Photographs by Rick Sammon

"Hurricane Hal," formerly known as Bull Schmitt from the Light Photographic Workshops, is here in Croton on Hudson, New York shooting with me - because Hurricane Irene washed out his B&H seminar.

Today we photographed waterfalls - large and small. Here are a few tips, from Hurricane Hal and me, for capturing the beauty of flowing water.

• Use a tripod - to steady your camera during long exposures.
• Shoot at 1 second or more to blur moving water.
• Pack a ND (Neutral Density) filter, which will let you shoot at slow shutter speeds in bright light.
• A polarizing filter can also reduce the amount of light entering the lens.
• Use your camera's self-timer or a cable release to avoid camera shake during a long exposure.
• Check your histogram to check your exposure.
• Bring a lens cloth to keep your lens clean.
• Use Live View to check your scene - composition, focus and exposure. Zoom in for precise focus.

Here is a link to our waterfalls tips' movie.

Here is a fun link to my double rainbow movie.

Hurricane Hal and I hope to see you at the California Photo Fest in October in California.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. Here's a hand-held pano I took this morning. Another double rainbow. What does it mean?

Also, we shoot here during my Croton Creative workshop.

Five-image pano. Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40mm lens. Stitched in Photoshop's Photomerge.

Here are some pano tips from Hurrican Hal.