Thresholds

A key for something like this to hold up under so much water pressure is having a relatively huge and well locked base rock sitting in the rushing water. Based on one’s minimization of vibration, there is a related threshold for the sizes of contact points. The smallest contact points in regular circumstances are generally too small to hold up to this kind of stress. Another important factor is how well i’ve centered each rock, within its balance point AND the overall thread. I go for each rock kinda hugging its hardest locking edge. A larger top rock is also key, as it helps absorb vibrations coming upward from the base.
The rocks are NOT frozen in this scene. They blew over in a gust of wind shortly after… shutter speed for the long exposure was 10 seconds. the others were shot at roughly 1/2000th of a second.