Traveling the Journey of Light | Photoblog Thoughts, feelings, and techniques behind the photography of Derrald Farnsworth-Livingston

5 Arguments Against “Is That REALLY How You Saw It?” - #3: Can You Stop Time?Posted by drfl on June 9th, 2010

A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there — even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity.”
- Robert Doisneau

Let’s face it, our eyes are more geared towards movies than photography. When we look at something, it is rarely static. Still photography captures only a slice of moments, fractions of experiences. Our lives are interactive films. Even on a still day, when we point our lenses at an outdoor scene, the sun’s deliberate transit causes shadows to move, light to scatter, and depths to change. A photograph is a wholly singular point in time. We never truly see anything as unchanging. Waterfalls, for example, are usually caught over a long exposure, transforming the motion into silky-smoothness. Is that how we saw it? No. Sometimes, water is captured in a quick stop, drops hanging in mid-air. Is that how we saw it? No. So how did we see it? Simply, motion. A photograph by its very still nature makes it only a frame from the movie of our lives. Unless one is using mind-altering drugs or have achieved higher levels of consciousness can one maybe stop time, and I don’t recommend the former and I have no answers for the latter. Only through a camera can you freeze time easily and effectively.

Mass Believability? - 7 That water looks so surreal!

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/16, 1.3 sec., Singh-Ray 3-Stop ND Filter
Six Finger Falls, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas

From the Photo Archives: A Touch of LightPosted by drfl on August 31st, 2009

In summer of 2006 I had the pleasure of photographing the Columbia Gorge region of Oregon. Since Nebraska is not known for waterfalls, I really wanted to get out and see the many that the region had to offer. Unfortunately, due to multiple issues with United Airlines, we missed over an entire day of visiting this serene area, but I did make a point to visit the grand Multnomah Falls.  Besides photographing the waterfall in its entirety as many do, or even half of it with the bridge, which is also common, I choose to put on my 70-200 with a 1.4x teleconverter and selectively photograph various sections of the falls. In this particular image, I focused on the rainbow that was created as a small slice of light was hitting the falls.

Technical Details:
Canon 20d, 70-200 f/4l + 1.4tc @ 198mm, f/16, 1/8 sec.
Multnomah Falls, Oregon

This image can be viewed on my website at: http://www.journeyoflight.com/journey06/photo.asp?pictureid=ATouchofLight&xmlfile=/journey06/xml/color/pacificnorthwest.xml&x=0

Snake River FallsPosted by drfl on May 29th, 2009

One of my goals for my Valentine trip was to visit Nebraska’s big 3 waterfalls - Snake River Falls, Smith Falls, and Fort Falls.  Nebraska isn’t known for waterfalls, but there are several, especially near the Niobrara.  These three, however, are the most popular and most visible.  Today’s image is Snake River Falls near Merritt Reservoir, the largest waterfall in Nebraska by volume.  I arrived on a fairly overcast day - perfect for setting up and getting some slowed down water effects.  By utilizing a 3-stop filter to further slow the shutter speed for an even more silky effect.  Due to the natural low contrast in the scene, I boosted the contrast somewhat on the rocks and shore later in order to give greater dimensionality to the photograph.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 30mm, f/16, 1 sec.
Snake River Falls, Near Merritt Reservior 

Slowed FlowPosted by admin on January 23rd, 2009

Today’s image was taken on a rainy, overcast day during my last trip to Alberta, Canada. Overcast days are optimal for capturing the movement of the water and slowing it to a silky flow. I felt that this technique gave this photo a feeling of a bit of motion, instead of a “snapshot of time” where everything is completely frozen. Through this I hope that this allows you to be drawn into the composition more, rather than being just a viewer.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 17-40 f/4l @ 27mm, f/18, 10 sec.
Alberta, Canada

Hidden FallsPosted by admin on October 17th, 2008

Today’s post is the first image from a recent excursion to Colorado. This is Zapata Falls near Great Sand Dune National Park in the southern area of the state. It is a small hike through a creek to get here, but it is worth the effort.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/13, 1.6 sec.
Zapata Falls, Colorado