Slow It Down

“Set expectations for yourself that are not based on what you believe everyone else is doing.” – Julie Hage

One thing the pandemic taught me is that I have to be intentional about getting rest. Too often I would put rest off until the end of the school year. I had it in my mind that I would rest later. There was too much to do today. I realized that by not resting I was creating a situation where it was harder to get anything accomplished. Now I make a rest an intentional part of week, and even most days. There are days during the week where I do not do any work during the evenings. Weekends, I try to keep the work to a minimum. More often than not, I usually work about an hour on Sunday, and that is it. Rest is an important part of success.

I took these photos the other day at Marshall Park in Uptown Charlotte. I used my ND filter by K&F Concepts in order to get the job done. Using the slower shutter speed not only created a cool effect with the fountain, but the landscape photos of the park turned out amazing. Using the slower shutter speed allowed more details to make it to the photo. The reflection was not as clear when I took it at a normal speed, but it came in perfectly when I had it set the exposure time to take 25 seconds. The best way to pull this off is to have a tripod and a remote. I used Amazon’s basic mini-tripod. I would use a larger one, but I didn’t want to carry it with me while I was riding my bicycle. I also used an Amazon basic remote. When taking slow shutter shots, it’s best to not touch the camera at all while it is taking the photo. Any slight movement will cause an issue. I did try using my phone as a camera remote. It takes so long to link up, and it has to be paired up every time you set up at a new location. It worked, but the remote is inexpensive, it sense just to use it.