Silky Water

It was years before I realized, or learned that is, how pictures were taken so that the water looked more like silk than droplets. I used scout camps to practice my landscape photography and to better realize just how simple it really was to take these types of photo's. This particular set of falls are located in a place called "6th water" in Diamond Fork canyon near Provo Utah. I had the scouts on a day hike down "6th water" and never realized that this set of falls even existed. There are some natural hot springs located less than 100 yards further down stream from these falls and the several times that I had gone into the hot springs with the scouts I had always hiked in from the bottom of the canyon and never down from the top until this particular trip. I was amazed at how beautiful they were and since I had a tripod with me I was able to set up my camera for a time exposure. 100 ISO film, 22 aperture and a slow shutter speed allowed me to capture the water as it fell and caused the silk effect of the moving droplets. I love these kinds of images and continue to practice this skill each time I see falling water. Below are two more images where I used a small stream and the same technique. They were a little more difficult since the willows in the background were also being moved gently by the breeze causing them to not be as clear as I had wanted but that is where photoshop could be used now that I have learned how to use masks. I could have taken a picture with a fast shutter speed to get the other plants crisp and without movement and then change the settings for the water and combined the two images in phootshop. I am still learning but that is really the fun of photography for me.