Water is an inconceivable thing. Especially running, flowing water.

It evokes such associations which can hardly be aroused by a photo. That is why in this article I will give some examples showing how a shot depends on an exposure. On the photos of Baksan waters you can see that it turns either into glass pieces it it becomes soft and tender like down.

Among these shots you can choose those which correspond to your mood.

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A peculiarity of shooting with digital cameras lies in the fact that most of them have short-focus lenses, that is why one can't get a long-time exposure by changing the aperture. At the aperture equal to 8 and a focal length equal to 7 mm the aperture's diameter will be less than 1 mm, when diffraction effects might become noticeable.

In the majority of digital cameras the aperture can't be closed to less than 8. That is why to obtain soft fuzzy currents it is necessary to use neutral filters, especially if you are shooting in a sunny weather. If you don't have any neutral filters, you may use sun-glasses. The effect is a bit unusual.

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Unlike a usual photo, in case of a digital one there is a possibility to combine incombinable things. On the photo above made with the Flash technology, I combined 2 shots of the same stream captured at different exposure values. One shot is gradually turning into another. Although the image is changing, it is not a movie. It is not an object that changes, but a shooting process. However, considering a human eye as an optical system and a computer delivering images, I can submit that such an image reflects better our idea on a water stream.

However, maybe I just can't choose an image that I would like the best.

In conclusion I should add that an exposure is just only one of numerous parameters which should be accounted for when shooting water. However, in chase of a unique picture, a photographer rarely manages to remember all shooting parameters. A digital photo has one important advantage - all shooting parameters are recorded into the header of EXIF files, and you can always analyze all your misfortunes and victories.