Long Exposure Photography

Long Exposures

A snapshot steals life that it cannot return. A long exposure creates a form that never existed. - Dieter Appelt⁠

Waves - Long Exposure #1
5 seconds @ f/11 - 85mm (136mm full-frame)
Image for sale - see below for details

Ocean Grove Sunrise
1/13 sec @ f/8.0 - 106mm (170mm full-frame)

I have gotten into the habit of accompanying my Instagram posts with a qoute that in some way relates to the image. I was looking for an appropriate one for this first image and instantly knew it was perfect. Long exposure photography is something that I enjoy but don't often practice. One of the things that is so attractive to me is the essence of the quote - I am creating something the never existed, something not visible to the naked eye. It is nonrepresentational but not necessarily abstract.

When you say "long exposure photography" people have a wide range of interpretations - some say anything slower than about 1/15^th or 1/20^th of a second while others may think something slower than a full second. I tend to think of anything slower than 1/2 of a second but I have no hard and fast rules. If I am shooting a sunrise at the beach and the sun is in the image, I work on the faster end of the spectrum because I the sun is moving quickly and I don't want it to be just a blog in the sky. If I am isolating some waves crashing on rocks or flowing on the beach, I will work with a slower shutter.

Manasquan Reservoir
3.2 seconds @ f/11 - 18mm (29mm full-frame)

Spring Lake
260 seconds @ f/11 - 72mm (115mm full-frame)

The most important piece of equipment for long exposure photography is, of course, a good, solid tripod. I have seen claims that some of today's cameras can be effectively handheld to as long as two (2) seconds using image stabilization but I am leary. As a landscape photographer you probably already use a tripod for most of your work so this shouldn't be an issue. I would argue that, equally important, is a good imagination. The ability to visualize the end result is something you will develop over time but every image will always be a surprise.

I use long exposures for different reasons; showing motion, smoothing water, and creating mood to name just a few. Each of the images presented here show one of these reasons. A long exposure can introduce a calming effect to a scene, like the Manasquan Reservoir image, and it can be used to create tension or mystery, like the black & white image at the start of this piece. In the latter case the viewer expects to see water but instead is greated by something more like smoke.

So comes the end of another blog - I hope you enjoyed the images and, maybe, I inspired you to go out and try your hand at long exposures. They are a lot of fun and there is no right or wrong way anymore than there is a right or wrong subject. Shooting at night and capturing light trails from cars can be a lot of fun, as can creating your own light trails with a flashlight, laser pointer or sparkler^**.

Note: The two images captioned "Spring Lake" were made on the same day, within about a thirty (30) minute timeframe. They are two (2) different areas of the beach but the wave heights and frequency were about the same. You can see how dramatic the difference in exposure time can be.

** Note: Sparklers generate a lot of heat and throw sparks in the air than can start fires if they land on something flammable. They should be used with caution and only under adult supervision.

If you enjoyed this post, please do me a small favor and share it with others. You will find buttons for many of the popular social media platforms at the bottom of this post. Thank you!

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Technical information:
• Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i (crop sensor - 1.6 factor)
• Lenses: Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
• Tripod: MeFOTO Roadtrip Classic
• ISO 100
• All focal lengths are as-recorded - the full-frame equivalent in parenthesis.
• Shutter tripped with wired shutter release.

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For Sale

Waves - Long Exposure #1 is for sale on Saatchi Art. It is available in a 20x20 Limited Edition - follow the link for more information.

All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com

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Autumnal Beauty - Does It Get Any Better?

Autumn... the year's last, loveliest smile.
- William Cullen Bryant

Rainy Afternoon #1
Divine Park, Spring Lake
Exposure: 30mm (48mm) - 8 sec @ f/29

Rainy Afternoon #2
Divine Park, Spring Lake
Exposure: 87mm (139mm) - 2 sec @ f/13

NO! It doesn't get any better than autumn! (This may be the shortest blog post ever written....)

