Shutter speed and water : Example

[Dylan & Marianne]

I haven't posted in this forum before but as I was going through some more china pictures from last year, I came across these 2 shots which I took in order to capture the same scene in very different ways. I hope these demonstrate the principles of the "exposure triangle" of adjusting shutter speed /aperture and iso.
(The scene itself is from the middle gorge of Yunnan Province's "Tiger Leaping Gorge" )

Both shots were taken with 5dmkII, gitzo tripod, CPL filter

#1 :
ISO 800, F5.0, 1/500 seconds
Adjusted iso and aperture to get the fast shutter speed to demonstrate the power of the water.
http://www.everlookphotography.com/China/Yunnan/TLG-0887/922585597_swmNA-XL.jpg

#2
ISO 50 , F22, 1 second
Adjusted iso and aperture to get slow shutter speed to demonstrate flow.
http://www.everlookphotography.com/China/Yunnan/TLG-0886/922585547_HBbTG-XL.jpg

I hope that helps someone !

[mikew09]

dtoh, actually yes - interesting post. It is good to see some guidelines on settings to use. Thanx

[ricktas]

I think this is a great example Dylan, and it might come in handy for this month's New To Photography competition where a slow shutter speed is the theme. This might give some guidance to those considering entering. Thank You!

[elGrando]

Thanks dtoh. Very helpful to me as.

[bigdazzler]

Very useful post Dylan. Good work mate.

[Dylan & Marianne]

=0 thanks ! glad its of use :)

[tanz]

To be able to see the comparison and how much difference the shutter speed can make is great, thanks for posting.

[Tikira]

A great visual example Dylan. Thankyou for taking the time to post it.
Di

[Milbs1]

Thanks Dylan, great examples.
It is really appreciated that you took the time to share this and I note that you also contribute so much to the CC threads too. Its members like yourself that make this such a great forum. :th3:

[bigbaz]

thankyou for this, will come in handy for this months competition i imagine

[Dylan & Marianne]

no worries , thanks for the complement too :)
the more I learn to CC for others, the more I can improve my pics too !

[SnowA]

Great stuff dylan :th3:

[sumanjay]

That milky whiteness is incredible. Can't wait to try this out the next time I head down the Dandenong Creek trail.

[Allann]

Great work Dylan.

For those times when it's hard to get the shutter speed slow enough due to bright conditions, ND filters and Circular Polarizers work well. In fact, I use a polarizer on most of my water shots to reduce the reflections.

[bigdazzler]

Polarizers are equal to about 2 stops of light .. so a very handy tool to have in the bag at all times.

For all the new guys reading Dylans post, and admiring that wonderful milky water effect, always remember that the key to getting shots like this is an ABSOLUTELY STILL CAMERA. A good tripod, or at the very least somewhere absolutely still and stable to mount or brace your camera is essential for good results.

[Steve Axford]

Isn't anyone going to comment that this is one case where slow, milky water is probably a mistake. All the power is gone. Milky water is great for many situations, but not this one. No criticism of dtoh is intended as this is still a good example of what happens.

[reaction]

nice colors !

[Bails55]

Thanks Dylan - really helpful stuff to know. I'm looking forward to having a go at something like that. (When I find somewhere decent to go that isn't freezing at the moment!)

[rattle]

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread.
I'm wanting something to experiment with on my days off and this looks like a cracker of a technique to practice with.
Just need to find some locations in my area now.

Regards,
rattle.

[Dylan & Marianne]

Isn't anyone going to comment that this is one case where slow, milky water is probably a mistake. All the power is gone. Milky water is great for many situations, but not this one. No criticism of dtoh is intended as this is still a good example of what happens.

Agreed totally steve - I took the long exposure first then thought otherwise.
Another example of this is some of the icelandic waterfalls I've shot - I ended up taking some at F2.8 ISO800 or so to get a 1/2000 shutter speed to freeze the motion.

[Steve Axford]

Agreed totally steve - I took the long exposure first then thought otherwise.
Another example of this is some of the icelandic waterfalls I've shot - I ended up taking some at F2.8 ISO800 or so to get a 1/2000 shutter speed to freeze the motion.
:) It's good to try both to see which works best. Also the shutter speed can be important. I sec gives a different result to 6 secs.

[pembo260]

nice tip! great pics too..

[reefbuilder]

Very good example :th3:, great for newbies like me.

