When I was first getting into photography–like 1973-ish, one of my absolute favorite subjects was photographing streams and waterfalls in Yosemite National Park and elsewhere and making the water appear silky with a long exposure. Back then I was happy with the water at one-second exposure. As I became a professional I shot less and less waterfalls and streams because they did not sell as well as photos with people. This past week I wanted to just enjoy making one of my old favorite types of photos–the silky stream. I revisited a creek here in the Anchorage area that I hiked many times in the past with friends or family over the years. I was always blown away with just how pretty this place was— moss covered rocks and various types of wildflowers. I biked and hiked back to this place and went during the best light. I spent nearly 2 1/2 hours photographing here, all within 75 feet of where I laid my pack. That’s some good therapy for me! This time I used a 10-stop Neutral Density filter to get exposures as long as 3 minutes, making for extra-silky water. Here are a couple of my favorites with exposures of about 30 seconds. I go into more detail about this in my latest newsletter, which you can sign up for free here. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and this blog to get more information and regular updates on photography tips.
