A friend who knows I love the outdoors and photography suggested I visit the Kugler Woods Waterfall in Stockton, New Jersey. I found excellent information on The Outbound website. The waterfall is tiny, but I got some fantastic long-exposure shots on my iPhone 6 (using the Pro Cam app) and Nikon DSLR. I think the flow of water is dependent on the amount of rainfall. I will visit again when the spring rains start.
The best light is most likely the blue hour at the end of the day. I don't know this for sure, but given that the waterfall faces west, the late evening light will illuminate the water.
Getting close to the water with the lens was challenging. The rocks were slippery from the moisture, which in this case was ice. Did I mention it was cold?
I struggled with the long exposure. I used my AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G lens for all the images. Because the lens focus ring only works in manual mode, I focused with the lens in auto-mode, locked in the exposure readings, switched the lens to manual, and then carefully attached a ten-stop Hoya Pro 52mm 1000x Neutral Density Filter. I had to do this for every capture. I'm saving up either the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X116 Pro DX II Digital Zoom Lens or the Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM FLD AF Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens. I haven't decided which lens to buy. From what I read on Lensrentals, the Tokina has better image quality than the Sigma. But the Sigma is wider.
I started with 30 seconds, but I think 60 seconds worked best for the time of day. I tried doing some long-exposure HDR as well. The images here are all HDR images with exposure times between 2 and 30 seconds. The exposures were combined in Photomatix Pro 5.
I visited the Falls earlier in February, water from the falls more abundant. We need to follow up after a good rain, remember to bring a good pair of hip boots.
Hi Rick, it was great hanging out with you at Whitesbog Village. I will definitely order a pair of boots for my next trip to visit water.
You are a better man than I to venture out in the cold! I have yet to really get my Tamron 28-300 on a long exposure outing. But its getting warmer and there are some trips I would like to take and get my lo-ex on.
Hi Ed. As you know, I really dislike cold. But ... I had to test out the Hoya Pro 1000x Neutral Density Filter and after being stuck inside for the winter ... I needed this. I wish you had joined us for the Whitesbog photowalk. It was a gorgeous day. Next up for me is the Annual Photografriends Cherry Blossoms at Fairmount Horticultural Center.