Flowing water scenes can be so calming. When a slow shutter speed is used the water blurs and typically forms lines because the water is flowing somewhere. Photographers love lines because they can be used compositionally. These lines also tend to be nice and bright as the water changes into milky soft and flowing streams. The human eye always goes to the bright sections of images first which makes these lines even more powerful in terms of composition.

          The shoot these scenes the photographer will need a tripod as we are working with rather slow shutter speeds here. Watch for wind as the wind will cause foliage to move which in turn will render them out of focus. Secondly, a polarizer filter may also be helpful to cut out reflections on the water. Let's look at an example:

This is a typical shot of water flowing either away from the photographer or towards the photographer. This river just takes your eye into the distance. Obvious compositions like this are easy to spot and they are safe compositions as they mostly tend to work well. Having said that please bear in mind that photographing in or near water, especially moving water can be dangerous; so be careful.

          A more advanced method of composition is to use the water to point in a direction other than the flow of water. These compositions are more difficult to spot because our eyes do not see the same way as a camera does at slow shutter speeds. Look for calmer water. See if there are any little rapids that can be used to form a line. Here is an example:

You will see that I am at the same location on the same day. The water is flowing just the same, but this time I have used a little rapid to point to my scene. It draws the viewer's attention because it is brighter than the rest of the water and because it forms a line. Compositionally I placed the brighter line on a third. This adds interest to the foreground and serves the purpose of showing your eye where to look next.

          Look for these little rapids and use them compositionally to benefit your image.