Virginia Lake cascade
Apr, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken during Spring of 2014 in Virginia park and is made up of 3 different stills under different settings to maximize the dynamic range.Time
This photo was taken roughly between 4-5 pm.Lighting
Whilst at the time there was a moderate amount of light, there was just enough to get a quick shot at 1/200 second at f5.6 18mm. However it was too bright for a decent long exposure of around 5 seconds, so a neutral density filter was used to cut down the light input.Equipment
Very basic equipment was used at the time, as I was still learning with the beginners frame Nikon D3100 with the standard 18-55mm Kit lens set onto manual mode. A Tripod was used for this long exposure shot alongside a a neutral density filter of 8Inspiration
I wanted to experiment with long exposure photography and to play around layer stacking in processing. It was with this aim in mind that I had decided to photograph this specific cascade as it would've provided me with a simple yet highly suitable composition with multiple points of focus in which I could work on in post-processing to highlight in regards to the image.Editing
Photo stacking alongside minor touches to the sharpness and lighting was used to bring out the specific parts of each of the 3 photos. The first photo was a simple quick snap at 1/200 to highlight the details of the landscape , primarily the rock face. The second photograph was a long exposure of around 5 seconds to bring focus onto the silky texture of the flowing water. The 3rd and final photograph was shot at around 1 second, which served as the buffer between the two extremities of light and dark to provide extra detail to specific parts that would be too bright or too dark to be used. Once each photo has undergone the lighting related post processing, the highlights of each photo were blended together using photo stacking resulting in a relatively sharp image where the details the stones are smoothly blended in together with the silkiness of the moving water.In my camera bag
During that present year, my bag mainly consisted of my beginner frame D3100 alongside its kit lens + a 70-300mm Nikon, alongside a neutral density filter.Feedback
Its always good to be prepared, so having extra items such as a remote trigger or a heavier tripod would be better as it will reduce the shake from the opening of the shutter. Consequently if your frame has a open shutter mode, you are highly inclined to use that function too as it will practically eliminate shutter shake entirely. In regards to the gear, It would good idea to bring an assortment of lenses for this situation as it will teach you more about the different aperture settings in regards to lighting and detail as well as composition.
