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It always fascinates me when I look at pictures with long exposure and moving water. They have this silky smooth look that I find so soothing and relaxing. It's like time is in slow motion and you capture just a milli second of it. You can turn a roaring river into a gentle flowing stream by using manual mode and long exposure times. Using this technique is easy to do. With a little practice and the right tools you to can shoot some amazing waterscape photos.

 

 

 

Here's what you will need.

• Camera set to manual mode
• Knowledge of camera dials, buttons and their functions
• How to use your meter
• Tripod
• Neutral density filter,4, 8 or 10 stop

In a nutshell this is what we are doing…..

We are opening up the shutter blades for as long as possible to allow for movement but limit the brightness or amount of light exposing the sensor. This is done in two ways. One you close up your aperture limiting the hole size and the amount of light that can get thru and two darken the light coming into the lens with a neutral density filter. Either method will allow you to use a slower shutter speed giving the silky smooth look. I suggest using a combination of both, that way you will have better control over depth of field, image clarity and exposure levels. Any source of water movement makes for good subject matter. Waterfalls, swift moving rivers, lakes and oceans with constant wave action all work great.

 10 Steps

1. Attach neutral density filter to your lens, 4-10 stops
2. Mount camera and lens to tripod
3. Camera set to manual
4. Frame your scene
5. Set fstop \ aperture to f8 – f16
6. Adjust the aperture to center the meter, use a minimum shutter speed of 1/6 or slower
7. If you cannot get the meter centered at a slower than 1/6 shutter speed then use a smaller fstop (larger number) eg. f20-f25
8. Take a test shot, check for proper exposure and silky water
9. If needed readjust both the shutter speed and aperture to correct the exposure and amount of silky water effect
10. Fire away, remember to change up your angles and perspectives

Tips

• Remember that the smaller the aperture eg. f20 the image will have more grain / less sharp
• A larger aperture (smaller number) will have less in focus
• A larger aperture will require a faster shutter speed
• A faster shutter speed will have less of a silky water effect
• Try to balance shutter speed and aperture for best effect and exposure
• Experiment with different camera settings, each will give a slightly different result
• A brighter day or scene will require a larger neutral density filter and fstop setting, eg 10 stop filter and f20 or higher aperture

 

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