[Thomp]

Great examples and great photos too :) Shows that you don't always need a long exposure when capturing flowing water. Really like the detail in the first one.

[CarolTas]

Thanks for showing. It's good to see the difference using the slower shutter speed.

[Dylan & Marianne]

thanks guys - I hope the challenge went well for everyone this week!

[chrisprendergast]

Nice piece of handy info for the newbies out there trying to get their head around shutter speeds and freeze and blur motion good job mate

[simonw]

Wow! what a difference a second makes!! 2 different shots with completely different moods. Thanks for showing us!

[JanOD]

I'm so new to photography, I didn't even know that the settings on your camera could make this kind of a difference! It's good to learn what is possible. It helps me in setting goals for the future, (though this is way down the track for me). I've found this thread very interesting indeed. Thanks for posting it!

[Dylan & Marianne]

no worries Jan & Simon

[paullivo]

Nice photos. Alway wonderful to see side by side comparative photos showing techniques.

[juliem]

As a newbie I was so inspired by these photos. It sent me scurrying out to the backyard trying the different settings.
Thank you so much for this!!
It gives this newbie a clearer understanding.
Julie

[altclick]

Nice example of shutter speed.

[Dylan & Marianne]

thanks guys - hope you have similar results in your experimentations :)

[drako4]

Hello,

Thank you so much for the post of your photos. I am very much a newbie and I am trying to take everything in. The photos are beautiful and showing the settings was a great help to me. I was able to see how you can capture the same image but in 2 very different ways.....

Cheers,
Carrie

[Othrelos]

"Isn't anyone going to comment that this is one case where slow, milky water is probably a mistake. All the power is gone. Milky water is great for many situations, but not this one. No criticism is intended as this is still a good example of what happens."

I thoroughly agree with this, the image loses it's dramatic impact with the water completely blurred, personally I find silken smooth water to detract aesthetically from many images that would have otherwise been much better. I like things to have texture, texture is an important descriptive aspect of the character of an object. Skin has texture, The ground has texture, so why do people blur the hell out of water?...if the same thing could be done with the ground I'm sure there would be people doing it. I usually stick to the 1 second to 1/8th shutter speeds so there is some motion blur, but the water maintains some of it's texture.

[Dylan & Marianne]

orthrelos, whether you like one image or the other depends on what you're trying to capture and is subjective.(and that's not what the thread is about)
On that day I was undecided as to whether I wanted to capture just the raw power, or go for the more surreal looking image that you know is not and cannot be what the eye sees.
For this kind of very rapid moving water, my experience has been that the 'in between' exposures you're talking about end up looking exactly that - in between with neither reality or artistry depicted (that's my opinion though). Ive found the kind of exposure lengths you're talking about work really well for wave motion, when there are subtle splashes that you try to leave trailing a little.
There's no one rule fits all and the purpose of this thread was to show the huge difference one variable on a DSLR can make. For completeness sake, I'll put in an image for the exposure length you're talking about :

this one for instance was 0.2 seconds

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4770371665_d17a283baa.jpg

and this one was 60 seconds

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5177588443_f53f83548a.jpg

[William]

Thought I'd chuck this one in as well , Was taken hand held @1/15th of a sec , ISO 100 f5.6, No filters , 24-105 f4 L Image stabiliser "ON" , Just to show the difference in water movement

[ElizabethAtkinson]

Excellent - thanks for providing this. I kept looking and looking at the photos and I really don't know which one I prefer; they are both wonderful in different ways. I think I will keep coming back to them, it's frustrating me I just can't make up my mnd.

[Dylan & Marianne]

lol arthur - I think you see much with your third photographic eye but yes, this was meant as an example thread of shutter speed not of artistic interpretation :)

[macrocephalic]

I think I tend to misjudge how long an exposure needs to be to make things smooth. When I look at the flow of the water in the second pictures, particularly on the RHS I would have guessed that it was a multiple second exposure - not just one.

[ricktas]

I have removed some posts from this thread (at a members request) so some comments may appear to quote things that are not in the thread in the first place.

