This is an image I took a few years ago about 10 miles from my house at Bennett Spring State Park. The rocks in the foreground are the remnants of the Holland Dam, from an old mill once located here in the early 1900s. The tower in the background is the Gauge Tower, built by the WPA in the 1930s. I thought I’d give some background on what makes this image special.
This 3,300 acre state park is one of the most popular in Missouri. Over a hundred million gallons of water flow out of the spring daily and flow the mile and a half to the Niangua River. It’s also home to a trout hatchery, that’s stocked with fish daily from March through October, when most to the 1.5 million yearly guests visit.
The main fishing season ends October 31st and stays closed for two weeks when it opens back up for the winter catch and release season. This is about the only time you can make a photograph without a bunch of fly fisherman in the scene. The problem is that here in the Missouri Ozarks, the peak leaf season has already passed, and if there are any leaves left on the trees, they are normally duller shades of brown.
That year fall came a little later, and I could make this photo when the stream was devoid of fisherman, and the leaves were still intact. To get the blur in the water, I used a Lee Super Stopper, a 15 stop ND filter. This let me get a 30 second exposure at f22. I also shot with a telephoto lens, to compress the distance between the tower and the rocks. The tower is about 125 yards upstream, so in many photographs of this scene it’s barely visible. Then it was just a matter of stitching together a series of shots to get the wide panorama view.
I’d like to take this photograph again to work on the composition. I’d like the tower moved a little farther towards the center of the image. I might try some different angles to minimize the handicap pier also, but that may not be possible. Maybe this year I’ll get lucky and get another chance.