Friday, October 9, 2020

Autumn Is Here

 


Autumn is arriving in most parts of the country. Hard to believe it is October already, and in spite of these surreal and troubling times, the time has passed quickly for me. While it will be a while longer before our lives return to something resembling "normal," we are muddling through reasonably well. I am certainly looking forward to a better 2021!

Photographing moving water is one of my favorite things, and the streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are among my favorites. While they are not the dramatic waterfalls of Yosemite or Yellowstone, they are lovely, and for me are a visual representation of the power of both stability and renewal. The meandering flow of water over ancient rocks is a testament to the power and resilience of nature.

While I rarely use a tripod, it is an essential tool when photographing moving water. The easiest way to convey the feeling of flow when photographing moving water is to first start with a low ISO. I generally use ISO 100 or 200 so that I can get good Depth of Field with a small aperture of about f/16 or f/22, and a slow shutter speed of anywhere from 1/2 sec up to several seconds. I always try a variety of shutter speeds since I never know exactly how much motion will appear in the image, and what look will work best for a particular shot. Remember that as you change your shutter speed, your aperture will change as well (unless you prefer to shoot on manual settings in which case you will need to change both the aperture AND the shutter speed). By the way, I recommend setting your camera on Aperture Priority. 

For many of us, getting away to far flung places is not in the cards just yet. So this might be a good time to review older images in your files and look for hidden gems. You never know what you might find!

TECH SPECS  3 seconds at f/22, ISO 200. Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens set at 140mm on Canon 7D Mark II body. Gitzo tripod with Really Right Stuff ballhead.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it."  -- Lao Tzu

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