Rivers 2

Summer Sunlight on the River 1

Strong early afternoon sunlight breaking out from the clouds giving us some high contrast looks at mature trees on the riverbank and two of those tree reflections in particular. Could be a tropical river somewhere.

Summer Sunlight on the River 2

Strong early afternoon sunlight breaking out from the clouds giving us some high contrast looks at mature trees & shrubs on the riverbank and some of those tree reflections in particular. Could be a tropical river somewhere.

Summer Sunlight on the River 3

Strong early afternoon sunlight breaking out from the clouds giving us some high contrast looks at mature trees & shrubs on the riverbank and some of those central tree reflections in particular. Nice when you get the blue sky reflecting in the water as well, and the nice soft wash of bounced light on the shrubs leaves in the left hand foreground edge. Could be a tropical river somewhere.

A breezy day on the River

Summer lush foliage all moving about in the breeze here but even the slightly ruffled water giving us clearish reflections of what’s going on. Nice soft light in the cloudy early afternoon and a stillness every now and then as the breeze eases a bit.

Summer on The River

Late afternoon muted sunlight washing this quiet riverscape with soft light, picking out detail, architecture, texture and some nice reflections in the silky darks of the water. The stone walkway will get you across the river but only in low water levels like this.

Summer jungle riverside

The mass of vegetation along both riverbanks here allowing this one naked tree in the middle to stand out. It may be dying off or just taking a rest but right now, it’s architecture and look are a nice foil to the rest of the busy summer growth all vying for all the available light and moisture it can get access to - hence the lean-out into and across the river. Amazingly most of this dies off in the winter months and the whole thing becomes a sparse mix of empty branches and twigs, grasses and grass.

White Bridge Across the River

This mid afternoon shot on a cloudy summers’ day shows off all there is of this scenic view of what was an old bridge that has now been revamped. The old stonework at each end and some of the original cobbles on it are testament to the fact that many folk have tramped across this bridge since the original stonework was put in several centuries ago when real-life jousting was a culturally approved choice for those at the top of the social system then. Who knows what this old bridge has seen in its’ time here

Quiet River Reflections

Just near the White Bridge, this quiet clear unruffled water gives up these beautifully soft-lit reflections as the late afternoon sunlight just washes it gently. Then soft wrap-around quality of the light at this time of the day can be truly breathtaking when we just take the time to breathe in and out quietly and spend time within it.

Summer Lushness Riverside

The late afternoon sunlight just casting a softness and an all-pervading gentleness on everything in this shot - from far to near - allowing a beautiful light to be here, both in and out of the water. The light during the day moves really fast, much faster than we would guess without spending the time watching it, and so, to get this overall clarity of light everywhere without any glare is a real gift. Wonderful.

More Summer Lushness Riverside

That same late afternoon light as in Riv 210 giving us clarity and detail, right to the back of the shot, even though the light is a little ‘hotter’ there. Nice darks in the still waters along the way. A peaceful quiet summer riverside which is a real blessing to be able to be near.

Under the White Bridge

The very last of the late afternoon sunlight just disappearing but washing the superstructure and water, the vegetation and reflections, with a softness that allows a non-glare look at it all. Wonderful ! Pigeons like to roost under the bridge there, in the top, under the rafters. You can hear them cooing whenever you are nearby

Evening light on the River

The sun just dying away now and the heat of the summer day still here and lots of bounced light all over. The river surface shows it and the rest is in a mixture of visible detail or silhouette. The end of another Summers’ Day on the river.

Busy full River Water

After heavy rainfalls, or several days of lighter rains, this small river starts flooding in this busy way and all the now submerged rocks in the way produce some sort of nice waterfall effect. Streaming the water to show the movement, with slow shutter speeds, shows it off the way you see it for real. I like the white water effects against the darker seamed streamlined surfaces. You can almost hear it roaring, as it seems to do, in an endless sound when you’re anywhere near it. What Niagara sounds like must be something else !

The River in the Gloaming

As the light starts to fade away almost completely, this summer river shot starts taking on all the darks whilst some of the lighter bits are still visible and this is how it really looks when you’re there using your eyes so, why not show it like that !? The stillness and a sense of being ‘A Part-of’ something bigger and deeply wiser than you, is very real and somehow satisfying and reassuring. And the river moves on. Always. And the vegetation keeps on growing – unstoppably

Reflections as the River goes by.

