Beginner Long Exposure Photography Problems....Help Required

So, like the rest of us, try and try and try again until you get the results you are after. Obviously the tutorials help the understanding and you never get so good that you know everything, but without experimenting yourself the techniques will never sink in. You have some top class help here from some very knowledgeable people, so you were right to ask.......the learning curve will continue........good luck, its all about the journey....(y)
 
shreds said:
So, like the rest of us, try and try and try again until you get the results you are after. Obviously the tutorials help the understanding and you never get so good that you know everything, but without experimenting yourself the techniques will never sink in. You have some top class help here from some very knowledgeable people, so you were right to ask.......the learning curve will continue........good luck, its all about the journey....(y)
Click to expand...
Yes its all about experience... only watching or studying tutorials wont help unless you do some practicals... it looks so easy when you see but seems to be hard at start when you do it by yourself
 
Just a thought... If you can get down to the edge of the lake, you might get a more rewarding shot shooting a close up of the shore?

So instead of just seeing a flat lake (as you mention, the lake is pretty flat already!), you would see the wet stones, a misty area where the waves are lapping against the shore and a flat water surface. Particularly if you have a circular polariser so you can better see through the water.

It should also be a bit darker if you can find a bit in some shade, making longer exposures easier.

e.g. https://www.flickr.com/photos/zboumeester/5626164317 (Not my photo - just a quick Google!)

It's easier to start learning long-exposure photography at dusk/dawn/night when exposure times will be longer naturally, without having to add filters to slow things down.

You've given yourself quite a challenge in your first photos shooting such a big expanse of flat water in very bright sunlight - especially what looks like India (Udaipur?).
Also, as Phil mentioned, it's not a great viewpoint for a normal photo, let alone a long exposure one!
 
Durbs said:
Just a thought... If you can get down to the edge of the lake, you might get a more rewarding shot shooting a close up of the shore?

So instead of just seeing a flat lake (as you mention, the lake is pretty flat already!), you would see the wet stones, a misty area where the waves are lapping against the shore and a flat water surface. Particularly if you have a circular polariser so you can better see through the water.

It should also be a bit darker if you can find a bit in some shade, making longer exposures easier.

e.g. https://www.flickr.com/photos/zboumeester/5626164317 (Not my photo - just a quick Google!)

It's easier to start learning long-exposure photography at dusk/dawn/night when exposure times will be longer naturally, without having to add filters to slow things down.

You've given yourself quite a challenge in your first photos shooting such a big expanse of flat water in very bright sunlight - especially what looks like India (Udaipur?).
Also, as Phil mentioned, it's not a great viewpoint for a normal photo, let alone a long exposure one!
Click to expand...

Yes I agree with you.... I have selected the difficult location at start... should go for dawn/dusk or night time where time is long
Also the good thing you said is to look for some shade....here I was in bright sunlight :(
Yes I missed that part...should have gone for shore where water strikes the stones to capture the movements
 
This isn't the best photo in the world, but I think it's what OP is trying to achieve.

Try and make the shot interesting. Give yourself some foreground to lead the eye into the shot. The scene you show is somewhat bland and flat.
This was shot low down to empahsis being near the water. Yes, I had filters on, but can't remember which. I "think" this was with a 10 stop and a 5 stop stacked together. I "may have had a grad on for the sky. Even so I stopped down to f13 to reduce the natural light coming into the camera Exposure time was 1min 20 secs at ISO 200. It was a winter's day so light wasn't too bright, but if you try and do this in the full glare of a summer's day then you won't have enough filters to give you a long enough exposure to get smooth water. Also if you shoot flat water like a lake from too high you run the risk of not really getting the smooth water effect.

This is my style ...others may do things differently. There's more than one way to skin a cat!

Derwent Water by Frank Yates2010, on Flickr
 
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