Cascade
Trying to apply silk effect. Reaching this spot was not easy (got some cuts!) but worthwhile.
Trying to apply silk effect. Reaching this spot was not easy (got some cuts!) but worthwhile.
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Jun, 2015Views
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Contender in the Photography Awards
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken near the small town of Aculco, in Mexico. This is one of my favorite places to go bike riding (MTB). We were planning to go from Mexico City to another place, one of the preserved areas of Sierra Gorda, but as Aculco is close to the road we drove, we decided to take the detour. The exact location is: Lat 20,6.6391N Long 99,52.9044WTime
In order to get to this place we drove for 2 hours, so we had to begin the journey very early in the morning. I guess it was between 9:00 and 10:00 am. Once we got to the place, we had to trek and practically escalate down the wall, perhaps 30 to 45 minutes. Once I saw the pictures I felt very well, a feeling of accomplishment. We stayed there for a little less than a couple of hours and then continued to Sierra Gorda.Lighting
We had the morning sun almost in front of the lens, a bit to the right, so being down helped with shadows. I used a ND filter, looking first for the silk effect and then to reduce brilliance.Equipment
Nikon D800, AF-S 24-70 Nikko f/2.8 G, ND B+W filter 0,6 - 2BL 4x E, Manfrotto Be Free, Bower remote triggerInspiration
I took a picture of this cascade a couple of years before, but it was right after the rainy season so it had a big water flow, and it was dirty with sand carried from all over the stream. I did not know that this time the stream was reduced but then I tried to practice long exposure takes. It was a great experienceEditing
Yes, a bit of the usual curves, sharpening, but this time I wanted to work on the contrast so I did some toning with HDR using McPhun Creative KitIn my camera bag
my Nikon D800, the AF.s Nikkor 24.70/2.8, typically. I also have in my bag: filters (ND 4x, polarizing, UV), Sigma APO 70-200/2.8 EX, a teleconverter 2x DG, Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS, a Manfrotto Be Free tripod, Nikon flash SB 600 and a remote.Feedback
Depending on the volume of water, cascades can be a source of dampening, humidity, so I recommend to use a plastic cover. If you want to get the silk effect (blurred/painted) you need a very low speed and a very low ISO, that will depend on how bright the sun is which in this case the ND filters are very useful. And of course, a sturdy tripod. To make sure the blur only affects the cascade (water flow) you can use a remote trigger
