Watertrails a first attempt

Ian_Holmes · May 21, 2010

Like the title says this afternoon I had my first attempt a photographing long exposure water trails. The afternoon was cloudy all were shot at ISO 100 f/22 200mm on my PL 45-200 with an ND2 filter on the front even then the slowest shutter speed I could get was about half a second. So the trails aren't as "ghostly" as I'd like but for a first attempt I can't complain. I expect the ghostliness of the train depends on the volume of water, speed of water as well as the shutter speed. So all in all I'm quite satisfied with a first attempt.

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cosinaphile · May 21, 2010

try at dawn or dusk or as the light fails toward evening for some longer exposures , but these are nice ... i bet 15 sec to 30 sec would net you some ghostly water

Bokeh Diem · May 21, 2010

Very nice effect, especially the last shot, notwithstanding your technical difficulties.

Bokeh Diem

Ian_Holmes · May 21, 2010

Thanks!
The location is only 10-15 minutes down the road I might just go back right now.

PeterB666 · May 21, 2010

Quite good. I find some of the rocks not particularly sharp. Possibly you need to stop down a bit for more depth of field.

I find the last one the best. The rocks look fairly sharp all the way though and you have a nice cascading feature of the mini-falls. Although there is less watertrails and less rocks, I find that the most interesting shot.

For lighting, a overcast day works just nice. Too much dynamic range if the sun is out.

Have fun and post some of the next lot.

Ian_Holmes · May 21, 2010

A second attempt

So as the location is only 11 minutes down the road Fired up with reckless enthusiasm I headed back.

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Now reckless enthusiasm is NOT a good thing because I forget everything I know. Good stuff like use the self timer to release the shutter. I blew the first half a dozen shots like that they were shaky.
I'm also looking at some of these close up and I'm thinking that perhaps I should have manually focussed as well rather than rely on auto. In the fading light I was getting exposure times of 1.5 seconds which has given me more of what I was looking for. I'm definitely really pleased with the way these have gone. Thanks for the advice

cosinaphile · May 21, 2010

really nice , and great to see this evolution of shots almost in real time .....this forum is like a living university of photography and comparative shooting , thanks for sharing this

ryno · May 21, 2010

Nice Ian, where are those falls at?
B+W makes a nice ND1.6, it's easy to get 1-2 sec any time of day.
Ryan

Ian_Holmes · May 22, 2010

Falls?
That's a bit of an exaggeration. It's the outfall from Elk Lake south of Princeton, MN.
I'm definitely guilty of making it look more than it is...

Ian

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Watertrails a first attempt

Ian_Holmes Mu-43 Regular

cosinaphile Mu-43 All-Pro

Bokeh Diem Mu-43 Top Veteran

Ian_Holmes Mu-43 Regular

PeterB666 Mu-43 Top Veteran

Ian_Holmes Mu-43 Regular

cosinaphile Mu-43 All-Pro

ryno Mu-43 Rookie

Ian_Holmes Mu-43 Regular