roy and Dan, some prefer landscape shots all tightly in focus but I dont mind a bit if the shot starts out of focus becomes sharp in the main subject area and then even fades back to out of focus in the distance. Of course, the sharp area must cover the main subject, but a soft lead-in is fine in my opinion.
I like these shots.

[selig1656]

The last capture is the best, while the others seem to create a sense of lacking in the forefront, not soothing to my taste.

[Geoff F]

The speed of flowing water and out of focus foregrounds is a rather personal taste.

I prefer images which have real speed water and sharp foregrounds, although distant backgrounds can fade into out of focus areas.