Okay, if you are a regular reader of this blog you know I can't stop there.... You will also know that autumn is my favorite time of the year, followed by spring and then winter. I am not a fan of summer anymore.

I look forward to the cooler weather, the smell of the woods and, of course, the beauty of the foliage. I try to time a week’s vacation to coincide with peak foliage but always seem to be off by a week – either early or late. Last year I was about a week early of the peak in the Delaware Water Gap region and this year I am about a week late. It really doesn’t matter but one of these years I am going to get it right – hopefully I still can walk under my own power. 😉

Rainy Afternoon #3
Divine Park, Spring Lake
Exposure: 29mm (46mm) - 2 sec @ f/13

Spring Lake

One of my sunset locations has been Divine Lake in Spring Lake and I always thought it would make a nice location for foliage, too. There are a few wooden footbridges and fountains, with lots of trees. I set out on a dreary Sunday afternoon to see what the foliage was like. Leaving the house with a prediction of 10% chance of rain – that quickly turned to 100% before I arrived at the lake. That’s okay, rain hasn’t stopped me in the past. In fact, I think some of my most successful autumn images were made during, or shortly after, a rainstorm.

When I got to my intended site, I realized there really wasn’t a composition. I drove around to the other side of the lake to find that there was potential. It was raining steadily so I left my gear in the car, walked to the edge of the lake and snapped a few images with my phone. I wasn’t sure if there was a composition. Once I got out of the rain, I looked at the snapshot on my phone; it was then that I decided to wait out the downpour and do some shooting.

This was a good situation for a long exposure, I wanted to eliminate – or at least minimize – the raindrops and ripples in the lake. Fortunately, there was virtually no wind at all, so I didn’t have to worry about the leaves on the trees blurring. There is some movement of the leaves in the bottom of the first image adding a bit of foreground interest.

I then turned my attention specifically to the footbridge – a wide shot and then a tighter crop. One common thread in all three (3) images is the large limb hanging over the lake. I was drawn to it because of the way it was framing the scene – particularly in the tighter image of the bridge.

Manasquan Reservoir #1
Howell Township
Exposure: 52mm (83mm) - 1.3 sec @ f/32

Manasquan Reservoir

I went on a marathon excursion (about 100 miles) in search of foliage but came away mostly empty. I did come away with one image from “the Boneyard” (my wife’s term) at Manasquan Reservoir. The reservoir, particularly in the Chestnut Point area, provides a great contrast between the dead trees in, and around the water, and the foliage on the banks. The water level has been lower than I ever remember it being which is good for photography but not in the overall scheme of life.

Manasquan Reservoir #2
Howell Township
Exposure: 37mm (59mm) - 1.3 sec @ f/11

This first image is from my favorite reservoir sunrise location (Manasquan Reservoir - A Sunrise & Sunset Weekend). I really struggled here – the sky wasn’t great, the colors muted and on the other side of the lake, about a half-mile or so away. I liked the idea of having this stump as foreground, it has such great texture. The solution was to leave the tripod down low, use a longer focal length to compress the scene and see what happens. A little bit of post-processing to bring out some of the color resulted in a reasonably good image.

Last October I had a much more fruitful experience. I decided to stop on my way home from work, in the rain, and capture some of the color. I came away with two (2) images that the color was near peak (peak?) that afternoon; the rain helped to bring out and saturate the color. These are two of my favorite autumn images, I share my favorite one here. You may have seen this image before – I used it in my earlier blog post about the reservoir (Parks of Monmouth County - Manasquan Reservoir)

In Closing

So.... Have I convinced you that autumn is the greatest season? While this autumn didn't produce quite the bounty of images I was hoping, I did come away with some that I am quite happy with. The only thing about autumn that I don't like is that it is far too short! I would love to live somewhere with a five (5) month autumn, four (4) month spring, two (2) month winter, and a month of summer. Yea, that would make me happy. What about you? Is autumn your favorite? If not, what is? Let me know in the comments below. Which is your favorite image from today's post? I would love to hear what you think.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the images.

