First go at long exposure waterfall

[James Baranski]

Hi everyone! I made my first go at long exposure waterfall photography. I picked up a Hoya adj ND Filter. The scene is spring and all the vegetation is naked so I cropped the ugly foliage out. I will go shoot at the same spot in the late spring/early summer for better full photos/ Feedback welcome and remember, this is my first go at shooting and post processing....

5 by Jbaranski111, on Flickr

7 by Jbaranski111, on Flickr


6 by Jbaranski111, on Flickr

2 by Jbaranski111, on Flickr

10 by Jbaranski111, on Flickr

 

[funwitha7d]

for me #2 works best but all are quite different, also like #1, 3

 

[Rick50]

Of the lot I like #2 the most but all are too long for my taste. I like a little detail in the water.

 

[123rfanna]

#2 is a nice overall shot while #3 defines the stones a little better..the last 2 seems almost too fantasy like. Good first attempt!

 

[weepete]

7 is my favorite, though I really like the rocks in 6. Good job on your first go.

 

[jsecordphoto]

I agree that the exposures are a touch too long for my taste. Processing looks pretty good though. exposing too long leads to the waterfalls looking like one big highlight, I try to keep my exposure times between 1/2-2 seconds typically

 

[James Baranski]

I agree that the exposures are a touch too long for my taste. Processing looks pretty good though. exposing too long leads to the waterfalls looking like one big highlight, I try to keep my exposure times between 1/2-2 seconds typically

What are approximate best shutter speed?

 

[James Baranski]

for me #2 works best but all are quite different, also like #1, 3

I played around with different saturation to see the results

 

[James Baranski]

Of the lot I like #2 the most but all are too long for my taste. I like a little detail in the water.

My next run I will use faster shutter speeds. I guess it is trial and error.... Thanks guys

 

[W.Y.Photo]

The first and the third are my favorites. There is a really nice aesthetic going on with your choice to crop out the surrounding environment. While I agree with everyone about the shutter speed for the last two I think it works perfectly on the third and if you play with the contrast in the highlights in the waterfall on the 1st and 2nd so that they are similar to the way it is in 3 I think it might make them that much better.

 

[James Baranski]

The first and the third are my favorites. There is a really nice aesthetic going on with your choice to crop out the surrounding environment. While I agree with everyone about the shutter speed for the last two I think it works perfectly on the third and if you play with the contrast in the highlights in the waterfall on the 1st and 2nd so that they are similar to the way it is in 3 I think it might make them that much better.

I will note the shutter speeds on those photos so when I go out next time I will play around with +/- on those settings. I am sure it depends on lighting conditions too.

 

[qleak]

I agree that the exposures are a touch too long for my taste. Processing looks pretty good though. exposing too long leads to the waterfalls looking like one big highlight, I try to keep my exposure times between 1/2-2 seconds typically

What are approximate best shutter speed?

I think shutter speed depends on two factors, the amount of light (you can knock it down with an ND) and the speed the water is flowing. People often neglect to mention or consider the 2nd.

In my limited experience slower water requires a little bit more time and hence a bit more ND to make sure it's not all highlight. Faster water will require a shorter shutter speed.

 

[James Baranski]

I agree that the exposures are a touch too long for my taste. Processing looks pretty good though. exposing too long leads to the waterfalls looking like one big highlight, I try to keep my exposure times between 1/2-2 seconds typically

What are approximate best shutter speed?

I think shutter speed depends on two factors, the amount of light (you can knock it down with an ND) and the speed the water is flowing. People often neglect to mention or consider the 2nd.

In my limited experience slower water requires a little bit more time and hence a bit more ND to make sure it's not all highlight. Faster water will require a shorter shutter speed.

That is what I was noting... Water speed. Surely there has to be a balance between the water flowing under the fall and the water flowing through it

 

[qleak]

I agree that the exposures are a touch too long for my taste. Processing looks pretty good though. exposing too long leads to the waterfalls looking like one big highlight, I try to keep my exposure times between 1/2-2 seconds typically

What are approximate best shutter speed?

I think shutter speed depends on two factors, the amount of light (you can knock it down with an ND) and the speed the water is flowing. People often neglect to mention or consider the 2nd.

In my limited experience slower water requires a little bit more time and hence a bit more ND to make sure it's not all highlight. Faster water will require a shorter shutter speed.

That is what I was noting... Water speed. Surely there has to be a balance between the water flowing under the fall and the water flowing through it

That's certainly the trick.

Of course you could cheat and merge multiple images. It would give you greater control over the highlights and amount of blur since you could mask out the falls from some of the images needed to blur the water.

I found a howto someone did on this a while back but can't seem to find it now :/

 

[W.Y.Photo]

I agree that the exposures are a touch too long for my taste. Processing looks pretty good though. exposing too long leads to the waterfalls looking like one big highlight, I try to keep my exposure times between 1/2-2 seconds typically

What are approximate best shutter speed?

I think shutter speed depends on two factors, the amount of light (you can knock it down with an ND) and the speed the water is flowing. People often neglect to mention or consider the 2nd.

In my limited experience slower water requires a little bit more time and hence a bit more ND to make sure it's not all highlight. Faster water will require a shorter shutter speed.

That is what I was noting... Water speed. Surely there has to be a balance between the water flowing under the fall and the water flowing through it

That's certainly the trick.

Of course you could cheat and merge multiple images. It would give you greater control over the highlights and amount of blur since you could mask out the falls from some of the images needed to blur the water.

I found a howto someone did on this a while back but can't seem to find it now :/

I'll be posting an article for the new forum event at some point in the coming months that will describe how to do something similar to this. It's simple really.. You just layer the two images in photoshop after shooting on a tripod and use layer masks to bring out the waterfall. You need to make sure the exposures match perfectly though.