[William]

This is another example of a different way to get the feeling of water movement in the day , This shot was taken at 9.34 am Canon 30D with the kit 18-55 lens @31mm, ISO 100, F22,for 1 sec , I used a CPL and ND Grad filters , One reversed , Any questions , Just ask - Bill :) This is the poor mans way if you dont have a ND400

[Anythya]

i know the difference in look and its quiet clear with your 2 pics (which are beautiful) but i cant seem to work out exactly what will give me the effect im looking for i can be a little bit shaky at times also and that doesnt help much i mean i have a tripod but it doesnt seem to be sturdy enough so even when i do figure out the settings im after its not as clear as it could be ....and the slower the shutter speed the blurier the pic do you have any suggestions

[ricktas]

i know the difference in look and its quiet clear with your 2 pics (which are beautiful) but i cant seem to work out exactly what will give me the effect im looking for i can be a little bit shaky at times also and that doesnt help much i mean i have a tripod but it doesnt seem to be sturdy enough so even when i do figure out the settings im after its not as clear as it could be ....and the slower the shutter speed the blurier the pic do you have any suggestions

Get a sturdier tripod and a remote shutter release. You need to make sure your camera doesn't move at all during the exposure. Any movement, no matter how slight will affect the result and the only real method of ensuring there is no movement is a good quality tripod, on a stable surface (sand etc can move under a tripod), and a remote shutter release to stop movement when you press the shutter.

[Dylan & Marianne]

anythya, alternatively, before you get the shutter release, you can put your camera on a 2 second timer so that at least you don't get the shake from depressing the shutter.
but yea, for long exposure work, you need to have a reliably solid tripod.

[macrocephalic]

Also try using mirror lockup so you don't get mirror slap.

[luckyforteja]

Very good example :th3:, great for newbies like me.

I agree 100%. Posts like these are great for newbies like us. Very much appreciated.

[Wayno]

Thanks for that. I'll put it to practice soon!

[Tricia Birt]

Thanks, I'll be trying this out. :)

[Brianans]

Very useful I love the movement in the shot.:th3:

[ladysith]

Will it matter if my camera is a beginner's SLR? I don't have the 5dmkII, I only have the 1000D. =(

[William]

Will it matter if my camera is a beginner's SLR? I don't have the 5dmkII, I only have the 1000D. =(

Won't matter at all , You'll get the same effect with your 1000D , I only use an old 30D 8.2mp , Maybe use the TV , Shutter speed mode , Or Manual , But it will work , No worries - Bill :)

[Dylan & Marianne]

agree with william about this - sure you might not be able to bump the iso up too high to get a frozen water shot with a super fast shutter speed (without getting alot of noise) but you can certainly set the 1000D on a tripod to take a long exposure at low iso and small aperture :)

[steve munro]

I liked your inclusion of the exposure triangle, very instructive for new photographers!
Steve

[Shazz]

I have just joined this site and this is my first look at a thread. I love that dtoh has posted both pictures for comparison, thank you. If this is the sort of member interactions and sharing tips that this site is all about I'm going to love it here.

[Dylan & Marianne]

thanks Shazz -hope you find alot more useful stuff lying around !

[HappyShooter]

Thank you for the posting. I knew that my camera could do this but now I can go through steps to make it do this.

[petgor54]

Dylan,great stuff vary instructive, thanks

[PerfectPicture]

Thanks for sharing this and great examples as well. (l just noticed this thread now, so excuse the belated response :) haha
l actually like both original images, but love the first one for the empathising the Power and Strength of the River system.
Great examples of how shooting the same subject in different shoting sytles can delivery and completely different outcome in the final picture :)

p.s. like all the other examples as well.

[Irru]

The few times I've experimented with slower shutter speeds and water, (not often as I don't have a tripod yet so it is an awkward process where I have to put my jacket on a rock somewhere and then try to nestle the camera in it) I didn't go nearly so slow. Maybe 1/8 second at the most.

I agree that the above looks better at 1/500 but I'm keen now to try again somewhere with a really slow shot (yet another indication that I need my tripod sooner rather than later).

[smylie]

Excellent post showing the two variations with the settings included

[chesimpson]

Good demonstration.

Interesting...Im wondering if setting a negative exposure is effective in combatting overexposure (and the need for CPL etc) due to slow shutter speed?

[Dylan & Marianne]

Not quite sure what you mean - If I'm hearing you right, if you set the exposure bias negative on AV mode, you'll end up with a faster shutter speed which would result in more freezing of the water.
I use a CPL for water shots for a few reasons - one of them is to help with slowing the shutter, the others are if I want to see through the water or reduce glare and reflection off wet rocks.