Quick Shot: Another Elakala

Two weeks ago I shared the adventure of going to take fall color photographs at Elakala Falls in Blackwater Falls State Park, only to arrive and discover the leaves (and some snow) had fallen. I made the best of the situation by doing some long exposures at the falls to capture the wispy and flowing water.  

How do I get these photos? I intentionally use camera settings that force a long exposure (lowest ISO possible, aperture of f/22, etc). Depending on my target exposure length, I can also use neutral density filters. These filters are essentially really dark pieces of plastic that I hold in front of the lens that make the scene look much darker to my camera. Since the camera is imaging through the dark plastic, the exposure can be doubled in time and without loss of image quality. Best of all, these filters cost around $50, making them one of the most economical buys for photographers! 

I took this image using one of those filters and setup the camera at a Y in the stream, so the viewer would see the wispy water in the foreground and background. This image took almost a minute to expose.

Don't forget about my announcement of the World War II airplane poster prints available for the holidays for only $25.