Long Exposure Effects: Water

ISO 100 F/14 30 sec

Welcome, This is my first post on my first blog so bear with me. The main goal I have here is to help you, my readers learn and develop skills in photography with help from my knowledge, whenever I learn something new I will also share this with you. Firstly we are going to get into the nice interesting stuff straight away, no beating around the bush with basic camera controls and functions, we all know what does what enough to use a camera effectively.

Long Exposure is something I have recently begun to experiment with this style and I am loving it. So many different variables come in to play, all of which you can take control of to make a photo turn out the way you want it, With practice you can end up with spectacular effects.

This post will focus of the long exposure effects on moving water . Before you start taking any photo over a long period of time to gain a "long exposure" effect you need to have a tripod, or access to one, a cheap one will do but as with all camera accessories you get what you pay for. You will also want a shutter release, wired or wireless doesn't matter they both do the same thing. Now we have the gear we need you need to look at settings. First thing you want to look at is your ISO it needs to be at is lowest possible ( 100 ) because you are exposing for a long time you do not need a high ISO, this is the only fixed setting you need to have. Aperture and Shutter Speed as with every photo in photography is chosen on the effect you desire. Generally you will need a small aperture to compensate for the prolonged time you are exposing for, if you want a shallow depth of field in your photo you can compensate and shoot with a large aperture by using neutral density filters ( I use variable ND filters which give you options on the "darkness" the filter provides) Your Shutter Speed depends on the effect you want with the water a longer exposure will give you white washed water, a short exposure will give you frozen water, in the middle will give the water a silky look in some parts of the water. You also need to factor in the speed the water is flowing at when you set up for your shot.

With the settings out of the way you need to look at the basics of positioning your camera and tripod. For example in this photo i had the tripod in the water, with the camera sitting about 10cm above the water level. Don't be afraid to get your tripod wet, just keep a hand on your camera strap in case something goes wrong. You need to take in the external factors when you position your camera, generally if there grass or plants along the waters edge they will not stay still over the course of your exposure, and it will have movement in it. Keep in mind you need your tripod on firm ground ( or wedged in rocks in the photo above ) because tripod / camera movement will also make your photo blurry and of course if your camera is close to the water you may be getting slash onto your camera itself or on the lens.

With these basic ideas in your head you can get a head start on learning this style of photography. Of course I cant teach you everything so get out there and practice! Till Next time

Nick