Monday, February 2, 2009

36/365: Waterfall and Shutter Speeds

At ScrapShare, Terri G is leading a series of Photography Challenges, and last week, she encouraged us to experiment with Shutter Priority Mode.
I was also inspired by Pat's flowing water pictures and knew that I would have to decrease my shutter speed to get that silky water effect.
The results? Today's waterfall pictures, taken from our fish pond:

First, a fast shutter speed:

EXIF:
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 70 mm

Slowest shutter speed I could get in S Mode without the camera warning me that the picture was going to be over exposed:

EXIF:
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/22.0
Focal Length: 70 mm

Lastly, I "went crazy" (maybe because I was getting pretty cold at this point and my knee was starting to hurt from kneeling in the snow), and shot in Manual Mode.


The image straight out of the camera was pretty overexposed, and I adjusted the exposure level and curve to darken it. I was trying to get a more silky water effect, but it doesn't look too different from the 2nd shot to me.

EXIF:
Exposure: 0.3
Aperture: f/22.0
Focal Length: 70 mm

So I learned that it doesn't take a super long shutter speed to get those cool silky water effects.

11 comments:

  1. Great examples of the difference shutter speed can make. Nice silky water!

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  2. I love those silky water shots. That was a great SS demo.

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  3. WOW WOW...I just love these. You did an amazing job with these. I have a hard time with this, and you have inspired me to practice more with slowing down my shutter.

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  4. Thank you for sharing these!!! These are great shots!

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  5. OMGosh that first one makes me want to cup my hands and DRINK from that stream.

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  6. Absolutely gorgeous- I love how the slower shutter speeds make the water look like silk!

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  7. Very nice! I really like that you included a fast shutter speed to show the difference. You have some nice silkiness going on there.

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  8. I'm always impressed when people get silky waters--especially with no tripod!

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  9. You did a great job on these!! I just love the silky water effect.

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  10. What great pictures. Thanks for posting all the pictures with different shutter speeds. And what a nice little thing to have in your backyard!

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