Shooting Waterfals ...

[Hawkspur]

Hi There ... Im off to shoot some waterfalls on the weekend .. The falls should be flowing well after all this rain ... Hoping to get some heads up before I go ... I like the milky effect of the water ... but whenever I try this it appears that the trees are OOF due to movement ... Is there a trick to getting the water Milky without having blur to the surrounding attributes of the pic .... I have tried using a tripod without success ... lol

[hakka]

Shoot the longer exposure to get the silky water effect, around 1/2 sec is good, if you go longer you can lose definition in the water. if there is a pool at the bottom i take one shot at maybe 20 sec to smooth out yhe ripples. remove your nd filter (and increase the iso if needed)to give a shutter speed of around 1/50, take 10 or more shots at these settings.

Depending on the amount of wind there might still be movement in the shorter exposures, if so use focus stacking software to combine them into the sharpest possible image, the more images you have to work with here the better.

Blend your 1/2 sec image with the long exposure image if needed, then manually blend with the focus stacked image to remove any blurred bits.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7360/8929038027_2304f87939_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hakka69/8929038027/)
_D8F7879bcl (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hakka69/8929038027/) by Hakka69 (http://www.flickr.com/people/hakka69/), on Flickr

[ricktas]

Hakka has given you some great advice ^

* Use a tripod
* Longer shutter speed (1/2 second or more)
* Use a small aperture (larger f number)
* Use a remote shutter release if you have one, or use the self timer. Mirror lock-up is another thing you can do. Everything you can do to ensure the camera does not move at all during the exposure
* Overcast, really dull days are best for shooting waterfalls and running water. Sunshine means brighter and therefore easier to over-expose the result, and sunshine often means dappled sunlight coming into your scene, which tends to look untidy in a photo. You will notice in Hakka's photo, it is foggy, thus no direct sunlight in the scene.
* Remember to compose for a good foreground, as well as the waterfall itself.
* Prepare to get wet. Some of the best photos are taken from standing in the water (safety first though).
* Wind, yep it leaves your photo with movement, so just like waiting for an overcast day, wait for one with no wind. Taking landscapes is a study in patience. We get up at 4.30, drive for ages to get to a sunrise location..and nothing happens, no colour. If you are into landscapes prepare to plan and cancel plans based on the weather, all the time.
* Use a ND filter or a polariser if you have one.

[Hawkspur]

Thanks for the replies ... Great info ... will try it all ... Im sure the day will be overcast lol and getting wet wont be a problem.

Im planning on taking quite a few at different settings.

[ricktas]

Im planning on taking quite a few at different settings.

One of the best ways to learn, when you get home, look at what worked and what didn't, study the settings used and remember them. Then next time you will know what doesn't work, so not to use it again, or to use it differently to get an entirely different creative result.

[Hawkspur]

FAIL ....lol ... I suck at waterfalls or moving water lol

[ricktas]

FAIL ....lol ... I suck at waterfalls or moving water lol

post some of them, show us what is happening and we can then tell you how to resolve the issues.

[arnica]

FAIL ....lol ... I suck at waterfalls or moving water lol

Yes please post what you have taken. This is a sharing and learning place.