Technical information:
• Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i (crop sensor - 1.6 factor)
• Lens: Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
• Tripod: MeFOTO Roadtrip Classic
• All images - ISO 100
• All focal lengths are as-recorded - the full-frame equivalent is in parentheses.
• Focus and exposure were done manually*. The shutter was tripped with a wired remote.

* - I set the focus and exposure manually but that in no way means you have to do that. I was playing with exposures and it is easier to do so in "M". I typically use "aperture-priority" when I am out.

If you enjoyed this post, please do me a small favor and share it with others. You will find buttons for many of the popular social media platforms at the bottom of this post. Thank you!

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All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com

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Behind the Image: Leggett's Sand Bar

For a full index of posts in this series, check out the "Behind the Images" page - here. Be sure to follow the hashtag #JoeValencia_BehindTheImage on Instagram and Twitter to learn of new installments.

Leggett's Sand Bar

Leggett's Sand Bar

Leggett's is a bar and restaurant about a block from the beach in Manasquan, New Jersey. It also was host of the AFSP Jersey Shore Out of the Darkness Walk for a number of years. I became involved with the walk in 2014 when I volunteered as an event photographer. I soon found myself on the committee.

Since Leggett's was hosting the walk, we would have our committee meetings in the restaurant. The restaurant being a block from the beach gave me an excuse to spend time photographing the beach, boardwalk and whatever else caught my eye. I would also look around to see if there was a spot that I wanted to use on the day of the walk. The image shown here is from February 2016 and I had just finished shooting some light painting images on the walkway at the beach. (Note: the images were my first attempt - you will never see them....)

The meeting was to begin at 8:00 PM, which in February is pretty dark, and it was only about 7:30 PM so I decided to play around with some images of the outside of the bar. I was attracted to the neon sign, the two "stripes" below it and the reflections on the parked cars. For some reason I was using the Nikon that I carry as a spare camera and I don't have a remote for that so I had to use a 2-second timer to trip the shutter. This was done to help reduce camera shake during the long exposure.

Leggett's Sand Bar - original image

I took five (5) or six (6) shots at various exposures, packed up the camera and headed inside for the meeting and pizza. I didn't get a chance to upload and look at the images until the next day. When I did I was reasonably happy until I got to this one. While the shutter was open a car drove by leaving an interesting streak across the bottom of the frame. Though this is a 15 second exposure, the people inside were reasonably stationary making the other images rather static; the car moving thru the frame made it more dynamic and gave it a little extra pop.

I was still rather new to Lightroom so I was playing around with some of the presets that came installed with it. I don't remember the name of the one used for this image but it may have been "Hollywood" or something like that. It was supposed to give it a "cinematic" look. Once I applied the preset and made a few adjustments I was happy with the way it looked but there was something oddly familiar about it. It was almost like I had seen this before. It took a while but I realized that, to me, it had the same type of "feel" as Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. I know that they are not even close to similar but that is just the vibe I got from it.

I have included the original image here to show the difference the preset made. I like the original, it is much more vibrant but the streak left by the moving car is not as prominent and is just somewhat lacking in some way. I also tightened up the crop just a little bit.

2016 turned out to be the last year that the walk was hosted by Leggett's - it had just grown too big. The walk moved to Bar A in Lake Como in 2017 where it is still held each September. I last volunteered in 2018.

If you are in the Manasquan area, check out Leggett's - I can personally attest to their pizza. Very good!

Image made @ 7:38 PM on 25 February 2016

Technical Information

Exposure: 48mm - 15 seconds @ f/14 - ISO 100

Equipment list
• Nikon D60 body
• Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens
• MeFOTO RoadTrip Classic tripod

Please do me a little favor and share this post with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them with their photography. You will find buttons for many of the popular social media platforms at the bottom of this post. Thank you!