All those small off-white streaks across this shot are the small bits of detritus or foam on the surface of the river here, all moving along and allowed to show that movement with slow shutter speeds, whilst the real shot - the reflections of all those leaves on the far bank - and some of the trees, goes deep into the almost clear water and softens them somehow. The few much darker green leaves right at the bottom of the shot are those just on the edge of the bank I’m set up on and am taking the shot from. It gives you some perspective on the whole thing.

The Herons’ Perch on the River

The resident Heron here often like to stand on this tree waiting to spy a snack swimming along. On this day, as the light is almost all gone now, the rare very clear still water gives us most of these wonderful reflections of all this stupendous summer vegetation growing like there’s no tomorrow. Summer on the river, and a hot day tomorrow will find all this wonderment doing it’s thing and life being live large by everything here or visiting. Wonderful.

Low level Summer River Runs

This shot is taken from the same bridge as the shot in Riv 225, just looking the other way, downstream. What’s in between is the Salmon Run which starts on one side of the narrow wooden bridge on the higher side, above the weir there, and funnels out on the other, this lower side, so the water you see in this shot is the left over from the waterfall effect from that run. The light almost all gone here as well and the slow shutter speed giving us the moving water and a merged surface patina that is a lovely mix of all the greens and some of the reflected white light, which does it for me, every time.

Most of the Salmon Run

This is the lower half of the run and shows a reasonably full water flow this day but it can be so high and full of surging water that none of the superstructure shows at all and it’s just a white water seething mass. Good detail in the clear light of the midday overcast day. This run allows all the fish and eels that are migrating one way or the other to get where they’re on the way to, thus preserving the spawning grounds in the big lake way up at the source of this small but mightily busy little River.

The Middle of the Salmon Run

Often the many bits of vegetative detritus that finds its’ way to the small barrier in the clear water just at the top of this run, is worked loose by the current and/or the sheer force of water coming downstream, that it gets pushed into the run and soon you get a whole run that needs cleaning out to free it up again - which is what happens, pretty much every three months or so. Folk with ropes harnessing them to an overhead gantry, and very decent sticky footwear, plod up and down this run chucking out what’s in the way. Takes them half a day to start then get to the finish. Not for the faint-hearted !

Water sure is a Force of Nature

This is part of the top of the weir that goes from one side of the river to the other, with the top of the Salmon Run in the middle (a bit to the left of this shot). The water, in full flood, just peels itself in powerful streams, over the lip that you see at the top of this shot, then hits the stone ledge about 24” below that and, such is the power of the force of all that oncoming water it bounces up in the air and forms a curve = the top of which is the sort of fuzzy white water foamy line across the shot (the second line from left to right in the shot) and that crescent shape goes up in the air then curls down back towards the lower level and the slope it now hits, where it bounces one more time and quickly joins the maelstrom of white water all boiling around at the bottom of this weir/run arrangement, and off it goes in gradually easing freneticisms, onwards downstream. One of the ways I know it is so powerful is by looking at the shutter speed I need to use to get even this slight level of freezing of the whole thing so as to see any detail at all = 4000th of a second ! That’s not a slow speed !

One of Natures’ Line Drawings

Every now and then a shot rears its’ head and you just hope you’re quick enough to get set up and snatch it before it disappears. On this occasion it worked. The darks were dark enough and the lights still with some depth to them to be able to photographically redraw these wonderful lines of movement on top of the water at this small set of rapids on this small river as the gloaming set in and all usable light disappeared. It’s like some esoteric sketch in an upmarket magazine or in a science exam question. Beautiful, is what it is to me. Glad I was there.

Mini Rapids on this small river 1

Late evening light lending a warm glow to this lovely scene of full water breaking across rocks right across this small river and giving us these wonderful water trails in slow motion as they disappear downstream and the rest the vegetation basks in welcome moisture-laden air as another hot summer late evening on the river moves slowly on.

Mini Rapids on this small river 2

Late evening light lending a warm glow to this lovely scene of full water breaking across rocks right across this small river and giving us these wonderful water trails in slow motion as they disappear downstream and the rest the vegetation basks in welcome moisture-laden air as another hot summer late evening on the river moves slowly on.

Mini Rapids on this small river 3

Late evening light lending a warm glow to this lovely scene of full water breaking across rocks right across this small river and giving us these wonderful water trails in slow motion as they disappear downstream and the rest the vegetation basks in welcome moisture-laden air as another hot summer late evening on the river moves slowly on