The Right Equipment Helps

The right equipment, assuming you are shooting a DSLR, starts with the right lens choice. I started with the 24-70 set at 24mm. Of course a tripod is a must. On an overcast day, with my ISO set to 200 (my lowest in spec) f16 was giving me exposures of 1/2 second. I wanted that really creamy look to the water, so I went with the Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo. It’s a combo filter with a warming polarizer and an adjustable neutral density filter from 2-8 stops. This brought my exposure to 15 seconds, now we’re talking smooth water. The snow above the falls was still too light and was getting blown out according to the highlight warning (blinkies) on my LCD. I got out my newly purchased Singh-Ray 4×6 Galen Rowell 3 stop hard edge graduated neutral density filter. I was surprised to find that the Vari-N-Duo has front filter threads, so I could have mounted the lens ring and filter holder, but doing so would surely have moved all of my settings on double swivel filter. So, I just handheld the grad in front of the lens. I had just heard John E. Marriott describe the technique used by Mike Grandmaison, so I tried it. I was fairly pleased with the results.

Advertisement