Photos of the Week: March 23, 2012

HOW I GOT THE SHOTS: The Mighty Jordan. Or is it the Mighty Mississippi, I forget? Muddy Mississippi? I guess the Muddy Jordan will have to do. And it was muddy. I had to dodge large raindrops as well to keep my equipment dry, shooting one-handed while holding an umbrella aloft. Weather, any kind but hot and dry, is an outdoor photographer's best friend, always adding interest to the sky and landscape and challenge to the adventure.

Standing on a narrow bridge directly over the river, I waited out the rain to catch a shot with sunlight reflecting off the water. Although it was midmorning, a time when I shun photographing, the heavy cloud cover, wet ground and rushing water combined for a unique view of Israel's most important river. I cropped the image to bring the water into the photo from the lower right corner and lead the viewer downstream.

In the lower photo, I scrambled down closer to the water and framed the scene with a patch of mustard grass, helping to define the season the photo was taken. In both photos, I waited until the sun crawled out from behind clouds to add a little sparkle to the highlights on the moving water. Israel has been blessed with ample rain this winter, but the water will surely recede and the trees retreat from midstream to their usual spot along the bank's green edge.

TECHNICAL DATA:

Upper Photo: Nikon D700, tripod mounted, manual exposure, evaluative metering mode, f22 at 1/250th sec., ISO 200. Raw file converted to Jpeg. Lens: Nikon 28-105 zoom at 38 mm. Date: Mar. 16, 2012, 10:22 a.m. Location: Jordan River crossing at Kibbutz Neot Mordechai, Israel.

Lower Photo: Nikon D700, tripod mounted, manual exposure, evaluative metering mode, f11 at 1/2000th sec., ISO 400. Raw file converted to Jpeg. Lens: Nikon 28-105 zoom at 34 mm. Date: Mar. 16, 2012, 10:32 a.m. Location: Jordan River at Kibbutz Neot Mordechai, Israel.