The Tree Box

A very bright summer's day.  The Plaza near Water Street had a wall of waterfall.  Rather refreshing on such a hot day.  I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of the box surrounding the vertical tree against the waterfall.  

The Tree Box

I tried many different exposure variations of just that composition.  The first one was a very fast shutter speed which froze the water pretty much.  Also, It was a bit tricky to get the light to match between the bright water and the dark box.  

One way to take pictures of waterfalls, is to use a slow shutter speed and a time exposure.  This smooths out the water over time.  On a bright day, you would need a neutral density filter to make it dark enough to get the time needed.  Oh yes, you would also really need a tripod, if you wanted the full effect.  I think I have used a tripod maybe twice in the last five years.  (Although I did pick up a Gorillapod recently, but you need something to attach it to).  

So, I did slow the shutter to 1/60 (from 1/1000) to get some motion, also had to move the ISO as low as it could go (100) on my camera.  It was OK, but not really what I was looking for.  

So, I waited for people to come into the shot to provide some variety.  Since the shutter speed was slow, there was a bit of a blur to these people.  

Tree Box Guy

Tried one then in black and white.

Tree Box Black and White

In the end, this guy came along and took a bite of his sandwich.  That was the end of my tree box session. 

The Bite