Beginner Moving water?

T

TontoC

Messages
11
Name
Tony
Edit My Images
Yes
Sorry I'm going to have lots of questions!
Just went out today with my camera. Totally newbie, spent some time watching videos and reading up. Decided to go out today and just see what I could take photos of and get used to the controls of my d5600.

I thought I would stick to manual to get an understanding of apatite, shutter, iso etc...

Now I wanted to try and get a photo of some moving water and thought I would try a long shutter speed. My understanding was I should go for a high F stop, low iso and then try and get the shutter to stay open longer. I went for F25, iso of 100 but the longest I could get the shutter was 1/3? Anything longer and the image was way over exposed?

It was quite a dull day but obviously I'm doing something wrong. Did think do I need an ND filter when doing this or am I missing something simple.
 
ND filter is certainly one way to do it - they can introduce a colour cast (more cast the more stops) but also allow you to open up the aperture and reduce the risk of diffraction effects of the smallest aperture too.

Personally I'd try a 6 stop first which at f/25 & ISO 100 would let you go to about 20s exposure (or 10s @ f/25 ISO200... Etc)
 
hunnymonster said:
ND filter is certainly one way to do it - they can introduce a colour cast (more cast the more stops) but also allow you to open up the aperture and reduce the risk of diffraction effects of the smallest aperture too.

Personally I'd try a 6 stop first which at f/25 & ISO 100 would let you go to about 20s exposure (or 10s @ f/25 ISO200... Etc)
Click to expand...
Strange as that's what I tried, F25 and 100 iso yet the exposure was too high when I went about 1/3. 10 secs just whited out?
 
Yes - you need a Neutral Density filter to get longer exposures (the 20s exposure is about 6 stops longer than ⅓s - ie. The effect of introducing a 6 stop ND filter)
 
hunnymonster said:
Yes - you need a Neutral Density filter to get longer exposures (the 20s exposure is about 6 stops longer than ⅓s - ie. The effect of introducing a 6 stop ND filter)
Click to expand...
Sorry, new to this . Just realised what you mean by the 6 stop filter on top of the settings. Thanks for the help.
Would you say I'm best persevering with manual settings from the get go with this camera? I feel I'll learn more than just using auto or semi auto?
 
With something like an ND filter you might want to use manual to get the best exposure at low light levels. But generally most people use A, S, or P depending on the camera and the type of shot, its just one less thing to think about and even in manual you are relying on the camera's light meter.
 
If you are using a10stop or 6stop neutral density filter it’s likely that your cameras exposure meter will fail to operate with the filter in place. Take a reading of the scene without the filter, note the reading, switch to manual, set the aperture to the value used to take your reading and calculate the shutter speed needed with the filter in place. IMO the best app for this is from Lee Filters - it’s available on the Apple Store and Google Play.

HTH
 
TontoC said:
Would you say I'm best persevering with manual settings from the get go with this camera? I feel I'll learn more than just using auto or semi auto?
Click to expand...
Take pictures, try anything/everything to get the result that you're looking for- as far as possible change one thing at a time. Learn from your mistakes. All you lose is time.

Shutter priority, Aperture Priority, Program mode will all get you technically correct photos but a well-exposed picture of a waterfall at 1/1000s is a very different beast to a well-exposed shot at 1/2s

As you say you'll learn nothing (beyond composition perhaps) from full auto.

You have no idea how much easier this is with digital compared to film (even with 1 hour developing) with essentially a fixed ISO per roll.
 
I think 1/3 is enough to show movement in a waterfall. It would be nice to see your results.
An alternative to the 6-stop ND (although, I think this is an excellent recommendation), is to simply wait for it to get darker. Consider your distance from the waterfall. If you are far away from a large waterfall, 1/20 or 1/30 could work for silky water. If you are close enough to touch, then a 1/5-second exposure would be a good choice.

Anything over a 2 second exposure looks the same as a 2 second exposure. This photo of Faxi waterfall in Iceland was shot at 1/5 sec f/14 with a 6 stop ND filter.

faxi.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nod
TonyPrower said:
An alternative to the 6-stop ND (although, I think this is an excellent recommendation), is to simply wait for it to get darker
Click to expand...

This is good advice if you don't want to go to the hassle of buying a filter. Also, as a proper ghetto attempt, if you have sunglasses with a big enough lens (aviator style rather than rayban/lennon style), you can hold them over your lens as tight to it as you can. It's not perfect and you'll get light leaks all over the show, possibly the rims in shot, and a colour caste depending on the shades, but you will get a longer exposure time. I've done this in the past when out without any filters. It's more to demonstrate it working than to use in earnest, but if you like the results, it makes that ND filter a more thought out decision. I've also used those clear cellophane sweet wrappers (think Roses "Purple one") which again give a colour caste, but do cut down on light.

Good luck, and as said above, share your results here!
 
I wouldn't fall in the trap of feeling you need to keep buying stuff.
You could get a longer shutter speed by trying the shot with lower light like at sunset.
And as pointed out for faster water you don't need more than 0.5 seconds anyway.

It sounds like you are already doing Ok with manual settings it's not a bad idea to keep on with that but there are no rules apart from enjoy it and try different stuff.
There are situations where the Aperture or shutter priority are good a choice e.g. Fast action like football/children/animals you could set shutter at 1/500 and let the camera manage the other stuff to get good exposure. Nothing wrong with going full auto and just use the exposure comp.
What will make as much difference as anything is using RAW then you have much more ability to change things in software later with minimal degradation
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top