Soft water

[graigdavis]

It was cold and cloudy. I have been waiting for a cloudy day to go try my hand at getting soft water. I was using a UV and Polarizing filter at first. I couldnt get the shutter quite as slow as I wanted. So I threw on my Red filter too. I was able to shoot at 1/4-1/8 shutter and f8, ISO 200. The contrast was pretty bad on them though. So for the first time ever I photoshoped my pictures. :?

These were more just experimenting. But what filter do I need so I dont have to stack 3 filters to get these results?

 

[crosmill]

I really like them, especially the first.

I think the filter you need is called a Nuteral Desity filter. It alows you to slow down the shutter speed. But I'm no expert so don't take my word for it.

 

[Osmer_Toby]

man oh man, you are talented, dude. #1 is outstanding- great composition: driftwood draws eye into the falls, photo is nice and crisp, and contrast is great, ps or no.

#2 could use some work- although composition is the only thing off here. could you bring the right crop line farther out, so you get the whole shape of the underpass in the photo?

as for filters, i too need some instruction here. anyone know a link to a good tutorial on filters?

how about stopping way down to slow your shutter speed? any reason you did not go smaller than f8?

 

[graigdavis]

man oh man, you are talented, dude. #1 is outstanding- great composition: driftwood draws eye into the falls, photo is nice and crisp, and contrast is great, ps or no.

#2 could use some work- although composition is the only thing off here. could you bring the right crop line farther out, so you get the whole shape of the underpass in the photo?

as for filters, i too need some instruction here. anyone know a link to a good tutorial on filters?

how about stopping way down to slow your shutter speed? any reason you did not go smaller than f8?

Thanks man

#2 is as you see. I was basicaly under the bridge for that picture. I didnt have my wide angle on me at the time.

My camera only goes to f8 :? :x

I picked up a pamphlet of filters at my local camera shop. But it doesnt do a great job of explaining all of them and the -stop on them. I would like to take some pictures like these in color in the sun and blue skys. But I dont think I would be able to get a slow enough shutter in those conditions.

 

[graigdavis]

Here is another. Im not sure if I like it or not.

 

[graigdavis]

Here Toby. I found this site. They have some sweet deals too. http://www.cameragear.com/cf.asp Look at the Neutral Density filters. The ND8 reduces to 12.5% light = 3stops.

 

[tr0gd0o0r]

Yeah, you're definitly gonna want a neutral density filter for this idea. Youre gonna want to get the highest number they make, which i think is a ND8.

Also if u think you lost quality becase of the number of filters, you could try taking the haze filter off before you put the other two on. It doesn't drop the light any stops and taking it off may add a little quality

 

[graigdavis]

I ordered a ND8 filter. I see there is a ND400 filter. its equal to -9 stops. or 1/500 less. It was $50 though. If you have the cash it would be nice to have. Its on this site.

www.filterhouse.com

 

[Nytmair]

wow, that 1st one is awesome man!! i wanna take some pics of waterfalls now

-Dan

 

[vonnagy]

nice work graig,

what i find really good about the first shot is that you have a log there to break up the composition a bit..., i always prefer to have a log in my waterfalls for some reason. Its a fab shot, the tones here are a1 :thumbsup:

one other thing i noticed, though your horizon of the falling is slightly angled, the rocks in the right hand corner form a straight line- as well as the fence in the background. Very interesting!

 

[graigdavis]

nice work graig,

what i find really good about the first shot is that you have a log there to break up the composition a bit..., i always prefer to have a log in my waterfalls for some reason. Its a fab shot, the tones here are a1 :thumbsup:

one other thing i noticed, though your horizon of the falling is slightly angled, the rocks in the right hand corner form a straight line- as well as the fence in the background. Very interesting!

I saw that when I first looked at this picture. I figured you would be the first to mention that.

 

[Lungfarmer]

Great pictures! That first one is wonderful!

 

[Big Mike]

I'm no expert and I'm not 100% sure about this but here it goes...

At some point, the relationship between aperture & shutter speed starts to change. Or maybe it's the exposure on the film that changes....I think what I'm trying to say is that when your shutter speeds get really slow...you may not be over exposing as much as you think you might be.

I think this falls into the category of reciprocity failure.

Try shooting in manual mode at your smallest aperture (unfortunately for you, only F8 ) and experiment with long exposures. Try 1 second, 2 seconds etc.

I have seen a lot of soft water photos with 2 second exposure.

 

[Tammy]

gorgeous. While I also like the third shot you posted, I think the sky opens things up a bit too much - it doesn't feel as initmate as that first shot - which btw I think is awesome.

 

[graigdavis]

I'm no expert and I'm not 100% sure about this but here it goes...

At some point, the relationship between aperture & shutter speed starts to change. Or maybe it's the exposure on the film that changes....I think what I'm trying to say is that when your shutter speeds get really slow...you may not be over exposing as much as you think you might be.

I think this falls into the category of reciprocity failure.

Try shooting in manual mode at your smallest aperture (unfortunately for you, only F8 ) and experiment with long exposures. Try 1 second, 2 seconds etc.

I have seen a lot of soft water photos with 2 second exposure.

I was in manual mode when I took these. And I did try some 1, 1.5, 2 second exposures. The soft water was awesome. But you lost the composition in the rocks and the fallen tree.

Thanks again