In this image, I try to hone down the world’s largest dam to its essence – sheer energy. It’s a simple idea: one spout of water plays against the curve of the dam itself and the turbulence of surging water at its base. I placed the entry point of the spout at the upper left hand corner, stabilizing it with the strong vertical wall at the left edge of the picture. I adjusted my framing so the curving spout of water strikes the river at lower right, literally creating a strong diagonal flow from corner to corner. I juxtapose this diagonal against a counter-diagonal – the base of the dam itself, which offers a sweeping curve through the picture from upper right to lower left. I use a shutter speed of 1/800th of a second to freeze the droplets of water as they fly through the air, and simultaneously freeze the movement of the river as it lashes the base of the dam as well. I had very little time to compose this image – the flying spray coated my lens and made picture-taking impossible within seconds. I had to envision the composition in my mind first, then lift the camera into position and shoot in one quick, fluid motion. It was not an easy task. Most of my shots showed nothing but a very wet lens. I had to practice the quick shot over and over until I could do it fast enough to succeed.