SHOOTING ESSENTIALS / High or low?

1 Tripod up high

Having your tripod up high gives you more foreground in your composition. The sticks’ paths are clearer, but they also look smaller because the lens is further away from the surface as they wash past. A high tripod also means we don’t have to bend down to shoot.

2 Tripod down low

Getting down low with the surface of the water gives us a very intimate effect. It’s as if the colourful trails are whisking straight out of the photo and past us. The foreground is not as in focus as it could be, but that’s fine because the long exposure blurs everything.