I know I've tried today's photo once before, but apparently I did not get very good results because I can't find any photos from the previous attempt, and to be honest, this most recent attempt yielded similarly poor results. So before we even get started, you can know that this is something I'll try again someday.

I am talking about capturing a photo of a flat sheet of water, with a nice reflection, and one or more splash of a skipping stone. I honestly can't remember why the last set did not work out, but when I tried the other day, I figured I would give the 7D's 8 fps shooting speed a run for its money. One nice thing came of this, I was able to confirm that my camera actually can do the 8 frames per second that it claims.

While the last set's problem was probably because I didn't really know what I was doing, this set's problem was more than I wasn't thinking enough and taking my time to fix all of my problems before I left. The biggest problem I faced this time was focus. I had manually picked a point to focus on, not trusting that the camera's AF system could keep up (though I didn't even try it to find out). So unless the splash was in the right place, it is out of focus. The other main problem I had was that I didn't compose my shot very well first. As you can see, the background is not the greatest (I should probably try this when things are bright and green or in full autumn colors). But I did get a couple keepers (and a handful more that might not be that great, but I kept any way).

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, 1/1580 sec at f/1.8, ISO 200. Dolica AX620B100 tripod. Satechi TR-A Timer Remote Control Shutter Release operated by lovely assistant Christina. No post production. Cedar Creek Park, Westmoreland County, PA.

Why This Photo: As I said above, but in case you weren't listening, I just really like the idea of capturing a shot of a nice reflection and the splash of a skipping stone.

What Works: The splash on this shot is nice - crisp focus, perfectly frozen motion, and an intriguing shape. If you look close enough, you can even see the stone flying away from the splash.

What Doesn't Work: Just about everything else. The depth of field is a bit too shallow - perhaps I really didn't need the aperture of f/1.8. Possibly a tighter crop would make for a nicer shot. The background is rather bland with the bare November trees not providing a dark enough surface to make the splash really stand out. And while it is really hard to put the skipped rock in an specific location, this splash being dead center of the frame is unfortunately drab.

All in all, not the greatest shot. But I learned some things from this attempt, which should make the third attempt even more successful (hopefully). Things I will probably try next time:

• Smaller aperture (maybe f/2.8 or even f/3.5) for more depth of field
• Higher ISO to compensate for the smaller aperture (but not too high, don't want noise)
• Longer focal length (for a closer shot of the splash, though this will certainly reduce the success rate)
• Try Auto-Focus (it may or may not work, but at least check)
• A better background/composition (maybe during summer or early fall)

Even though I only came away with a couple keepers, as long as I learned something to hopefully make the next attempt better, this was worth the effort. Plus I do like the therapeutic nature of skipping stones.

- Bill

PS: Thanks are in order to Christina (who I met in my Photography 101 class) for manning the shutter release while I tried to skip the stones in the right spot to capture images like the one above. So one might say that technically she captured this shot.