Wild Padley gorge

I can see what you were going for, but sadly, although you captured your blurred water, everything else is also blurred.
Were these hand-held?
 
Sean

As Ruth has said, a tripod is a must for these type of shots even if your exposure is only half a second rather than some that are multiple seconds long!

It looks like the light was quite flat when you visited which can work in your favour as it allows longer exposures in what is quite a dark area to photograph. The combination of leaf fall, the green rocks and smoothed water can really make a compelling shot so worth having another go. Composition is key with these shots as there are so many things in view that you need to try and isolate elements as well as bring certain features to the eye of the viewer such as a prominent rock or shrub.

I can't view the EXIF data on any of these so can't comment on exposure settings / times etc.

#1 The best exposed of the four - the colours of the rocks and leaves are starting to 'pop'. The grass bottom left is distracting and the rock in the bottom right has been cropped

#2 I find with these type of shots, the sky doesn't always add to the shot as it tends to just blow out even with strong filtering the effect can look unnatural as the trees often become too dark. I like to compose with the sky out of shot or very limited. Your shot looks over exposed and flat as a result
Your horizon looks out and the pool of water has been cropped off to the right - I'd have been tempted to focus past the first rock on the left and get the cascades more prominent. I'd also boost the saturation slightly to bring out the colour in the algae/moss and leaves.

#3 This is a great capture but IMO the shot looks too busy with the foreground interest. I would suggest a letterbox crop to focus on the cascade and the lovely curve on the right with the leaves - losing the bottom half of the shot. Again, a slight boost to saturation would help.

#4 The above zoomed in. You've cropped the very top of the large rock. I would crop tighter at the top just above the top of the middle rock which will lose some of the background rock clutter and also slightly at the bottom to lose the expanse of black in the water. Saturation as above.


overall great potential in these shots and certainly worth having a play with your shots and getting a revisit to Padley Gorge - a beautiful place - you could spend a whole day there and still come back for more!
 
Thanks for the constructive criticisms and now I've spent time looking at them I see entirely what you all mean, these were all taken with a tripod and an ndx400 filter and a circular polarising filter but for some strange reason I couldn't get my EOS 70D to take any pics in live view mode and long exposure, it just kept shooting fast shutter speeds but I'll keep trying and see what I can manage, I might get better results once I've an intervelometer and a better tripod, thanks again.

Sean.
 
As I've already said in my slippery stones thread I'm going to check my pics on my computer as my iPad isn't sharp at all.

Sean.
 
Sean, the tripod can't be an issue unless it's moving. Don't set it in the water where it's fast flowing. Check for a tight focus before pressing, ensuring the camera is then in manual focus mode and any stability controls are turned off ie OS/VR etc. Set the camera in Manual mode. Choose around f22 if no ND filter is able to be used. ISO should be 100 and no higher. All of this will limit the amount of light able to hit the sensor. Then set the exposure. Normally around 1/4 - 1 second is enough and shows some detail still in the water. The fStop can be used to control the exposure rather lose detail so can be decreased to make brighter.

http://flic.kr/p/kgcHpo

This was on a 500D.

Hopefully it gives you some base level technical bits to start from.
 
Thanks for taking time to write that mate, it's very much appreciated, my first attempt was based on the video by Gavin Hoey on you tube, I've bought myself an intervalometer off eBay, as soon as it arrives I'll get back to Padley gorge with the settings you've advised me to use, thanks again mate.

Sean.
 
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