Picture taking in the Poconos. . . .

Our family is on a mini-vacation in the Pocono Mountains.....we are staying at a friend's cabin and in exchange, we are doing some painting for them!  


We had a great day at Rickett's Glen State Park....it has tons of hiking and waterfalls.  The largest one was 94 feet.....it made its own wind!

We are having a blast hiking and I am learning how to use my Nikon D 3100.....


Have you been following any of The Nester's 31 Dayers?  I am following along My 3 Barbarian's 31 Days of Photo Tips....and I am loving them!!


On Day 2 she recommended Bryan Peterson's book Understanding Exposure.  I requested it immediately from my local library and have been devouring it!


Today, I wanted to try taking shots of "cotton candy" water....my only problem....I remembered the tripod, but forgot the attachment for the camera, so some of my photos are way blurrier than they should be.....you must shoot with a tripod!

To achieve the "cotton candy" water look.....you need to shoot at a shutter speed of about 1/2.  In my light, that meant that my f setting was about 22-29.  The slower shutter speed captures the soft flow of the water.


Compare it to this shot, where I had an open aperture ( f 5.6) and a fast shutter speed....

There's so much to learn about taking good pictures that it just makes my head spin....the fun part of this trip....just spending time with these monkeys....

How are you spending your fall?



Thrifty Thursday will be a little later tonight.....look for it around 11 pm EST!