Silky waterfall photos

edited May 2014 Posted in » Nikon D3200 Forum
Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and was wondering what is a good setting to use when trying to take photos of a "silky waterfall" ? Thank you :)

Comments

  • edited May 2014
    Hi,
    Go to the NikonUSA website and look at the tutorials. There are some excellent articles on the type of picture you want.
    Regards,
    PBked
  • edited May 2014
    Don't handhold the camera when shooting. Use a tripod or prop it on something stable.
    Shoot at 1/4 sec shutter speed or slower. You'll need to experiment since it depends on how you want the effect to look.
    Shoot at ISO 100 and as small an aperture as possible; perhaps f/10.
  • edited May 2014
    Use 1 to 1.6 second shutter speed, ISO as per lighting conditions, tripod, and keep f number large.
  • edited January 2016
    I have a follow up question on this. I'm using the Nikon D3200 with 18-55mm and using the settings from Moose's cheat sheets for waterfalls. Only difference is I use an IR remote versus timer for the tripod shot, so I can be in it. First several shots started out great. Lately, though, us humans get blurred, almost like movement tracking. I wait until I hear the lens finish its business to move, but I'm still seeing the trailing effect on myself and my son. Any suggestions for speeding up the processing? Not sure if that is the right term, but it is what it seems like, the shot is taking too long to process and complete the image.
  • edited January 2016
    The problem is a simple one of shutter speed, I think. In order to blur the water you need a shutter speed that is very slow, much slower even than what will simply stop motion. The very thing that makes it work is that slowness. A faster shutter speed will make the moving water sharp. To get people sharp in the same shot, you simply must be very very still. Hold your breath, practice your yoga, and hope for the best. If you're with a child, make sure he knows when you're going to push the shutter so he can hold still intentionally. Count down to "now". Check what shutter speed you get with the settings you use, and make sure you wait at least that long after you see the lens stop focusing.

    Back in the days of very slow daguerrotypes and the like, portraits were often made with hidden braces to hold the head still for the same reason.

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