Lighting Problems

silver163 · Mar 31, 2007

Does anyone have any idea how I can avoid having such pictures? I got a K100D Pentax. I have F32, and I got the shutter speed at .3 and 1/8 seconds (different pictures), while I need to keep these speeds is there anyway to get the pictures much darker?

here are some examples:

http://i5.tinypic.com/2rgcoqx.jpg
http://i3.tinypic.com/4cwco47.jpg

gmarquez · Mar 31, 2007

I know exactly what you are going through. Get a good ND (Neutral Density) filter or two...they will cut down the amount of light entering your camera without throwing the colors off, allowing you to get longer exposures in sunlight without blowing everything to heck.

Mine should be coming any day now, and I'll be trying what you are doing, but with moving ocean water...

silver163 · Mar 31, 2007

Thank you.

I have found two filters. One is +2 and the other is +4. Would you happen to know the difference? If I may ask, which one would you personally recommend?

http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/241664820msk.htm
http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/241661412msk.htm

gmarquez · Mar 31, 2007

The higher the number, the less light they let through...kind of like a strength of subtraction.

If I remember right, a +2 will reduce your exposure by 1 stop, a +4 will reduce your exposure by 2 stops, and +8 will reduce your exposure by 3 stops.

What this translates to for your application is that (if memory serves) a +2 will allow you to expose at 1/2 the shutter speed, a +4 will allow you to expose at 1/4 the shutter speed, and a +8 will allow you to expose at 1/8 the shutter speed and still get the same exposure.

So...in theory...

If you were shooting a bright, sunny scene with a waterfall at 100 ISO and 1/100sec. shutter speed, a 2x would allow you to go to 1/50sec. shutter speed, a 4x would allow you to go to 1/25sec. shutter speed, and an 8x would allow you to go to 1/12sec. shutter speed (or closest equivelent) with the same aperture.

Dialing the aperture smaller can get you even longer exposures, because smaller apertures let in less light.

(Someone let me know if I'm getting this wrong, I'm still relatively new to digital SLRs)

RacePhoto · Mar 31, 2007

Are you setting the camera to manual and the ISO to 200, which is the lowest for this camera?

Just guessing from the subject of the photo, it seems like you could get by with a +4 ND and still be able to use it for other projects. If you get a +8 it might be too much to be useful, except for some special situations.

Are you shooting full manual? You should be.

Ken_D · Apr 1, 2007

What ISO are you using?

Garbz · Apr 1, 2007

WOW the EXIF data on those images says your ISO is at 1600. You will want to cut that down to 100 for those shots. Also avoid High ISOs if possible as it introduces noise onto the sensor. Same square rule applies.

silver163 · Apr 1, 2007

my iso was 800 when it was taken. my camera only allows me to go down to 200 iso

fmw · Apr 1, 2007

Going from 800 to 200 will reduce the exposure by 2 stops. That should be nearly enough to get your image exposed properly. If you need a little more, then the ND filter would handle that. You might also experiment with the shutter speed a little. You might find that 1/15 or 1/30 might also give you the look of motion in the water you seek.