Capturing Water Motion

[smackitsakic]

Here is my first ever try at capturing water in motion using a slower shutter speed.

Would love some CC on how I can do better next time! Thanks.

1 (no motion)

2 (some motion)

3 (max motion)

 

[Geaux]

If you're looking for cc on the actual shutter speed shots on just the water, I'd say you don't need any. looks good to me. The longer you left the shutter open though, left you with an overexposed shot. You'll need to use a Neutral Density Filter if you are looking to do more daytime long shutters.

Other than that, the composition on the shot isn't very good or interesting, but I'm thinking you just shot it to play with the water. I'm also guessing you used a tripod?

Good job on the shutters though

 

[smackitsakic]

Thanks for the comments.

Yes, I was just focusing on the water...unfortunately where I live doesn't have a lot of scenic photo opportunities with running water, but this at least allowed me to play with some different settings. I was overall faily happy with how the water turned out, and how easy it was to accomplish this feel.

In the summertime i'll try to get some better shots at the lake!

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[hqphotography]

What settings did you use on those pictures? I'd use a slower shutterspeed to show any even more silky effect on the water. Nuetral Density filters help.

 

[squirl033]

the 2.5 second exposure on the last one is about the longest you want to use for water. beyond that, it starts to lose the "motion" feel and starts looking like just a solid mass of cotton. i'm guessing the middle shot was around 1 second, maybe a tad less... i've found that for blurring water, settings between .8 sec and 1.5 sec are the "sweet spot". you can go a little faster or slower depending on the subject, but if you can keep in that range, you'll almost always get good results. an ND filter will definitely help... in a pinch, you can also use a polarizer to slow the shutter a bit. most polarizers will cut between 1 and 2 stops of light, so you won't need to stop down quite so far.

 

[Sachphotography]

ND filters do help.... Finding a decent spot to try and get good motion is hard to do. When I was in OK I only found one good spot. I have found many spots since moving to Washington. I would shoot at about F/16-18 to ensure everything is sharp.