I photographed this group a few days ago in a rocky stretch of the Farmington River. There’s an especially lovely section flowing south from the village of Riverton CT.
How were these done? So, I used a 32 ND setting for the silky blur of moving water and then the hard part began: finding groups of well-lit maple leaves without falling into the river. The pictures were taken at 1/4 second and the camera is the OM Systems OM 3.
JOHN TODARO 
The bending and never ending waterflow bringing golden leafs, magnificent!
Sugar Maples in southern New England are vibrant right now, that despite all that has been thrown at them by a feverish climate. It’s hopeful, just seeing the color again
Hi John, the first photo is missing – but even seeing only the second two, I’m thrilled. Thanks for the technical details, too. And I’m sure it was hand-held, which is no problem with that camera. Even with mine, which seems ancient now. 😉 That smooth water, the bit of blue sky, and the fiery leaves in #2 are gorgeous.
Thanks for the heads-up; for some reason I was seeing the first image but it wasn’t actually there (my cache, I guess). Let me know if you see it now.
I can get sharp handheld images with my primes at 1/4 second, but not every time. It’s been an interesting learning process
It’s there now and it’s beautiful! Thanks. I love that pile-up of leaves behind the rock on the left. You almost want to sit there and see how long it takes before they break away, right?
The use of ND filters to smooth water is something I haven’t applied myself to, maybe because it’s often overdone. That’s not the case here! I think there’s a good balance between the smooth and the sharp.
The leaves behind the rock made me think of the log piles that happen here behind bridge supports. The rivers can be calm for a long time this far from the mountains (I’m talking about off the island; Fidalgo Is. is too small for rivers). Then a few trees fall in and faster currensts from storms take them downstream, only to run into something along the way.
I don’t know if you ever saw that on your trips out West. The log jams can last for years and years. Many years ago, there was a “snagboat” to clear the jams if they obstructed river traffic. The boat is here in Anacortes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._T._Preston