The "headwaters" of Edmonds' Shell Creek are in Yost Park, which according to Terry, dates back to the Ice Age. He can recite the entire geological history during a tour of the park. The creek flows through town (although not always above ground) and empties into Puget Sound at a spit where many birds gather to bathe and drink its fresh water. In the early days of the city of Edmonds, the Yost family had a water bottling plant located on the creek in what is now their namesake park. At the time, the bottled water was the town's sole source of drinking water.
Tuesday evening (6/3/14) my son and I were on one of our regular barred owl hunts in the park. We ventured down to one of two small concrete foundations built on the creek which are all that remain of the old water bottling plants. Due to the park's steep ravine and lush tree canopy, these foundations and the small waterfalls they create seldom see sunlight, as evidenced by the heavy coatng of moss. That evening the late, low sun was at just the right angle to shine up the draw and illuminate the small waterfall.
I initially tried the slow shutter speed technique of "blurring" the water.
1/40, f/4.5, ISO = 1,000
Then I used a faster shutter speed to freeze the water. I prefer the "sparkle" created by the faster shutter speed.
1/640, f/4.5, ISO = 12800
Looking downstream (west) through the draw towards the source of the sunlight.
All shots were taken handheld using the 5DIII. Composing them was not easy as I was shooting with the owl hunting 100-400L telephoto zoom. The slot through which the water flows is no more than two feet wide. Next time I'll have my son stand there to put it into proper perspective. I'll also shoot with a wide angle lens and experiment with a circular polarizing filter. Due to the angle of the sun, there will only be a few days each year when I can take these shots.
Tuesday evening (6/3/14) my son and I were on one of our regular barred owl hunts in the park. We ventured down to one of two small concrete foundations built on the creek which are all that remain of the old water bottling plants. Due to the park's steep ravine and lush tree canopy, these foundations and the small waterfalls they create seldom see sunlight, as evidenced by the heavy coatng of moss. That evening the late, low sun was at just the right angle to shine up the draw and illuminate the small waterfall.
I initially tried the slow shutter speed technique of "blurring" the water.
1/40, f/4.5, ISO = 1,000
Then I used a faster shutter speed to freeze the water. I prefer the "sparkle" created by the faster shutter speed.
1/640, f/4.5, ISO = 12800
Looking downstream (west) through the draw towards the source of the sunlight.
All shots were taken handheld using the 5DIII. Composing them was not easy as I was shooting with the owl hunting 100-400L telephoto zoom. The slot through which the water flows is no more than two feet wide. Next time I'll have my son stand there to put it into proper perspective. I'll also shoot with a wide angle lens and experiment with a circular polarizing filter. Due to the angle of the sun, there will only be a few days each year when I can take these shots.
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