“Silvering Waters.”  ISO 100, f/10, 20″

Neighbors peeking out their back windows last night would have been treated to a view of The Happy Dance after I experimented with this shot by the creek.  I’d seen a friend’s photo taken down in a canyon where the water appeared soft and wispy, and I wanted to achieve the same effect.  Granted, her photo had lots of color as it was taken somewhere in Utah surrounded by canyons, a blue sky overhead, and plenty of rushing water.  All I had was a barely trickling creek, but I am so happy that the principle remains the same: slow the shutter speed down, and you can capture all sorts of pretty effects on the water.

Why did I wait until nightfall to take this shot?  With the bright Texas sky in the daytime and little to no leaves yet on the trees, I couldn’t get the shutter speed down low enough to create that ghostly water effect without overexposing the photo.

Here’s an interesting factoid:  since I began my photography class odyssey, I have taken over 1600 photos.  Thank goodness for digital cameras because I wouldn’t have felt as free shooting that much if I had to purchase film!

Now, I’m off to get some exercise — my legs and my shutter finger will get a workout at a local park that hopefully will give me enough shade to try more slow shutter techniques.  Stay tuned!