This image was taken at a practice session after a lesson our photography club presented on long exposure. I used a 10-stop neutral density filter on my camera, and my settings were 30 sec. shutter speed, f/22 aperture, and ISO 64. The objective of this practice was to create a soft look on a small waterfall. The neutral density filter makes the scene very dark, so you must slow down the shutter to get enough light. The unexpected bonus of this setup was a sun star in the upper left. I realize that I can soften a waterfall with a faster shutter speed than 30 seconds, and several other images that I took were at a fraction of a second. But I liked how this image turned out, especially the contrast of the very dark darks against the bright areas of sunlight.
3 comments posted
Mike Patterson
This is a lovely, peaceful scene. Good work in capturing the bright sunlit portions and the darker unlit areas. What a stroke of luck in getting the sunburst! This would make a nice note card. Posted: 10/05/2026 13:30:03
Al Swanson
A very pleasing scene. For the assignment I'm sure you cropped down. I would have cropped out the left side of the image down to cutting the black bench--it makes the image too busy. Nice soft afternoon light. Posted: 10/05/2026 22:15:26
Marti Buckely
Lovely image and peaceful as Mike says. I love the lighting. As for the black bench, my feeling is cropping it as Al suggests would make the building off-center which would change the look. I like the way the foliage goes on either side of the building with the little waterfall in the middle. Good job! Posted: 10/09/2026 17:52:58
