Rick from NY wrote:
I respectfully disagree. The water is blown out (overexposed) and the shutter speed is too slow to render the rocks in sharp focus. I say this constructively with no meaness intended. Not clear if you used a tripod, but at f10, the rocks etc should be tack sharp which is almost impossible to achieve at 1/8 sec handheld. When I shoot moving water, I experiment with various shutter speeds and keep a close eye on the histogram and chimp to see how well focused the image. It can take multiple (many sometimes) to achieve a pleasing pic.
Added comment - you mentioned blurry leaves due to wind. Wind is something that is not in your control obviously, so you need to understand the limits of what you can do compared to what you want to do. If it’s windy and the leaves are moving, but you want them sharp, your SS is determined by the leaf movement, not how silky you want the water to look. If the leaves are dancing too much and you want them in sharp focus, your necessary ss might be too high to blur the water much at all, if any. In nature, there is a limit to the number of variables you can control. I can envision a scene where nicely rendered flowing water (“nicely” being a subjective adverb) with slightly blurred leaves to suggest the breeze and razor sharp rocks might be quite effective. In your situation, I think the evaluation of your photo has much less to do with the amount of blur in the water which is highly subjective and far more to do with the exposure value of the water (blown out in my opinion) and the sharpness of the items that are NOT moving (the rocks). Again - you asked for a critique and I offer mine in the spirit of trying to be constructive and helpful.
I respectfully disagree. The water is blown out (... (
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Rick, I thank you for your critique and I am not at all offended. I am open to all suggestions and tips. As I said, this is only my second attempt and I have much practicing to do