Hello Reader !

My wife (Tammy) panicked as I backed out of the parking lot.

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​“Do you hear that?” she asked.
“Umm… no,” I replied.

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And away we went... it was time to head home.

We twisted and turned. Up and down.

It felt like threading a needle at 60 miles an hour.

Sharp curves. Sudden drops. No room for mistakes.

It was both breathtaking and brutal, like the mountains were daring us to keep up.

Oh, and by the way… we were in West Virginia for a few days, chasing waterfalls and dramatic landscapes to photograph.

The roads (and the views) were a hoot. But now it was time to head back.

One problem.

Those mountain roads had worn the rear brakes down to the bone.

Every time I touched the pedal, it sounded like fingernails dragging across a chalkboard.

Only seven hours to go.

Then I saw it. A sign. A magical sign that read:

“Blackwater Falls – 2 Miles Ahead.
And Yes, Tammy, He Wants to Stop.”

I swear that’s what it said.

So we stopped. And here’s my first shot...

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It’s horrible! Am I right?

Overexposed + a poor composition.

With a 2-second exposure, I washed out all the detail in the water.

The sky in the upper left corner pulled the eye away from the falls.

And the bottom of the frame was “moldy” (distractions).

So I made a few changes.

I adjusted the exposure to 1 second.

And tilted the camera slightly downward to bring more foliage into the frame... and eliminate the sky.

Then, in post... I cropped to a 4x5 aspect ratio, and…

…BOOM! How awesome is that? I love it!

The foliage added a strong foreground and gave the image more depth.

And the overall balance just feels good.

But How?

So how did I know which shutter speed to use?

Here's the quick rundown:

• I started with ISO 100, which I use almost every time for long exposures. It keeps the image clean and helps me limit light before adding filters.
• Then I set the aperture to f/16. Normally I use f/11 for landscapes, but I wanted to reduce the light as much as possible before reaching for an ND filter.
• It was a bit windy, and I didn’t want motion blur in the leaves. The speed had to be slow but not too slow.
• So, I went with a 3 stop ND Filter.
• Then, I started with a 2-second shutter speed since the histogram looked good, but the camera was fooled by the brightness of the water. Or maybe I just misread it.

Either way, the result was too bright.

So I dropped the shutter to 1 second and voila!

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Have an awesome day!

Chris Parker

Parker Photographic

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P.S. We made it home safe and sound. But we’re $1,500 poorer… apparently on one of our rocky road trips (Dolly Sods) I put a whole in the muffler!

Tough trip on the wallet. But, totally worth it.

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P.P.S. To all my American friends... Happy Thanksgiving!

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269 WALKER ST V5718, Detroit, Michigan 48207-4258
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