Running water/small waterfall

Lesco

Lesco

Messages
623
Name
Tony
Edit My Images
Yes
I am going out and about this week with my new d300s, and I am going to have a walk around one of my local wier pools, among many places.

what are the basic settings to start on to photograph running water? I think I have to start in aperture mode, I want to achive that silky/milky effect that the more expienced guys get, I know its all dependant on the day with the light etc, etc, I just need a starting point.

Im also going to have my first attempts at HDR photography, would you use 3, 5, or 7 frames for your merge at the end? some tutorials mention different amount of frames.

Thanks in advance for help and advice
 
For the silky effect you'll need a tripod, and you can use a small aperture to increase exposure time; or use a stopping filter.
 
In daylight you will really struggle to get the milky effect without an ND filter.
You'll just end up with a bright white scene. Even with the aperture stopped right down, its unlikley you cut enough light out.
 
Right thats intresting Tom, so I need to invest in an ND fillter set and holder, ok well thats something Ive learnt today, cheers
 
Yes - or you can just do it in the evening at night and do a long exposure ;)


HDR can be as few as 2, or as many as you like really - but really it depends what you're photographing. If it's a landscape and you just want the sky and ground properly exposed, 3 - one to expose for shadows, one for the sky and one in the middle is a general starting point. In a church or such you may use more to get the full range. So honestly it depends where you're doing it and on the available light.
 
Thanks Gemma for that advice thats brilliant Ill use your advice as benchmark for shots now.
 
If you are in a dense forest on a dingy day you might get away without an ND filter, but for anything out in the daylight, even on a dark day, you will still need one. Or yes, go at night where you can have a longer exposure.
 
Tony, We have used this many times for waterfalls only.

In moderate to low light Shutter priority set speed at 1/4 to 1 second -longer the better, lowest possible iso, use a circ poly filter if you have one, rotated so it's inactive, otherwise fix your sunglasses to front of lens with short piece of duck tape at sides and top. Set camera on self timer and rest on a rock etc.

On dull days you'll get away with no filter at 1/4 second @ 100 iso. Not for purists but many a good demo shot has been captured like this of the Kew Gardens waterfall.
 
The best way of getting the slowest shutter speed you can, if you don't have any filters or such, is to use Av mode, select the smallest aperture your lens is capable of, set your camera to the lowest ISO setting, and take the shot.

If you follow Phototuition's advice of setting the speed between 1/4 - 1 second, you run the risk of overexposing the shot because your lens cannot stop down far enough to balance the exposure. Even if you do have something to put in front of the lens, selecting smallest aperture and lowest ISO is still the way to go to get the slowest shutter speed.
 
Last edited:
I agree Scarecrow, but normally approach the problem from the shutter speed perspective to avoid confusing those who are new to the concepts.
 
That's ok if you know what you are doing, but from a beginner's perspective, you run the risk of selecting a shutter speed that requires an aperture that the lens is not capable of delivering, resulting in an over exposed image.

Most of us would recognise what the problem was and adjust the shutter speed to something a bit faster to compensate, but a beginner may not recognise why his image is overexposed, and therefore will struggle to correct the situation.

Approaching it from an aperture priority side gives you a greater latitude in choice of shutter speeds to get a correct exposure. The only possible pitfall here is that the resulting shutter speed may not be slow enough to give the milky effect being sought.

Having said that, if the aperture is already shut down as far as it will go, and the ISO has been set to it's lowest setting, if the resulting shutter speed is too fast to give a milky effect, then it is obvious that the ambient light is too bright to achieve the desired affect. The only solution then is to either wait until the ambient light becomes darker, or to introduce a ND filter in front of the lens, both of which will give you a slower shutter speed.
 
Tripod... a must.
Without you can get blurred water if you lean on something to stedy the camera (rock/tree).

Use a high f#. This makes the focal distance larger, but also slows down the shutter.

If you are in bright light this will still have a high shutter speed, and the only thing you can do is use an ND (neutral density - +4 or +8 are best...?) filter to essentially put sunshades on your lens.
If you do have shades and they are big enough you can hold those infront of the camera, but you will need to hold them steady as they bend light... ;)

Easiest is if you go to manual mode, pick a nice f# (say f8) and set the shutter speed gradually slower. 1/60, 1/30, 1/10, 1/2s, 1s, 2s

Check the pics after each and see which gives you the effect you are looking for.

Good luck :)
 
Welding glass is a cheaper ND grad option.
Tripod very useful
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top