HELP FAST MOVING CLOUD EFFECT

andyt72

andyt72

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andrew
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hi all pretty new to photography and im trying to get the fast moving cloud effect
i am using a canon eos 450d with a sigma 18mm-250mm image stabalized lens also with hoya ND4 filter

i have tried to get the effect a number of ways first way i thought long exposure would work so set the camera up to iso 200 and shutter speed to 20 seconds all i got was a bright white image

2nd way i was told to do was iso 100 / f8 / 1/200sec
tried that way and just got a normal picture LOL

could anyone please help
thanks
andy
 
You can do it in very dark conditions with a long shutter speed, but if you want to get it in the day time you could do with whacking on your nd4 filter, putting the iso to 100 and trying with different shutter speeds, although personally i think in daylight you would want something like nd10 or welding glass
 
You will probably need a stronger filter than nd4. Use aperture priority. Put your iso to 100 and your aperture to its narrowest (probably f22) and that will be the slowest shutter speed you can get away with. If it's not slow enough you need a stronger filter or darker conditions.
 
It depends on how much movement you want in the cloud but basically all you need to do is:

Low ISO e.g. 100

Small aperture e.g. f22 (as an example)

Longest shutter speed for the desired effect. e.g. 5 / 10 /20 / 30 seconds (or longer using the Bulb mode if required)

If you want a larger aperture use your ND4 or stronger if you have it.

And remember to keep the camera still using a tripod / shutter release / mirror lock-up.
 
Are you using manual mode? it's no good just picking the aperture, iso and shutter speed you fancy, the reciprocal relationship between them has to be preserved. Stick the camera in A mode and set the lens to its lowest aperture.

You could shoot raw and overexpose by a stop and then pull it back afterwards in lightroom/photoshop/whatever.

failing that, just wait til the evening when the light is low anyways or pick a really windy day when the clouds are moving quickly :)
 
Gandhi said:
Are you using manual mode? it's no good just picking the aperture, iso and shutter speed you fancy, the reciprocal relationship between them has to be preserved. Stick the camera in A mode and set the lens to its lowest aperture.

You could shoot raw and overexpose by a stop and then pull it back afterwards in lightroom/photoshop/whatever.

failing that, just wait til the evening when the light is low anyways or pick a really windy day when the clouds are moving quickly :)
Click to expand...


hi yes im using manual mode
 
Would it not be best to use Shutter Priority here? Then you can set the long shutter speed that you want and the aperture will set to keep the photo exposed properly. Although it would probably still be too bright in the middle of the day.
 
Probably best to use a bulb exposure in manual.
Is this similar to what you want? I was actually trying star trails but a few clouds passed over.

365_13.jpg


I think that was 15 minutes. Pete Carr has some really good ones somewhere on the forum.
 
Think you'll have to hold the shutter button, it'll stay open while you hold it.
I did mine with a remote, 1 click to open and 1 to close it again. The 15 minute was a guess, think I did 7 minutes and looked at the histogram and decided to double the exposure.
Probably ISO100 and f/8, that's where I'd start, it was so dark I couldnt find the camera after 15 minutes wandering about lol.
 
The reason you initially got a bright white image is because it was overexposed. You still have to manage the exposure so it is correct. If the meter is telling you that the exposure is iso 100 1 second @ f22 then using manual mode and exposing for 20 seconds is not going to give you the nice streaky cloud effect, it will just give you a result that is 4 and bit stops over-exposed.
 
you need a ND filter, not a grad a straight filter to reduce the amount of light getting in, that way you can have the shutter open for longer and without overexposing the image
 
To get streaky clouds you need a very long exposure. Even on a windy day, how far do clouds move in a few seconds? You need minutes. You also need to maintain the exposure reciprocal as stated in posts above, which in daylight would mean an aperture of f/3001 or something equally impossible. That's smaller than a pinhole. If you fit a 10 stop ND filter, the darkest you can get, it only takes your shutter speed down from 1/1000sec to 1sec. (ND4 is only two stops.)

Basically, you can't do it in bright daylight. It needs to be dusk or preferably almost dark, and often a strong ND filter on top. If the sun is above the horizon it's probably too bright, but the dying embers of a sunset should be okay. Or lots of light polution to illuminate the clouds from below (unless you have a very big torch :D).

Calculating the exposure is difficult. If there is some light light in the sky, you might be able to get a steer by raising the ISO to max and lowest f/number, noting the meter reading and working it back to a very long exposure by dropping the ISO and raising the f/number to where they need to be, and maybe fitting an ND filter too. But basically it's trial and error, shooting a test pic and chimping the LCD and histogram.

To save you waiting ages during test exposures, raising the ISO and lowering f/number should reduce a 10 minute exposure down to a few seconds. Saves time, especially if the light level is dropping rapidly. You'll need a cable release for bulb exposures. Turn of in-camera noise reduction (it doubles the length of the exposure while it processes the image - do NR in post). Don't forget to completely cover the viewfinder.
 
I won't bore you by bringing up camera settings as that's already been covered in here, but what I can try and help you, speaking as an amateur meteorologist, is to find the optimum weather conditions that is conductive to this type of photography.
Basically you need to be under a very mobile airstream often associated with passing depressions and while it can occur at any time of the year, they are at their most common in late Autumn, Winter and Spring. Summer is the wrong time for that kind of thing due to the weather often being settled and calm (you'd never think so what with this run of awful summers!) as well as the long daylight hours.
The lower the clouds, the faster they appears to be moving along. Cumulus (the small fluffy cotton wool type) are best as they usually sit about 1000 feet above sea-level so tey can easily be seen scooting along in that fresh westerly wind. Cirrus and any high-based clouds are no good for that "long exposure" cloud effect as they form up to 20,000 feet in the air and are often associated with high pressure systems, which are reponsible for our calmer better summer's day.
At the end of the day, having a brief basic understanding of meteorology and cloud types would go a long way to helping you achieve your object.
 
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