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All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com

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Behind the Image: Manasquan Reservoir Sunset in Black and White

For a full index of posts in this series, check out the "Behind the Images" page - here. Be sure to follow the hashtag #JoeValencia_BehindTheImage on Instagram and Twitter to learn of new installments.

Sunset in black & white
Manasquan Reservoir, Howell, New Jersey

Manasquan Reservoir Sunset

Manasquan Reservoir is quickly becoming my go-to location for sunrise and sunset, especially around Chestnut Point. I was about 300 yards from the parking lot for this image, about a week before New Jersey starting shutting down due to COVID-19. It turns out to be the last sunset I got at the reservoir and the second to last before we completely shut down.

As is usually the case, I made a last minute decision to stop at the reservoir on my way home from the office. Normally, I would not have stopped because the conditions weren't really what I look for in a sunset but we had been told earlier in the day that we could start working from home, at our discretion, and I had planned to start doing so on Monday. Once I started that, I knew I wasn't going to have much chance to get to the reservoir; as it turns out, I was right.

I arrived at the park right about 5:00 PM for a 5:53 PM sunset and had a pretty good idea of where I was going to set up. Why get there an hour early? There are a number of reasons but the primary being that it gives me plenty of time to leisurely look around to find my composition. I do this even if I have been to the same location many times as there is always something different to find. When it comes to the reservoir, you may also have to show up early to find a spot. It is a rather popular location and I have seen as many as ten photographers setting up tripods.

As luck would have it, there were a half-dozen cars in the lot but no other photographers so I had my pick of spots. I chose to stay at the top of the rocks, right next to the trail mainly because I didn't have a headlamp with me and the rocks can be a bit treacherous. This final composition was actually the third one that I tried that afternoon, another reason for showing up as early as I do.

There was enough of a breeze to make small ripples in the water so I decided to put my 10-stop ND filter on and go for long exposures. I was also hoping that some clouds would come in to add a bit of drama to the sky. When I arrived there were almost none. I finally settled on this composition for a number of reasons. The sun was setting directly behind me which I hoped would give me some nice Golden Hour light (it didn't) and I liked this grouping of dead trees. The tree that drew my attention initially is the tall one on the left of the frame.

Sunset in color
Manasquan Reservoir, Howell, New Jersey

The idea of the long exposure was to smooth out the water and get some interesting reflections of the trees and clouds. We have all heard of the "Rule of Thirds" and I'm sure you have been told to "never put the horizon in the middle of the frame." I know that I have more times that I can count. When I am shooting something like this I purposely compose the image with the horizon right in the middle of the frame; the idea is that I want to accomplish a "mirror image." I knew that was not going to happen here because of the wind but I also knew I would get some nice reflections so - middle it was. I also find it more appealing when the reflections aren't getting cut off at the bottom or the object cut off at the top.

The decision to convert this to black & white was a matter of, "I wonder if this would work in black & white?" I was watching television while casually looking thru images on my tablet looking for something I could upload to Instagram the next afternoon. I had already done some preliminary editing to this image - see the color image - and, though I liked it, it didn't really captivate me. The more I worked on the monochrome, the more excited I got. Darkening the foreground and clouds gave it a moody, almost foreboding, feel to it. I cropped the image to a 5:4 (close but not exactly) ratio for make it look good for Instagram and to crop out some distracting elements in the background. The color image is the original 100% crop.

I think the black & white image is a bit more powerful than the color one. Do you agree? Which do you like best? I would love to hear your thoughts - leave me a comment below.

I hope you enjoyed this first installment in my Behind the Image series. Stay tuned for more.

Technical information

Exposure: 21mm - 65 seconds @ f/11 - ISO 100 - 10-stop ND filter
The black & white conversion was done with Lightroom for Mobile on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 tablet.

