One of the things I really love doing is look for patterns in running water as I walk along a river or creek.The photo above was taken at the top end of a waterfalls.For this type of shot you need fairly fast water and a bright overcast day.The water is tumbling over the rocks in three different directions here.I chose a composition at an angle to the flow so the water would exit out on the bottom left corner of the photo.So basically you have the water running in from both sides and the top.This will give you flow in and flow out.The secret here is in the shutter speed as while maintaining depth of field.

Once the camera and tripod are set up I will shot the scene at different exposures.I may take up to 20 exposures so that I can  select the photo that I will use when I get home.You want to create defining patterns with the water.Shooting at 1 sec or so will not achieve the results we are looking for as you would create water that has no detail.This photo that I selected was shot at a shutter speed of  1/4 sec at f22.You will see that the flowing water has character and depth.

As I was walking along above the river I noticed the unique patterns been created by a group of rocks in the river.The river was very low at this time of year.The water depth was very shallow.I found my way down to the river’s edge and set up the camera and tripod to create this composition.The lighting was extremely beautiful that evening and everything had a wonderful glow.

I used the rock on the left for a lead in and the water flows from the top left to the bottom right.I shot this one at 1o secs at f29.There was some very nice patterns created by the water flowing around the small rocks. Again I shot at different shutter speeds to create the patterns I wanted.

You will not see these type of effects too often,but when you do start shooting.You must also picture in your mind what it will look like in Photoshop.Until next time happy trails.