Travelers visiting Slovenia hear about Bled as the primary site to visit. It is a beautiful town by an amazing lake surrounding a small island. Not just an island – there is a castle on it. This magical combination, along with other factors, makes the place a highly photogenic scene.
When I arrived at the lake, it was immediately clear that the site stands up to its reputation. The good weather was also on my side and perfect for shooting.
I admire long exposures, for many reasons. One of them is that nowadays, anyone with a simple digital camera can capture a one-shot amazing photo of a place (after several tries that the digital cameras allows, unlike films), but not everyone knows how to use HDR and long exposures. So to be a bit more unique, I aimed in that direction.
Like a disciplined photographer, first thing was to find a good angle for photography. I found that walking around the lake was very comfortable (6-7 km only), with a good walking road and great weather. When I say “great weather “, I mean great cloudy sky, not too sunny (so it will not be too contrasted), and without rain that might damage my equipment. I calculated the time and figured out that I will have enough time to finish surrounding the lake while pinpointing the interesting photography locations, then go back to get the car and get back to the marked points that I have found in order to make the long exposure evening shots.
So while surrounding the lake, I found a location with good a view of the island, the clouds played a major role in the sky and the sun shimmered amongst them. I decided not to miss the opportunity, pulled out the tripod, composed and shot 3 shots that created the HDR on the right.
Later on that day, I came back to another marked spot, not that far from the previous one. The sun was no longer there, only clouds and the threat of rain. Quickly, I set the camera on the tripod, calculating the right exposure. It was not too dark to get the long exposure that I wanted, so I used my ND filter, and with aperture of 22, and shutter set to 20 seconds, I got the photo below.
The long exposure makes the water look blurry, “milky”. The motion of the clouds makes them look like brush strokes. As a bonus of this point of view, I got the castle on the left side, and Bled itself on the right. I’m happy with this result, hope you are too.
I'll be happy to add more information. If you have any question please post them below.
* Special thanks to Mr. Dafner for reviewing.
