The unusually warm weather has provided rain, rather than snow this week. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and photograph Hadlock Brook Falls in Acadia National Park. Hadlock Brook Falls are 40-feet high, the tallest waterfalls in the park, and viewed from Waterfall Bridge. Starting from Parkman Mt. parking area, Waterfall Bridge an easy one-mile long hike along the carriage roads.
I was excited to try the B+W 10-stop filter on the waterfalls. This image was 4.5 minutes long to smooth the water with the 10-stop filter. I also used a polarizing filter to reduce the glare from the wet rocks. Both filters screw onto the lens. The trick is to use the polarizing filter first, for setting the polarizing effect, and focusing and framing the image, then screwing on the 10-stop filter without rotating the polarizing filter. After the 10-stop is attached, the image is too dark for effective focusing or framing. My other concern was vignetting when stacking the two filters. Both B+W filters (polarizing and 10-stop) are thin and the Zeiss lens has an extra wide filter ring when compared to the edge of the glass, so there was no vignetting in the image.
While hiking to Waterfall Bridge, there was a 20 minute snow squall. The squall's clouds produced a beautiful soft, even light on Hadlock Brook Falls. The soft light lasted for a couple of shots, then the clouds broke up and caused a harsh uneven light. Fortunately, I was able to capture this image while the light was soft and even. To learn how to create images like this, consider attending one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.
EXIF data: Nikon D800, 21mm (Zeiss), f/8, 273 sec, ISO 100, 12/19/15, 2:11 PM
