Photographer planned how to shoot this fairytale scene for weeks – and a 15-second exposure "seemed to be just right"

Photographer Tobias Gawrisch spotted the opportunity for this beautiful image a few weeks prior to taking it, and carefully considered the scene beforehand – something that is familiar to most professional landscape shooters.

"This shot needed to be planned in advance in order to know when the Sun would be directly shining through the hole under the bridge," Gawrisch says.

"It wasn't hard to get in the end. I just had to experiment with the exposure time to get the right amount of flow for the water. 15 seconds seemed to be just right."

Gawrisch knew he wanted everything in focus, he explains, "I needed an aperture between f/8 and f/11. Then it was just a matter of keeping the ISO at 100 and matching the exposure time and aperture.

"I planned to be at the location a little in advance to get the perfect angle and find a suitable place for the tripod. For creating long-exposure images, I also use an external timer. This way I can release the camera without actually touching it," he adds.

Gawrisch feels that the image creates a perfect balance between nature and man-made structures. "Although the bridge is clearly a non-natural object, it inserts itself so seamlessly into the scene that it seems as if it has grown naturally over the stream.

'Fairytale Forest' – Tech details

Gear info
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens
Accessories: Tripod + shutter remote

Exposure details
15 sec, f/8, ISO 100

Pro's key tip

Know your weather
"The direction of the sun is a key factor for creating shadows and contrast in a landscape or nature photo,” says Gawrisch.

"Combined with the knowledge about how cloudy and windy it will be, you can anticipate the way shadows and the overall contrast in a scene will look. That's why I use several different weather apps on my smartphone – to always have reliable data about the weather at any given location, at any time."

See more of Gawrisch's work on his Instagram account.

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