I built this image around the light falling on the plants on either side of the turbulent water. The sunlit plants are like pathfinders, illuminating the way for the onrushing waters. I used my spot-metering mode, exposing for the highlights and letting the shadowed portions of the image slide into darkness. I also stress the texture and frozen movement of the water, which required a fast shutter speed. Some photographers would have used a tripod, a neutral density filter, and a slow shutter speed to blur the water as a silky torrent. However I have long felt that such silky water can call attention to technique itself at the expense of the natural world, and when used repeatedly can become gimmicky. I feel that as a nature and landscape photographer, I am expressing my ideas as a witness, and my images should bear true witness to its wonders. For that reason I do not employ special photographic effects at either the moment of exposure or later in post processing in nature and landscape photography. I try to let the landscape speak for itself, and as far as I’m concerned, this landscape does.