Waterfalls

[Deano]

I've been playing around with camera alot this summer and one thing I like is that silky look you get with using a longer shutter speed. I'm not great at explaining but you can go Here and get a little info on how to. I've found the darker it is as the sun goes down or before it comes up on the horizon , the better.

 

Here's an early morning before the sunrises.

 

 

This waterfalls is in Owen Sound

[007]

Great shot Deano. I too love the slow shutter shots of moving water. It's such a great effect, and gives a real sense of movement. Also like the way you have framed the subject with some foreground elements that are in focus and keep the depth of field. Great shot.

 

Sometimes I go the other way too on close-up shots of waterfalls and shoot as fast a shutter speed as possible to capture individual drops of water. Both techniques can give beautiful images.

 

Thanks for showing us the image.

007

Edited September 15, 2007 by OO7

[brandon]

Deano,

 

The longer the shutter is open the more light allowed to enter the camera therefore lower light situations mean you can leave the shutter open for even longer giving that silky look you talk about. When I first got my SLR camera that was the first thing I learned to do and it never gets old.

[Muskieman]

Cool Pic !!! I'll have to try that with my camera... thanks for the idea

[brandon]

I just found this one on my computer that I took while I was at cypress creek a few weeks ago. It was about a 6 second exposure but the low light allowed me to expose for that long without overdoing it

 

[Kawartha Kev]

I love the shots with the nice soft effect to moving water in a waterfall or a running river but have never been able to capture that effect can anyone suggest camera settings such as speed and aperature to achive that effect? I know it will have many other variables especially the light levels but maybe someone can point me in the right direction. I tend to use the auto exposure in my point and shoot digital camera which gives a sharp clear image but I think I can do some manual settings but may be limited to only a couple aperatures, oh for my old SLR camera too bad film is so expensive.

 

Thanks for any help

 

Kawartha Kev

[brandon]

Kev,

 

Shutterspeed all depends on the amount of light around......like already mentioned the darker it is, the slower the speed you can get away with and therefore the "silkier" effect. There is also no set shutterspeed for taking photos. Just experiment with all speeds.....normally 2-6 seconds but again this varies from situation to situation. There is however one MUST.....ALWAYS use a tripod.....the slightest camera shake with a slow shutterspeed will blur the image. Your camera's timer combined with a tripod will eliminate that problem. I even bought a wireless remote to eliminate camera shake all together. But just experiment with some different speeds and post some photos and if your still having problems I'm sure we can help you out........Hope this helps.

 

Brandon

[danc]

A neutral density filter is a good tool for this type of shot Kev. Its only purpose is to darken your scene so that you may select a slower shutter speed. I recently bought one but haven't had the time to experiment with it yet. My only water smoothing shot came quite by accident. It was very early morning and not quite light out yet, so I was able to select a slow enough shutter speed to get the effect.

 

[Kawartha Kev]

Thanks Brandon I have a small waterfall at work and will see if I can get something to work in the 2 to 6 sec. range.

Dan thanks also for the input unfortunately my little point and shoot camera can't make use of any filters.

 

Kawartha Kev

[Deano]

Kawartha kev- You can practice and experiment at home if you like, just let a tap run into a dark container and overflow, dim the lights and click away. You will be able to see if you can achieve a silky look. Nice thing with digital, you don't have to develop any pics, just look at them on the computer and delete what you don't like. It will at least give you a little idea of what to do, cause it can be hard once in the field.

Edited September 16, 2007 by Deano

[Kawartha Kev]

That sounds like an interesting experiment Deano. I just tried a little experiment of my own with my aquarium aerator with some modest success with the air bubbles looking kind of smooth. Looks like I need a lot of practice as far as the experiment you suggested that could get expensive for me as a beginner lots of water down the drain LOL!!!!

 

Thanks for the idea

 

Kawartha Kev

[Kawartha Kev]

Well I wanted to learn how to do those silky smooth waterfall shots so I tried today at work with the little waterfall we have in Edwards Gardens not overly picturesque but good for practice. Here are a few of my better ones let me know what I did right or wrong I want to learn from the best and you guys are great!!

 

Thanks Kawartha Kev

 

 

 

[brandon]

looks great Kev!......if you want it even silkier try slower shutter speeds at dusk.......the photos will look like they were taken in normal light but the water will have that silky effect to it.

[danc]

You did great with a point and shoot camera Kev. Very nice!!!

[Kawartha Kev]

Thanks Brandon I wish I could have slowed the pictures down even more but when I did the pictures were totally overexposed and useless. Most of my good pics were in the 1/8 to 1/4 sec. range I couldn't get anything to work in the 2 to 6 sec range you were mentioning. I think the longest I got that was kind of good was a 1 sec. exposure. I think part of the problem is the camera seems to be limited to a f-stop of 13.4 I would like to go to a 22. I also noticed I could only get the 13.4 if I zoomed in. If I did a wide shot it was more like a 7.6 f-stop and the exposure I could only get to about 1/8 of a sec. which would not really produce the silky effect very well. Oh well I guess I'll keep trying.

 

Thanks Kawartha Kev

[Deano]

Great results, looks like you can let it get even darker, and then slow down shutter speed even more. But you're well on your way.

[007]

The best ways I have found of reducing light into the camera with my film SLR (I guess the same for Digital?) in order to create a longer shutter speed for the silky waterfalls shots is to use a small aperture (high number - ie 22) and add a circular polarizer and turn it to the desired setting. The filter also has the advantage of taking out the reflections/glare from the water too!

 

007