Peggy Reeder
October 2026 - Early Morning Light
Original
About the Image(s)
This image was taken at a practice session after a lesson our photography club presented on long exposure. I used a 10-stop neutral density filter on my camera, and my settings were 30 sec. shutter speed, f/22 aperture, and ISO 64. The objective of this practice was to create a soft look on a small waterfall. The neutral density filter makes the scene very dark, so you must slow down the shutter to get enough light. The unexpected bonus of this setup was a sun star in the upper left. I realize that I can soften a waterfall with a faster shutter speed than 30 seconds, and several other images that I took were at a fraction of a second. But I liked how this image turned out, especially the contrast of the very dark darks against the bright areas of sunlight.
10 comments posted
This is a lovely, peaceful scene. Good work in capturing the bright sunlit portions and the darker unlit areas. What a stroke of luck in getting the sunburst! This would make a nice note card. Posted: 10/05/2026 13:30:03
A very pleasing scene. For the assignment I'm sure you cropped down. I would have cropped out the left side of the image down to cutting the black bench--it makes the image too busy. Nice soft afternoon light. Posted: 10/05/2026 22:15:26
Lovely image and peaceful as Mike says. I love the lighting. As for the black bench, my feeling is cropping it as Al suggests would make the building off-center which would change the look. I like the way the foliage goes on either side of the building with the little waterfall in the middle. Good job! Posted: 10/09/2026 17:52:58
From barely able to recognize anything in the original to a well exposed final is indeed quite the rescue job -- and with little noise or artifacts that I can notice. Tranquil and pleasant landscape. The sun was bright but did not blow out the surroundings. A nice part of this image is the diagonal line from the sun toward the highlighted trees. Posted: 10/10/2026 23:25:57
Peggy, I say that you have accomplished the assignement and a good job on the post-processing. This image I would consider flipping, because it forms a nice upward diagonal line from the flowing water to the star effect. (The star effect was created by the combination of the small aperture and longer exposure.) Just for consideration, take a look. What bothers me more than the bench, is the structure right in the center. I eliminated them all. To my eye, cropping past the bench would throw the composition out of balance. I also straightened the image a bit. What do you think? Posted: 10/15/2026 22:07:53
I like it. I think that if I remove the lights that are on the background building, that would help a lot. And then darken and blur the building rather than trying to remove it.
Good suggestions Joe. Thanks.
Posted: 10/16/2026 11:27:53
Good suggestions Joe. Thanks.
Posted: 10/16/2026 11:27:53
Glad you are pleased Peggy. I also neglected to mention that I love the water effect. It is just right. Posted: 10/16/2026 15:15:17
Here is my redo using your suggestions. I tried cropping in a little, but that seemed to draw my eye to the background more, and the original crop kept my eye more on the foreground.
Posted: 10/25/2026 16:47:01
Posted: 10/25/2026 16:47:01
Waterfalls are simply magical to me. Especially, when they are captured with softness. The sun star is a wonderful bonus! I like the original version, but suggest cropping in closing to the waterfall to offer more focus on your subject. The foliage seems to be a little soft. I have found shooting with a 10 stop filter, I have to shoot 2 frames with different settings. One for the waterfall and one a little faster for the foliage if there is the slightest breeze. Posted: 10/25/2026 15:55:06
Do you leave the filter on for your second faster shot? Posted: 10/25/2026 16:37:17