Equipment List
• Canon EOS Rebel T3i body
• Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
• Canon RS-60E3 wired remote
• MeFOTO RoadTrip Classic tripod
• 3 Legged Thing QR11-LC Universal L-Bracket (Orange)
• ICE 10-stop Neutral Density filter

Links and Further Reading

To learn more about Manasquan Reservoir, check out some of my earlier posts, Manasquan Reservoir - A Sunrise & Sunset Weekend and Parks of Monmouth County - Manasquan Reservoir and from the parks official website, Monmouth County Park System - Manasquan Reservoir

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i is no longer available but the line continues with the T7i. Check it out, and the full line of Canon gear, at Canon Shop.

I did reviews for the MeFOTO RoadTrip Classic on my blog and YouTube channel - Product Review: MeFOTO RoadTrip tripod and Equipment Review: MeFOTO RoadTrip, respectively. To view the entire line of MeFOTO products, check out their website - here

The 3 Legged Thing universal bracket is one of the best investments I have made. Check it out - here

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All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com

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A Brief Hike Along the Appalachian Trail

Delaware Water Gap

I have driven thru "The Gap" countless times during my life and twice attempted to summit, and camp on, Mt. Tammany on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. I say attempted because I have not, yet, succeeded. My first try was in 1985 when my friend, Bill, and I decided to take a weekend camping trip - we started up the Red Dot trail but Bill became ill and we had to turn back. A few years later I set out on a solo camping trip - made it a bit further along the trail but hurt my knee and had to wait for someone to assist me back to my car. 2018 was going to be the year I reached the summit but each planned trip got derailed for one reason or another. Last week I finally got to do some hiking on Mt. Tammany - only about 2 miles in total but I made the best of it. I had set out to do some hiking and shooting at the Black River Wildlife Management Area, specifically behind the Old Grist Mill in Chester, but when I got to Chester I decided to just keep driving up Rt 206 to Rt 80 and spend time at the Gap. It was a great decision, for more than one reason.

Dunnfield Creek Trail

As I mentioned, I had not planned to hike on Mt. Tammany (I also had the beginnings of a sinus headache/congestion) so I decided not to attempt another hike up the Red Dot trail. It was about 10:30 AM, I didn't have any food with me and only 24 ounces of water - certainly not enough supplies for an extended hike here. I parked in the Dunnfield Creek Trail parking lot, grabbed my gear and headed out onto the trail. At the parking lot there is a sign board with maps, notices, etc...; the notice that jumped out at me was about bears and what to do if you encounter one. I know there are bears in the area and there have been fatal attacks along the trail but it was still a little unnerving at first. I am always quite attentive on the trail - never listen to music and always have my head on a swivel but today I was going to be twice as attentive. I didn't get a hundred yards before the trail turned into a small stream - November was a very wet month - and I had to walk around water many times along the way. After hiking about a half mile I came to a fork in the trail, to the left you get on the White Blaze which is the Appalachian Trail and leads up or the Blue Dot which takes you down by the Dunnfield Creek. Both, ultimately take you up to the summit of Mt. Tammany and Sunfish Pond where they connect to the Red Dot Trail. I wanted to keep my feet reasonably dry, so I went to the left and up the AT. When I had hiked about a quarter mile up the trail I stopped in a small clearing to have a drink. I looked to the east and spotted a wooden footbridge spanning the creek, on the bridge was a photographer setting up a shot of the water flowing over the rocks and the small waterfalls. I decided to backtrack, brave the water and muddy Blue Dot trail and check out the area myself. That was my second good decision of the day!

The trail was wet but not quite as bad as I had thought it would be and I got to the bridge relatively easily. This was exactly what I was looking for - fast moving water, rocks and trees. The fact that the bridge was low to the water allowed me to get shots that made it look like I was in the middle of the raging water. My first images were made from the middle of the bridge with the tripod down low - a few wide-angle shots and then a five shot panorama. After taking in the overall scene I decided to get a bit tighter on some of the individual waterfalls and other interesting features. I had just finished on the bridge when I saw a hiker coming up the trail - this was the first person I had encountered. We exchanged pleasantries when he passed and we both continued with our missions; his to get to the summit and mine to capture the beauty of the surrounding area.

