The Landscape Photography Book

Long Exposure Water

Characteristics of this type of shot: A sunset shot with smooth, silky water.

Ingredients: There’s a lot of standing and waiting involved, and that’s really all there is to a shot like this—waiting around until enough water reaches the hole so your long exposure of the water looks decent. The day I was there, I couldn’t do a long enough exposure to get the seawater outside the well to be super silky—the water would rush in and right back out too quickly. So, the main ingredient, here, is patience. Unfortunately, there was a thick marine layer of hazy clouds, so the sun didn’t so much “set” as it just kind of went away, leaving ...