We most often shoot in the direction of flowing water or against the flow of water; upstream or downstream. But who says those are the only two ways of shooting flowing water? If the water is flowing, I do not just look at the direction of the water, I look at where the action is. Are there rapids? Are there sections where the water is more bubbly? Are certain areas brighter than others? These are the areas I want to be focussing on.

          When the water is brighter in certain parts than in other parts, lines tend to form. Yes, those lines are most often with or against the flow of the water, but not always. Regardless of the direction of flow, a photographer can use rapids, bubbles, and bright areas to create lines that lead into the image, because depth is great for many landscape images and lines help to create depth.

          Here is an example of an image where I chose to shoot across the flowing water instead of with or against the flow. I believe that I still created a line using the brighter parts of the water flow rather than using the directional flow of the water. This bright line leads right into the image. Shooting with or against the flow of water here would not have worked because there was nothing great in those directions to shoot.

What do you think, did it work? We can often times be so trapped in convention that we only follow convention. Break convention if needed. Photographic rules (such as the rule of thirds), generally work very well, that is why they exist. However, there will always be exceptions to any rule. Please do not let the rule make you miss the exception. Be able to spot when to break the rules. Go against convention. Be brave to do what is different.

So how do you spot the shot? When looking a flowing water, just look for the whiter parts. They may not be much brighter, but remember your sloooow shutter speed will help to exaggerate that water flow. The image will be much more exciting than seen by your eyes because of this effect. Now play with those brighter areas compositionally. Do you see any lines forming? Use them if there is something good behind them.