Slow down. Slow down with your composition decisions - a tripod kind of forces you to slow down. Slow down in your planning so that you do not forget to think about something. Slow down and make sure that every setting on your camera is right for the situation. Now when the light changes you have to work and move fast, so there is a time for slowing down and a time for speeding up. Slow down before the action starts; before the light becomes good. This is when you plan, when you look for your compositions, and when you set your camera in anticipation for what is going to happen. When the action starts you are ready.

          Today I also want to encourage you to slow your shutter speed down when facing the right conditions for slow shutter speeds. Look at this image below:

I deliberately used a slow shutter speed to get the wave action moving; to create a mysterious effect. You can also use a slow shutter speed to show water running down. Look on the left bottom of the left stack in the ocean below ...

I waited for a wave to come through and then used a slow shutter speed to catch and show the water running down the rock. I think it adds interest for the viewer to look at. We want to keep the viewer looking at our images for as long as possible. Giving them more interest to look at, more things to discover the longer they will keep on looking.

          We can also use a slow shutter speed to blur the water to form lines which a viewer's eyes will follow. In this way we can create lines where there are none. Learn to see what can be created because your eyes do not see what a camera with a slow shutter speed sees. Envision what could be by using a slow shutter speed. Play around and try different shutter speeds just to see what you can come up with.

Please watch out for wind. Wind will move your plants, leaves, etc. which with a slow shutter speed will be out of focus. We want the water to be out of focus but not the plants. You can get these kinds of images by waiting past sunset or when the light is low or you can use a neutral density filter.

          Slow down, experiment with slow shutter speeds.