Spring Thaw in Iowa

Taking pictures of rapidly moving water is similar to taking shots of fireworks. You have to anticipate. Sometimes your spider sense works, and other times ... no ... what are you doing ... stop ... please, stop.

The waters of the Wapsipinicon River crested yesterday at 15+ feet. I went to the dam on Friday to check it out and again yesterday. The conditions Friday were probably as perfect as perfect can get. There was enough cloud cover to filter the sun just so. Whereas Sunday, there was almost too much sun, and the water was too high, providing a constant turbulence. That difference of a couple feet, shortening the drop of the water, didn't allow for the brief pauses in the chaos allowed with a longer fall.

Of about 300 pictures total, Friday's half was the best to pick from, although I found some winners in Sunday's crop as well.

I wasn't playing the role of historian, so I bent my rules on tweaking photos. I did auto-enhance these as I was leaning towards a more artistic angle.

I'll revisit this topic in the next few days to give the waters a chance to recede. Since these photos were taken mid-afternoon, to change things up a bit, I'll go early in the morning. We'll see what happens!