Over Broken Logs

Rocks carpeted by fine moss, dense overhead canopy barely letting the sun shine down, surrounded by a all too deep woodland, and yet all is peaceful here. Nothing to fear, this miniature cascading fall brings a sense of serenity. The sounds of rushing water drowning out the world outside. Indeed, you have stumbled upon a little slice of nirvana, ever changing, ever flowing over broken logs, and silken stones.

This composition I have been hunting for four years now. In previous attempts to capture this little waterfall the now broken logs prevented this angle entirely. Last year, or perhaps over the winter it broke and fell down into the creek bed. A natural thing, nothing to worry over of course, but that simple change allows you to pierce the veil more than before. A simple shot, but one worth waiting on.

This edit is actually several shots overlaid with one another. A fully smooth waterfall down to a 1/5th of a second shutter speed, another at 1/10th, and another at 1/25th. The faster shutter speeds were painted into the water manually. Adding texture, where the 1/5th of a second shutter speed was used for its brightness. It sounds like a daunting task when you say it like that, but after you learn the methods in photoshop it becomes as easy as breathing. Of course I applied color corrections, dodge and burn to flesh out the images and textures. Those eagle eyed amongst you may notice the background isn’t as sharp as the foreground, and this, my dear viewer is on purpose. Though only slightly out of focus, it does convince the viewer to look more into the foreground elements. Just a simple trick to help you guide the viewers eye.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f7.1
ISO: 250
SS: 1/5th 1/10th 1/25th
Focal: 35mm

Fujinon 16-55mm