Continued/Release to Spring

[Patricia Sheley]

So here is an example: water on lens/how do you feel about it?

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

In this one, which I feel is a fine image worth some time and effort, I would be tempted to work on the droplets that appear in the flow of water, but not bother with the ones in front of the log. With some patience, some combination of the clone tool and content-aware fill (if you are using CS5) could probably lessen the impact of the most conspicuous droplets.

And, of course, on future rainy-day outings, always have an assistant with you carrying a hair-dryer on a long extension cord to dry your lens just before each shot. 

Eric

[tom b]

You don't need an assistant, just one of these…



Cheers,

[wolfnowl]

The colours are subtle, but for this image I prefer the colour to the B&W.

Mike.

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

I think you could leave the image as is.

Of course the droplets are somewhat distracting,
but on the other hand they tell a story about a photographer
being in the scene and getting affected.
So it adds a sense of authenticity, sorta reportage near to the scene ...
probably not right for a "fine art image", but I believe it can be an integrated part of the image.

You just neeed to control, where in your composition the droplets should appear ... 

I also prefer the b/w version.

[Jeremy Roussak]

In this one, which I feel is a fine image worth some time and effort, I would be tempted to work on the droplets that appear in the flow of water, but not bother with the ones in front of the log. With some patience, some combination of the clone tool and content-aware fill (if you are using CS5) could probably lessen the impact of the most conspicuous droplets.

I'd go further and try to remove them all: for me, they spoil a good shot.
I much prefer the b&w version.

Jeremy

[Rob C]

I think I'd settle for the B/W and leave the droplets alone. They make for a most different take on such images.

The log across the water looks almost like stone - very unusual indeed.

Rob C

[wolfnowl]

Well, Patricia, that narrows down your choices!  Either B&W or colour, and remove all, some or none of the water drops!!

Mike.

[Riaan van Wyk]

The droplets ain't working for me Patricia. But, as I have mentioned, they are a pet hate of mine, so my opinion is biased too much I guess.

[EduPerez]

Those droplets break the mod for me: yes, they tell a story about the process, but precisely what I like in a photograph is when it makes me forget I am looking at a photograph. And I prefer the color version: it is very subtle, and I would be tempted to remove it; but I think that in this case it adds some nice separation between the elements.

Just my two cents.

[Patricia Sheley]

Well, Patricia, that narrows down your choices!  Either B&W or colour, and remove all, some or none of the water drops!!

Mike.

Well , >!!!!, time to get my waffling mugwump off the fence then!!...and take a modicum of conviction going forth...  The replies approximate my own back and forth on this...and actually think that had I been trying to place them there and had hocus-pocused to get them focused, the wiggle room of various opinions would have been narrowed...as it stands, just the record of a place at that moment...

and...it is surprising  that while I could not react myself one way or another (I usually have no opinion/disinterested, or have strong immediate opinion) this one put questions in my mind...comes down  then to conviction.

Surprisingly it is this little group of OOF droplet images, that bring the thunderous sound, the heavily saline/iodine scented air, and the deep cold along with six inches of water in my wader right foot... it may have helped my tendency to float away to be mitigated. (An aside:The Super Duper Lens-Wiper is no longer available at B&H. Someone named Tom bought last one!)
Thanks to all for taking the time...And while I say that these seem to be the ones looking back that return me to place and experience , that would not be true for the viewer in general, so, positive result for me but not necessarily for the viewer at large...Thanks for your take....

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Patricia,

This sounds so much like the kind of quandary I find myself in more often than I would like, so here's what I would do if it were my image.

I would take Mike's suggestion to heart: "Well, Patricia, that narrows down your choices!  Either B&W or colour, and remove all, some or none of the water drops!!"

I would work on the color one to remove as well as I could the worst of the rain spots, and save that version. Then I would continue working on it to remove as nearly as possible all the rest of the droplets, and again save a version. Then I would convert each of these two new color variants to B&W, and finally I would make at least letter-sized prints of all six versions (including the two you posted here), and put all the prints away for a week or two.

Then, I would bring out all six prints and set them up where I could see them. I suspect that within a day or two you would find that one of the six satisfies your own needs better than any of the others. And, of course, what satisfies your own needs won't necessarily match what others may think. But they weren't there in that stream with you.

Good luck with it!

Eric

[ckimmerle]

I'm with Rob, leave the drops alone. Any fool can shoot a long-exposure of running water (and most of us do), and very few of the resulting images offer us anything new. Most are simply mundane. However, the drops in your photo offer us something special, unique.

Those that are saying the drops are distracting are simply wanting the scene to match their expectations and comfort level rather than appreciating the image as it is presented. Keep 'em.

[popnfresh]

+1 for the drops. Keep the drops.

[Rob C]

I'm with Rob, leave the drops alone. Any fool can shoot a long-exposure of running water (and most of us do), and very few of the resulting images offer us anything new. Most are simply mundane. However, the drops in your photo offer us something special, unique.

Those that are saying the drops are distracting are simply wanting the scene to match their expectations and comfort level rather than appreciating the image as it is presented. Keep 'em.

Hi Chuck!

Didn't you move somewhere new to live, a while ago?

Did it turn out okay or are you unsettled? Something I learned in life is this: you can seldom go back permanently to where you were if you spend about four years away. I think the blinkers come off and that's an experience that just continues the more you move around... Maybe we become examples of Flying Dutchmen.

I really don't know if it's a good thing or bad; it just is.

Rob C

[Patricia Sheley]

Well, the idea of getting away from them awhile...with some alternating versions printed out is interesting to me...I don't really need to work to remove water from the lens as I have a good group lens wiped also, but of course the water is very different in each...has been an interesting time with this group...glad I was out there...and glad to have the benefit of your thoughts...I posted a similar in Nature Photography wiped dry (Snowshoes) and even now looking back at it, it is surprising how the sense of it sterile of drops changes it...