Posted June 28th, 2010

Mystical Waterfall

Along the South Klondike Highway from the White Pass to Skagway, Alaska numerous waterfalls plunge through the rugged terrain which gets drenched in precipitation. I photographed this one on my way back to Whitehorse from a photography club outing to photograph wildflowers at Dyea, Alaska and it is my last shot of the day that earns this spot as a Feature Photo. I was trying out a new 10 stop neutral density filter to provide a very long exposure, which produces the silky appearance of the flowing water. But this exposure gave me something else I wasn’t expecting, an overall misty softness. The wind was blowing considerable spray at me when I was making it and it appears that some lens fogging resulted. I consider it a happy accident. As shot, the softness was excessive and the photo looked very washed out but adding plenty of both local and global contrast in software yielded this dreamy, mysterious image. Who would think that I shot this from the shoulder of a highway with a wide angle lens? 
Pentax K10D, Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD @ 20mm, B+W #110 ND 3.0 filter, 89 sec @ f/16