There are almost too many compositions in this small area and I could have spent an hour or more moving from one spot to the next. I felt like a kid in a candy store; set up a shot only to find another that was equally, or more, appealing. There is nothing quite like fast moving water to capture my attention. The raw power of the water, the sound it makes running over and around the rocks, the smell; what is there not to love? When I come across these scenes there is no question in my mind about how to capture them - small aperture and slow shutter speed. In the past I would try to get the shutter to somewhere between 15 and 30 seconds thru small apertures and neutral density filters. This gives a great, smooth, milky quality to the whitewater but I didn't want to go that far with these images and so I skipped the filters (other than a polarizer to help reduce the glare) and used apertures between f/8 and f/25. I think the longest the shutter was open was around 3 seconds and I think that was another good decision (third one so far! I was on a roll!) as it was enough to blur the water but I still got a sense of movement in the water.

I had to force myself to pick up my gear and start back down the trail towards the parking lot. I had gone thru more than half of my water and was beginning to get hungry. Notice that I "picked up" and not "packed up" my gear - I learned a long time ago not to put the camera away until I got back to the car because you never know what can happen. I didn't get too far down the trail when I came across a small rocky outcrop overlooking the creek. It was wet and had some leaves covering it but it didn't appear to be too dangerous so I decided to walk out and see what compositions might be waiting for me. The shot at the beginning of this post is the result and definitely worth the effort. This was the last time I had a good opportunity to shoot the creek until I got back to the parking lot - that's not to say there aren't spectacular views but just too dangerous to get down to the water or there were things obstructing the view. I spent about 10 minutes wandering along the bank, setting up a few shots and then getting in the car to go get lunch.

I use MapMyHike when I am out hiking and it recorded a 1.95 mile trek with a change in elevation of 315 feet and I spent just over 90 minutes along the trail. This may be the first time I spent any time exploring the area but I guarantee it will certainly not be the last. I am looking to get a better backpack so I can carry my gear, while having enough room for more water and food. A good pair of trekking poles would be quite helpful, too. I will reach the summit of Mt. Tammany and visit Sunfish Pond some day but it will have to wait until 2019. I am already looking forward to my next hike in the area, I would love to live closer so that I could go more often but it is more than 90 miles away and it just isn't practical - especially when it can get very crowded on the weekends.

If you are interested in seeing more of my images from this hike, and those in the future, follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/valencia32photo/), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/joevalenciaphotography/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/WanderPhotog.)

If you are looking for a great place to hike or inspiration for your landscape photography, check out the Delaware Water Gap and take a hike along Dunnfield Creek Trail. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Oh yea, at the start of this post I said that driving to the Gap was a great decision for more than one reason. As I stated, I had planned to hike in Chester and decided to do so after I had lunch. I drove to the grist mill, grabbed my gear and headed for the trail. It was impassable! The creek that ran along the trail had risen considerably and the entire area was a raging river - there was absolutely no sign of the trail anywhere. I looked around for a couple minutes thinking I might be able to get a shot or two but there was nothing. I got back in the car and headed for home.

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All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com

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Slow Exposures at the Beach in Ocean Grove

Slow Exposures at the Beach

Fishing Pier #1

Ah.... Autumn is here and that means I get to start going to the beach again! Yes, I know, most people go to the beach in the summer. That's why I wait until after the summer - the crowds are gone and, often, I can have the beach to myself. I'm also not one to "sunbathe" - I go to shoot. I like shooting long exposures, especially when there is moving water, but here I am talking about "slow", not "long" exposures. These images were shot between 1/3 and 1/13 second; I will give exposure information at the end of the post.

