Eagle Eye: Photography Techniques - Waterfall Silky Water Effect

Friday, June 1, 2012

Photography Techniques - Waterfall Silky Water Effect

Waterfall/Fountain/Stream Silky Water Effect:
- To create a silky effect on flowing water (in a waterfall, fountain or a river/stream), the shutter speed must be slow to capture the movement of water and blur it. You can use Manual mode or Shutter Priority mode to set the shutter speed and adjust other settings for a proper exposure.
- Different shutter speeds create a different effect in the photo. Slower shutter speed may cause the water to blur more and vice versa. Experiment with the speed as per your creativity. You can use a shutter speed of 0.3s (rougher water) upto 30s (smoother water) for this effect.
- Using a slow shutter speed means that a tripod is necessary for steadying the camera.
- Also, a slower shutter speed means more light entering the lens which may cause the photo to be over exposed. To decrease the amount of light, use a low ISO (like ISO 100) and a smaller aperture i.e. high f/number (like f/8 upto the highest number like f/32). Alternatively, instead of Shutter Priority mode, you can use Aperture Priority mode to set the highest f/number and let the camera decide the shutter speed.
- Using a smaller aperture, the depth of field will be larger and hence the full waterfall will be in focus.
- A Neutral Density filter can be used to limit the amount of light entering the lens so that the image is correctly exposed at slower shutter speeds.
- A Circular Polarizer filter can be used to remove the reflections on water and make it crystal clear with deeper color tones. This filter also limits the light entering the lens enabling a slower shutter speed with correct exposure.
- Shooting under cloudy sky is better than bright sunny sky, since the photo won't be over exposed easily. Also dawn or dusk is better than noon for taking this type of photo.