Long Exposure

Marc32 · Jul 24, 2011

I will never stake claim to being the world's best photographer, but I have apparently been bitten by the photography bug. I'm a long time artist (drawing, woodworking/woodturning among different mediums I've worked with) who bought a new Panasonic DMC-FZ100 after a few months of research as an upgrade from a 5 yr old simple Koday point and shoot. The main purpose of the camera was to be able to take better photos of my woodworking projects and have a better zoom. So far, the FZ100 has far exceded my expectations and I have started to really enjoy taking landscape pictures. The zoom is fantastic, pictures are a far far far upgrade from my Kodak, and the features are (for the most part) easy enough for a novice to get the hang of in a short amount of time. So I'm finding myself at the introduction of long exposure photography. The camera operates with a starry night feature of 15, 30 and 60 second exposure. It also has a manual setting from 1/2500 to 8 second. Specifically, I'd really like to try my hand at taking a waterfall with the moving, misty water effect. I do have a good tripod, remote shutter release, and a ND4 and ND8 filter. From what I've read, taking long exposure in daylight can be a trick. But set an ISO at 100 and play around with the shutter speed and ND filters until you get it right based on the scene and light conditions. My question to the more experienced photographers is what else do I need to be thinking about to make a picture come out nice? I'd like to be able to enlarge them to 16x20 or so and do some various artistic tricks with the final print...like cut the photo into 3 pieces and hang it on the wall with an inch or so between each. Can I even pull this off with my camera? Granted it's not a DSLR or Hasselbad, but seems like the pixel count and MOS sensor should do the trick well enough start to get the hang of it. Anyone who's done a lot of this kind of thing willing to chip in and offer me a little advice? Thanks!!

Marc32 · Jul 25, 2011

62 views and no replies. I'm starting to think I've beaten the dead horse again with this question. Search had plenty of info, but none specifically pertaining to my camera. I will resign from here and try my luck in a different forum. Thanks to those who read my post.

EPPhoto · Jul 25, 2011

You don't need info specifically for your camera. You need to know 3 things...shutter speed, aperture, ISO. That's what makes a proper exposure. Beyond that, there's composition and other out of camera stuff to worry about.

So, long shutter, low ISO, small aperture (f/11 at least).

Post them up when you get em done!

Edsport · Jul 25, 2011

Try a 1 sec shutter speed and go from there. If it's overexposed speed up the shutter, if it's underexposed slow down the shutter...

Tomasko · Jul 25, 2011

It's all about practice, practice, practice.. There are no universal settings for this. Go out and try it. If it isn't good, try different settings. We don't know what weather you'll have, or what time of the day it will be etc.
This isn't about the camera, it's about the photographer. 14Mpx of FZ100 is more than enough for the job, even for larger prints it will be fine.

Crece · Jul 25, 2011

Unfortunately no one can tell you what to do to improve your pictures in general. Posting images for critique is a very effective way to learn as is the experience gained from attempting to transmit your vision to image form. I recently made the jump from the Panasonic/Lumix DMC FZ35 which I loved to a DSLR and though the Lumix is a great camera for snapshooting the size of the sensor is a limiting factor as grain is a constant problem in any low light shooting situation. With the money that I have spent upgrading from one point and shoot to the next I could have purchased my present system and then some without all of the wasted time and effort. The resale value of the point and shoots is nonexistent. That said by all means get the most out of your Panasonic. I was able to practice composition and lighting but if you really want to explore your creativity I strongly suggest your next move be to DSLR. You won't regret it.