Golden Hour - Victoria City Rowing Club

What on earth was I thinking? See EXIF data

It was a quiet evening in early April and the water was smooth as glass. The rowers were coming in for the evening and had just come to a complete halt a few yards from the dock which is out of frame on the left. As they rested there briefly, I had a few seconds to capture this scene.

This photo was taken on Elk Lake, Victoria, BC, and it is my entry for the #goldenhourphotography contest by @juliank. Click on the photo for a full-screen view. Thanks for taking a look!

Nikon D750, 140mm, 1/20 second, f/22, ISO 250, April 6, 2015

When I looked at the EXIF data of this three-year-old photo I was puzzled because I would handle this differently today. After a lot of thought, I can now recall what I was doing... I shot in shutter speed priority mode and selected 1/20th second because I hoped it would help to enhance the smoothness of the water. The camera then selected the f/22 aperture which I would never use myself. The camera was on a tripod and the rowers had stopped so I mostly got away with the slow speed although the rowers are a bit soft...

Today I shoot in manual and I would pick 1/125 second and f/8.0 and let the ISO go as high as needed.

The photo was re-processed in Luminar last night. I cropped in a wide 16x9 format which I feel helps to enhance the peaceful feeling. Vertical crops are energetic while horizontal crops can be more tranquil. I also opened up the shadows to approximate the level of detail that was visible to the eye.