Canon EOS 3, tripod Sigma 24-135 at 40mm Fuji Velvia 50 f4, 1/5 second

Less confusion

It's true; I take plenty of the 'tourist' style of images, I just don't put them up in the galleries. I try to show off the different stuff ;-)

At Crabtree Falls on the North Carolina leg of the Blue Ridge Parkway, we spent no small amount of time investigating the different options available at that locale. This one become one of my favorites because of the rich colors (courtesy of Velvia slide film) and the different feel. It's obvious that this is taken at a waterfall, even though the falls are extremely out of focus. Some subjects are very recognizable regardless, and it can provide a different approach to your background. The title, in fact, refers to the optical property called "circle of confusion," the nature of the light focused through the lens. Being out of focus, the falls themselves are very confused optically, yet we're not when we see them in the image.

If you're working on composing images yourself, I'll point out the framing of the falls in the upper half of the image, with the leaves standing out well against the contrasting color of the rocks, and the shooting angle that maximized the light off the leaves and water droplets. These are small changes in position that can make a big difference in your images.