Hey everyone! Today I am going to show you how to make flowing water take on that silky look that you see in so many photographs.
As you can see in these photos, I was able to capture the motion of water in a still photograph. There are a few things that you are going to need to make a successful shot like this. First and foremost is a tripod or something very sturdy that you can set your camera on. You will also need to find the controls to change your ISO rating, the dial to switch to “aperture priority mode” and your self timer ( it’s not just for getting yourself in the shot anymore!). Also, you should choose a day or time of day where the light is not very bright or harsh on the water that you are going to photograph.
Now lets get started. If you are using a DSLR make sure you go into the menu and turn on your noise reduction to avoid hot pixel noise! By now you should have picked your location and have the shot in mind. Set up your tripod, attach your camera and take some test shots to see how you like the exposure and composition. Once you have a shot that you like, we are going to change the settings on your camera to give the water its silky appearance. We will do this by using a longer exposure.
I have read that some photographers like to start at a shutter speed of about 1/8 second. Personally, I like to start with a slower speed of at least 1 full second. Note: your shutter speed will ultimately be dictated by the overall amount of available light. I want you to now set your ISO to the lowest possible number. On most cameras this will be a number between 50 and 200. Now switch to “aperture priority mode” and choose the highest number. On point and shoots this is usually F8 to F11 and on DSLR’s generally F22 but sometimes higher. You have now set your camera up to give you the slowest possible shutter speed.
Press your shutter button halfway and take note of the exposure, it should be something like F11 at ?/? sec. or if the light is low, F11 at 1sec. (If the exposure is much faster than 1/8 of a second, you may want to look for a shadier shot or wait until later in the day when the ambient light is a little lower.) If your shutter speed is slow enough we are almost ready to take the shot. Now find your self timer button. You probably have 2 settings, a 2 second timer and a 10 or 12 second timer. I almost always use the 10 second timer. The reason we are going to use the timer is to give yourself time to remove your finger from the button before the photo is taken. This will prevent camera shake, a major cause of blur in shots like these with long exposure times.
Now it’s time to take the shot. Gently press the shutter button and step away from the camera. If everything went as planned you should now have a nice silky picture of flowing water.
Disclaimer: When using your camera in, on, around, or near water use EXTREME CAUTION to prevent any kind of damage to your equipment. When using you in, on, around, or near water use EXTREME CAUTION to prevent slipping, falling or just getting wet feet.
Published by: Gene Fetty http://www.freephototutorials.com ©2008
