Black and White Landscape Photo of a Tree Bathed in Natural Light

The staple of black and white landscape photography—the long-exposure water picture—has eluded me. It’s not that I haven’t taken any (there’s one on my about page) or that I don’t know how to take them. The fact remains, I have yet to capture one that I’m satisfied with. And on one particular day in February of 2022, I was determined to finally capture the perfect long-exposure water picture.

Spring in Northern California seems to come earlier and earlier every year. As I ventured out the temperatures reached seventy degrees. That’s not unheard of in our area during late winter, but it certainly is getting more common.

Extreme Drought Reveals Hidden Treasures

There’s a section of Folsom Lake in Northern California called Beals Point that I was interested in exploring. The lake levels were so low that it enabled me to wander quite far along the lake bed before encountering water. Rocks, shrubs, and trees that would normally be surrounded or submerged underwater, were exposed, and I wanted to take advantage.

Since the water level was so far away from shore, there were no trees down by the water. I decided to see if I could get a long exposure shot with a rock in the water. By doing long exposure, the water would look silky smooth.

As I wandered around the dry lake bed, the smell of spring was in the air.  The sound of geese broke the silence as they flew overhead. The warmth of the sun on my exposed arms and legs felt comforting.

As I spanned the area, I spotted the perfect composition. However, there was one problem. Sitting on top of the rock formation I wanted to photograph were two women. And it looked like they were having a picnic because they had a blanket and food and drinks laid out in front of them. I was like, “Hey, what gives? Don’t you know that I took the time to come here and take a photo of the rock you’re sitting on?” They didn’t seem to care.

The Best Laid Plans

The search for an alternative composition ensued, but the pickings were sparse. There was no other potential rocks in the water that would work. Disheartened, I switched my focus to some other trees and rocks that I had seen farther from the water. Before too long, I had gotten over my disappointment (well, almost), and found some shots that I thought I could be proud of.

As I approached the end of my little trip, I gave one last look toward the rock formation and the ladies were still there, laughing and enjoying the time by the lake in the beautiful sunny weather.

I packed up my gear and headed back to my car. As you will probably see as a running theme to many of my photos, I discovered a subject and composition on the walk back. I saw this lone tree sticking out above a clump of rocks, and it seemed to be sheltering a smaller tree right next to it.

And the light. Oh, my, the light. There was a tall clump of trees off to the left and their shadow fell around the area except for a swath of sunlight that illuminated the tree and the rocks directly in front.

My heart began to race. I’ve learned not to take too much time when coming upon such scenes as the light is fragile and can go away quickly. I put down my tripod that I had been carrying and franticly grabbed my camera out of my backpack.

I took a couple of deep breaths, raised the camera to my eye, composed the shot, focused, and snapped a couple of pictures. 

Upon reviewing them, I felt like I was too far away, so I moved closer. I recomposed and fired off several shots. When I looked in the rear screen of my camera, it was hard to see perfectly because of the glare, but I was pretty sure I had nailed at least one picture.

Having completely forgotten about the rocks with the women picnicking on top, I raced back to my car and smiled all the way home. I suspected I got a good shot, but you never know until you get it into the computer and can take a look on a larger screen.

Sure enough, after downloading the images onto my computer, I flipped through the myriad of images I had taken that day and stopped on the picture above. I had definitely gotten the shot and couldn’t have been happier. The quest for the perfect long-exposure water picture would have to wait for another day.