I got caught being lazy, and apparently people actually enjoy my ramblings about the photographs in each round, so here we go. I didn't vote and these are just my opinions.

I like the way Bryon Dorr used the trees to frame Koosah. The colors and light at great, as is the exposure. Too bad the paddlers position is very passive with a 45 degree paddle stroke and little lean to the back, that really throws off the excitement of the image. If you're wondering how that works on Koosah, wonder no more. In the second image of someone racing is pretty incredible for a run like Homestake Creek, where I'm assuming this was shot. Unfortunately there is really nowhere for the paddler to go in this shot, yet it's not tight enough to see the eyes and make an emotional connection with what's happening.


I rarely like back lit images, but Adrian Tregonings is mostly working for me. It needs a slightly tighter crop to get rid of the dead space in the trees up top, and big black area at the bottom right that draws the eye, then the image really sings. I love his second picture, even though slanted horizons generally drive me crazy, Adrian makes it work with great lighting in this shot, and advances into the semi-finals. I can't resist cropping and showing below.



Both of Eric Chances shots are great, but incredibly similar. I'm really surprised that he played them both in this round, but that's part of the game and it worked for him to advance to the semi-finals. I do appreciate that one of the images was shot on film too, nice work Eric!

Greg's playboating image is ok, but kind of a standard playboating picture. Good but nothing new. His second photo is a beauty, although it could use a crop to get rid of distracting elements and the whitewater looks a little gray. It seems to be more focused on the height of the drop than the scenery. Still, that's once incredible place.

This ended up being a weird bracket. California & California. I like Tom Janneys first image, but much like Bryons earlier picture, the paddler position hurts the overall impact. The second has a slanted horizon line which doesnt do it for me.

Ian Buckleys images are both from the same drainage; Kaweah. The first I like a lot, it's a drop often shot from below and it's nice to see a refreshing view. Shadows are a little blocked up because of the morning light and high contrast settings, but it works. The second from the East Fork Kaweah is once again a new angle on a commonly shot drop, something I like to see. Ian advances into the semi-finals.

The last bracket was one of the toughest. I like the composition of Steve Arns first image, but it looks like the lighting was backwards in real life and fixed with a grad ND filter in person or post processing. Still the lighting up top is brighter than on the subject, the paddlers. The second image I love how the water moves from one side of the frame to the other, the paddler is in good position and all in all it's a very nice photo. If I was to say one thing it's that a polarizer could have helped knock down the glare in the pool, but as it's probably BC it was too dark for a polarizer anyways.

Natalie Kramer Anderson came in strong this round. The light reflecting off the water onto the paddlers face is unique, and it's a tight enough shot to help make an emotional connection with the moment that's happening. It really draws me in. I like her second shot, but a few things bug me about it. I hate the clear cut at Skook, but to totally crop it out you'd lose the water flowing all the way across the image. As always I'm not a particularly big fan of other paddlers in the photo, but that is part of of the deal up there. If the ray of light was on the paddler, not the clear cut, this picture would really be a home run. Either way, Natalie had a strong round and advances to semi-finals.


And there you have it, Adrian Tregoning, Eric Chance, Ian Buckley and Natalie Kramer Anderson advance to the semi-finals and just won a WRSI Current Pro as well as a subscription to Canoe and Kayak in the previous round.