Judd Falls October 2014 in Ithaca Judd Falls on Cornell Campus

As soon as my good friend Bruce looks at this picture he will respond that he doesn't like the silky water because he wants to see the water as it "really" appears. Of course, I disagree telling him that water does not appear frozen in mid air. I shoot silky water because that is my preference. It is the way I "see" it. Photographers learn to make decisions when capturing images to show the "image" they desire and not necessarily the one visually before them. This falls is located on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, NY and the stream bank is adjacent to a busy main thorough fare. But as a photographer I chose to limit what appeared within the camera frame thus constructing an image that could easily be from deep within an isolated forest. I get to choose what I want viewers to see. I don't think of a camera as capturing "reality" simply because it can not do so. What we see in our camera displays represent decisions made by engineers, etc. to yield their vision of what the world looks like. For me getting better at photography, means not just accepting this vision. Indeed, if I let the engineers do all the work for me my friend Bruce would have a nice picture of water frozen in time, but that is not what my vision was. Whether in photography or other phases of life, one should never just take the choices offered but forge ahead with your own vision. Olympus OM-D E-M5 with m.zuiko 12-40mm/2.8@13mm, ISO200, f2.8, 1/3 s.