Stop at Niagara Falls

 

My German photography friend Maren guessed it right already, our next stop on the way to Maine was Niagara Falls. We are really not big fans of going to places with a lot of tourists but it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. The main vacation season is over and the falls were not so crowded with people as we expected.

If something had really impressed me there, it was the vast amount of water that shoots down Niagara Falls every second. Beside all the touristy stuff, Niagara Falls is still an impressive place that shows the beauty and the forces of nature.

The falls have been photographed many million times and there was not much to add from my side. We went there late morning, which is not the best time for landscape photography anyway, but some clouds made at least for interesting backgrounds and a constant change of light.

We are enjoying the coast of Maine since three days already and if time and internet availability allow, I will post here again soon. Please stay tuned for more...

Keep it stabile

 

One of the things I wanted to experiment a little more during our trip to the Rockies was shooting of flowing water with long exposure. I really like the abstract look of photographs with this subject. I have done this before and after studying my previous photos I really believe it is all about composition and about keeping things out of the frame to make an image work. These shots are quite often made in narrow valleys or canyons and a stupid branch coming from the side or a log in the water at the wrong place can have a very negative impact on the photo. The degree of how much the flowing water gets blurred can be a little bit of personal taste and I experiment a lot with the exposure time in order to obtain the results that satisfy me. Sometimes it is enough to just close the aperture but mostly I use a polarizer or a neutral density filter to extend the exposure time.

The best spot to make the click is not always the most stabile place. Quite often I have the legs of the tripod (and my own as well) in the water of the creek or between slippery stones. Every vibration of the tripod is fatal for a long exposure time and I have trashed many pictures because the rocks in the creek were blurred too. These kind of images are not very difficult to make from a technical standpoint but keeping the tripod stabile is very essential. Finding the right composition and the right light is the more challenging part...