author: Ken Brown
As our Acadia workshop was coming to an end after a day or so of rain, we were happy to see the sun emerge, but in the case of this shot, not too much of it !!
This area is called Duck Creek, and the weather could not have been more perfect.
What helps this photo… First, after 2 days of rain and wind, there were a lot of fallen leaves in the creek. Second, since the storm system was still clearing out, we arrived in the early morning with overhead clouds and absolutely perfect diffuse light to show off the running creek, the rocks, leaves, and surrounding trees. Strong sun would not have appeared nearly as good, and would have created many spectacular highlights, bright reflective areas, on the rocks and water. The last element that makes this photo work is the sense of the moving water, created with a 1 second exposure with a tripod mounted camera. So the main message is – while everyone loves the sunshine, sometimes you really don’t want too much of it.
Ken Brown is a trip leader with Arizona Highways Photo Workshops.