The Fishing Pier

I recently took some vacation time and my wife and I went to Ocean Grove late one afternoon. The day was hazy and hot with a rather strong breeze - the landscape was flat and dull but I had my gear with me and was determined to shoot. In my years as a landscape photographer I have learned to make lemonade from lemons; when the grand landscape is unphotogenic, it is time to look small and get tight. The tide was rising which was to my advantage, as was the strong breeze.

If you are familiar with the pier at Ocean Grove, you may remember the shack at the end where the fishing club met and fished. (You can see a couple images of the old pier in my blog post titled, God's Square Mile - Ocean Grove, New Jersey) The pier was destroyed in 2012 when Superstorm Sandy blew thru; most of it was rebuilt but they stopped short at where the shack was located. Today there are some of the original pilings and a few broken ones. I decided to concentrate on a broken one that was being hit by incoming waves.

Fishing Pier #2

It seemed as though Mother Nature knew what my plans were and decided to have some fun at my expense. As soon as I got my gear set up and decided on my composition, the breeze subsided a bit and the waves lessened in their size. The water was still getting to the broken piling but there was nothing dramatic. I have been playing this game too long to think it was going to be easy - one of the first things you learn about landscape photography is that conditions are always changing and there are no guarantees.

It didn't take long before the wind picked up and waves started coming in a bit bigger. Still, I wasn't getting the violent crash with a great amount of spray that I was looking for. It took 10 or 15 minutes of nothing and "near misses" before I got the shot labeled "Fishing Pier #1". It looked good on the back of the camera but I took a few more, just in case. I liked that particular piling but wanted to try a different composition so I moved back a bit towards the end of the pier. My original idea was to frame the broken piling with new ones on either side - it wasn't a bad composition but I think the image labeled "Fishing Pier #2" is better. You can see shadows of the other pilings and tell that it was quite late in the day.

The Jetty #1

The Jetty

Just to the north of the pier is a small jetty - you can see some of it in Fishing Pier #2. I tried a few images after I finished with the pier but wasn't happy with the way the water was playing with the rocks. I went back a couple days later to re-focus on the jetty and came away with the images presented here. The wind wasn't blowing nearly as hard as previously and the tide was a bit higher and still rising. My goal was still to get crashing waves and dramatic spray but I also wanted to capture some fluidity in the water. I wanted some flowing over and around the rocks. In some ways shooting the jetty was easier and in others it was harder. It was easier because the conditions were better and I had far more compositions to choose from. It was more difficult because it was a more complex subject and that made predicting how the water would act a lot more challenging.

The Jetty #2

The Jetty #3

There were times when I caught a nice splash but the pooling water didn't look quite right or water spilling over the rocks completely obscured them. Other times I had some great flow but there was no splash. The images shown here were shot on the north side of the jetty, I moved to the other side before leaving but there were no images to be had; the water was breaking from the north and so the waves were not crashing over the rocks on the south side of the jetty. I did a few test shots of the rocks at the south tip - the ones you can see in "Fishing Pier #2" - but there was nothing, nor did I get any good images when I got on top of the jetty and shot out to sea.

In Conclusion

Overall, I would say that both sessions were successful but they left me with wanting more. I can't wait to get back to the beach and explore more possibilities with both the pier and the jetty. There are other jetties along the Ocean Grove beach and I will explore them, too. Other towns have their own piers and jetties, each with their own unique characteristics. There is also the option of using long exposures - 10, 20, 30 seconds or more. The longer exposures will require using neutral density filters and while I do have a set of filters, stacking them to give me exposures of those lengths can cause issues (see my review of the filters - Product Review: Formatt-Hitech Filters) so it may be a while before I can plan the really long exposures. I also want to do some long exposures - in the range of 1 to 10 seconds - during sunrise and sunset.

What experience have you had shooting slow exposures? Have you shot at the beach like I did or some other subject? I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences - leave a comment below.

