Last week we talked about capturing splashing wave action and freezing the action in mid-air. If you read my blogs regularly you will know that I am never satisfied with getting just one image from a scene. So today we look at capturing the same scene totally differently. Instead of freezing the action mid-air, we let the water run and we show the motion. I am still at the same place on the same day (as the image I wrote about last week). The sun has just set. With much less light available it allows me to use a longer shutter speed which is exactly what we need to capture this type of image.

This image was taken just as the splash is over and the water is now running down the rock. To show the motion of the water running a longer shutter speed is used. To get the best results you will have to experiment a little to get the most pleasing shutter speed. The longer the shutter speed the more motion blur you will get but at the price of definition. Choose a shutter speed that does not turn all motion completely smooth. We want to see lines of water not just a mushy, definitionless, blurry sheet of milky water.

          The photographer's vantage point is important and should be chosen carefully. Leave clear gaps between the rocks to separate them. If I was positioned a bit to the left the main rock with the water running off of it would have touched the rock a bit further into the photograph. When that happens the two rocks look connected and become one rock in the image. Thus we lose depth. If I stood a little to the right the bottom middle rock would have merged with the main rock with the water running off of it. Pay attention to different elements in the image touching each other.

          The way this image is composed creates depth. The viewer's eyes jump from rock to rock deeper and deeper into the image. This is what we want. The rocks form stepping stones for your eyes to walk into the image. If we can help it we want to keep every element in the image separate. Lastly, this image is well balanced. The main rock is balanced by the darker clouds. When moving around the scene to finalize the composition think about all the things.