Eagle Creek (Photo of the week)

A long exposure turns the flowing water of Eagle Creek to silk, Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon
A long exposure turns the flowing water of Eagle Creek to silk, Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon

On the last evening of my recent backpacking trip to Eagle Cap Wilderness, I had some time to photograph Eagle Creek, which was close to camp. Through a combination of the late hour of the day and my polarized filter, I was forced to use a slow shutter speed.

When photographing movement (especially water), a slow shutter is often desired, so I decided to accentuate the effect by setting the camera to ISO 50 (instead of my usual ISO 100 setting for landscapes). This gave me a shutter speed of 6 seconds at f/16, rendering to the rushing water into a smooth abstract. The polarized filter took all the reflective sheen off of the vegetation, allowing the green bushes to pop.

This image could have benefited from a slightly wider angle lens. Unfortunately, after much internal debate, I had decided not to bring by 17-40mm lens along on the trail (purely a weight issue). I use the 24-70mm lens for most of my backpacking work, but in the future, I will probably carry the wider lens with me for occasions like this.

Below are a couple more shots from the creek.

The surface of the water appears to be smooth, due to the long exposure.  Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon
The surface of the water appears to be smooth, due to the long exposure. Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon
This shot was taken above Eagle Creek, looking down at the water, Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon
This shot was taken above Eagle Creek, looking down at the water, Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon

Copyright 2017 Hank Christensen