While I was up at Pinecrest in the Sierras this June, I decided to take a different photographic tack. Rather than my usual collection of images of a particular area, I decided to concentrate on images centered around a single theme. This is the time of year that rivers in the Sierras are flowing at their highest rates, so I chose to study flowing water. A typical handheld shot of flowing water happens at shutter speeds above 1/100th of a second. This results in an image of water “frozen in time.”
In order to capture a sense of water as we see it with our eyes—a continuous flow—shutter speeds need to be less than 1/10 second. This requires a tripod to make images with exposures between 1 second and 1/10th second. Some of these images suggest a gentle flow; others at slightly faster shutter speeds more of a dynamic quality. Which do you prefer?
