Foam on water

[acurtis]

I recently posted the first of the photos shown below in the last Contest and would welcome comments. They are from a series of shots of (natural) foam on the surface of the River Tyne below a bridge on the edge of a large eddy. In the most turbulent parts of the water the patterns are fleeting and rapidly dynamic. I don't think they show any great photographic merit but I feel they may have a bit of a modern art quality about them. Is this subject worth persuing and how could I do a better job?

Mostly taken from 20 feet vertically above water using 3x optical zoom but some also from water's edge:

Camera Model Name
Canon DIGITAL IXUS 400
Tv( Shutter Speed )
1/50
Av( Aperture Value )
5.0

Thanks for looking.

Andy


Strange Attractor (from chaos theory)
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=7611407

Big Eddy (after a friend of mine)
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=7622358

Foam on the Tyne (after the Lindisfarne song 'Fog on the Tyne')
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=7622359

[smudge]

I wondered what that was in the competition.
I like the first one, more now I know what it is.
The others are a bit too severe for me. Bright.

[c0ntr0lz]

the 1st is the coloest in contrast and style
the 2nd is cool cause it looks like a hurricane with a bunch of lights in it.
the 3rd uugh

[Sailor Don]

Andy,

Good photography, from a technical perspective. If you are using the camera as a tool for modern art, you have accomplished your mission.

But good (technical) photography doesn't always make good photographs. That's just my opinion. I prefer photographs that have a "story", "message", evoke a "feeling". Something more than "This is my photographic attempt at modern art."

Just a personal opinion.

[acurtis]

Thanks for the comments folks.

When I took the photos I certainly had nothing in mind (other than the contest perhaps) and they were just meant as a record of the natural phenomenon I had been watching. So, I think there is a story (at least to me) of the 30 minutes I spent watching the river. The dynamic changes would be a lot more interesting as a movie if I was into that medium. The question of photography and art and who we take pictures for is another one I'm not well qualified to persue.

The second shot was much starker as Smudge points out, as the river was deep and dark and the foam of the 'hurricane' had little structure or colour. I agree the third is rubbish and that will be consigned to the wastebasket shortly.

It's a bit like this forum really. As the big eddy heads inexorably toward the sea and ultimate oblivion, this message is heading towards the archives. It may spin about once or twice before it gets there, of course.

Regards

Andy