Exposure Information

Image	Shutter speed	Aperture	Focal length
Fishing Pier #1	1/13 second	f/16	100 mm
Fishing Pier #2	1/10 second	f/32	41 mm
The Jetty #1	1/3 second	f/22	31 mm
The Jetty #2	1/5 second	f/22	21 mm
The Jetty #3	1/3 second	f/22	19 mm

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All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com

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I Am a Formatt-Hitech Ambassador!

UPDATED 17 JULY 2018

I am updating this original post to say that as-of 17 July 2018, I am no longer a Formatt-Hitech Ambassador. The discounts mentioned in this post are no longer valid.

Announcement

In July 2017 I was offered a position as an "Ambassador" for Formatt-Hitech filters. I was, to say the least, quite honored to have been chosen as a representative. I have held off announcing this until now in order to give Formatt-Hitech a chance to put up the webpage - click here. The page contains the names, locations, brief bio, photo and link to ambassadors around the world. The list is in alphabetical order by last name so you have to scroll a bit to get to my listing. I am one of three currently representing the United States.

Who is Formatt-Hitech

Formatt-Hitech is a filter manufacturer headquartered in the UK, with a US office in California. They have a line of screw-in filters, as well as a filter systems. I currently own the 85mm Aluminum Filter system (for more information about my system, see "My System" below.) The filter holder will accommodate three (3) filters. For a more detailed description and information about the filters, check out their Product Knowledge page - here.

Why Formatt-Hitech

Buying a quality filter system can be quite an investment and so I did a lot of homework before choosing Formatt-Hitech. One of my main concerns was color cast - I had read quite a bit about other systems having a magenta cast to them (mainly magenta, anyway) and I didn't want to have to deal with color-correctly every image I shot with the filters. The other concern was, of course, cost. The "perfect" filter system doesn't do you any good if you have to mortgage your home to buy it! The reviews I read for Formatt-Hitech had no mention of color cast and the system was within my budget so I took the plunge.

My System

I spent a lot of time debating before choosing the 85mm filter system. My initial thought was to go with the 100mm system but because I am shooting a crop-sensor and maximum wide angle of 18mm (28.8 with crop factor), I wasn't concerned about vignetting so I decided to save a few dollars and put that towards filters. I went with the 85mm Aluminum Holder, two (2) adapter rings and eight (8) filters, as shown below.

• .3 solid & soft-grad (1-stop)
• .6 solid & soft-grad (2-stop)
• .9 solid & soft-grad (3-stop)
• 1.2 solid & soft-grad (4-stop)

The .3 thru .9 filters were part of a set that came with a nice, velvet case; the 1.2 filters were purchased separately. I am planning to add a circular polarizer and a 10-stop ND this year, maybe a 13- or 16-stop.

My Experience

I have to admit, as anxious as I was to get a set of neutral density (ND) filters, I haven't used them all that much. I have been so busy shooting foliage and trying to get other things done. The few times that I have used them, I was quite happy. The two (2) images included here where taken on two separate occasions using a combination of filters. The system is easy to use and I had no problem with vignetting, despite shooting some at 18mm. I will be writing a full review, as-well-as a video review, in the coming weeks. I will also be doing a lot more work with them, shooting sunrise, sunset, waterfalls, etc.... Stay tuned!

My Offer to You

As an Abassador, I am authorized to offer to you a 10% discount on any purchase made from the Formatt-Hitech website (either International or US). All you need to do to redeem the offer is to enter the code JOE10 at checkout. That's it! You get high-quality filters and keep some money in your pocket to put towards your next photo excursion. It doesn't get any better than that, does it?

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you check out my listing on the Ambassador page - leave a comment below and let me know what you think. I also hope you consider Formatt-Hitech for your filter needs and take advantage of the discount. If you have used their filters, please leave a comment with your thoughts.

Until next time - go out and enjoy the wonders of nature!

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All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com

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