Taking photos of water is one of the most pleasurable and challenging ways to photograph really exciting natural photography. The great thing about taking images of water is that you can produce some different effects each time you photograph. Some of these special effects can be smooth and flowing. Other special effects can be amazing and dramatic. It all is dependent on your lighting and your speed of the shutter.
What does light and shutter speed have to do with shooting moving water? In order to get a clear exposure of your water shot you have to have the accurate level of light. Because most flowing water shots are taken outside you will be at the mercy of the weather. You will also should be able to work with your ordinary light in an ideal way.
Let's take a water fountain for example. Any movement of water in the city can offer fantastically creative photos. We can try to take pictures of them a couple of ways. We can photograph the movement of the water to give the appearance like a silky ribbon. Then again we can photograph the water so we see each drop. These two things depend heavily on your shutter.
A fast shutter speed means that you can freeze the movement. This means that you will be able to make out each droplet of water poised in the air as it shoots out to the water fountain. You need a large amount of light to be able to do this. You need lots of good lighting so that you can have a fast shutter speed.
A slow speed of the shutter means that you can slow the speed of motion. This creates what is called a silken effect. A silken effect is where your speed of the shutter slows. The water looks like it is streaking across your shot. You also need to carefully observe your light so that you do not over expose your photograph.
So how does this become applicable? Let me go into more detail. The longer you have your speed of the shutter open the more light enters the sensor. And it works the other way too. The quicker your shutter the less light that you have to work with. So you must find the balance between what effect you want to capture and your lighting.
Lets say for example you wanted to photograph the water water fountain. It is a dim day. Perhaps there are clouds coming and producing some overcast light. You already have in mind that you want to freeze the movement of the water. You want to be able to create a photo where you can observe each individual water drop. You know that you need a fast shutter speed to do this. But there is not a lot of light in the picture. So how do you get a fast shutter speed (so you can stop action) and be able to get just the precise level of light?
The method you would do this is the following. You would select a very high speed of the shutter. 8000th of a second may be your favorite. However, you see that the digital camera is telling you that to take pictures of at the speed you are going to have a very underexposed and dark photo. This will not do at all. Therefore you decide on a large aperture. Remember that a large aperture will blur your background. This might be okay given the conditions. So therefore you choose F 4. An aperture this wide will let a lot of daylight in.
So now you are set. You have set your speed of the shutter at 8000th of a second and you have F4 as your fstop. But now there is another setback. The camera is telling you that you are still not getting adequate lighting. Is there anything else you can do? Yes there is!
This is where your ISO comes in. Your ISO is your light sensitivity. When you don't have sufficient light you can simply increase your ISO. When you shoot in auto the camera will choose the ISO for you. But when you are working in manual you have to choose it yourself. If you are shooting fast flowing water on an cloudy day opt a high ISO. A high ISO is like having another two or three f-stops available. This means that even though you might not be able to get extra light through your manual setting, you can get additional light using ISO.
Now how about the silken effect? You won't have to use a very high ISO if you want the silken effect on a gray day. However, if you are shooting your water in a dark forest you may still should increase your ISO.
Your ISO is a handy function that gives you more light. Just remember the key to shots of moving water is light and shutter. Your shutter speed captures the movement of water, your aperture and ISO can take care of the light for you.
What does light and shutter speed have to do with shooting moving water? In order to get a clear exposure of your water shot you have to have the accurate level of light. Because most flowing water shots are taken outside you will be at the mercy of the weather. You will also should be able to work with your ordinary light in an ideal way.
Let's take a water fountain for example. Any movement of water in the city can offer fantastically creative photos. We can try to take pictures of them a couple of ways. We can photograph the movement of the water to give the appearance like a silky ribbon. Then again we can photograph the water so we see each drop. These two things depend heavily on your shutter.
A fast shutter speed means that you can freeze the movement. This means that you will be able to make out each droplet of water poised in the air as it shoots out to the water fountain. You need a large amount of light to be able to do this. You need lots of good lighting so that you can have a fast shutter speed.
A slow speed of the shutter means that you can slow the speed of motion. This creates what is called a silken effect. A silken effect is where your speed of the shutter slows. The water looks like it is streaking across your shot. You also need to carefully observe your light so that you do not over expose your photograph.
So how does this become applicable? Let me go into more detail. The longer you have your speed of the shutter open the more light enters the sensor. And it works the other way too. The quicker your shutter the less light that you have to work with. So you must find the balance between what effect you want to capture and your lighting.
Lets say for example you wanted to photograph the water water fountain. It is a dim day. Perhaps there are clouds coming and producing some overcast light. You already have in mind that you want to freeze the movement of the water. You want to be able to create a photo where you can observe each individual water drop. You know that you need a fast shutter speed to do this. But there is not a lot of light in the picture. So how do you get a fast shutter speed (so you can stop action) and be able to get just the precise level of light?
The method you would do this is the following. You would select a very high speed of the shutter. 8000th of a second may be your favorite. However, you see that the digital camera is telling you that to take pictures of at the speed you are going to have a very underexposed and dark photo. This will not do at all. Therefore you decide on a large aperture. Remember that a large aperture will blur your background. This might be okay given the conditions. So therefore you choose F 4. An aperture this wide will let a lot of daylight in.
So now you are set. You have set your speed of the shutter at 8000th of a second and you have F4 as your fstop. But now there is another setback. The camera is telling you that you are still not getting adequate lighting. Is there anything else you can do? Yes there is!
This is where your ISO comes in. Your ISO is your light sensitivity. When you don't have sufficient light you can simply increase your ISO. When you shoot in auto the camera will choose the ISO for you. But when you are working in manual you have to choose it yourself. If you are shooting fast flowing water on an cloudy day opt a high ISO. A high ISO is like having another two or three f-stops available. This means that even though you might not be able to get extra light through your manual setting, you can get additional light using ISO.
Now how about the silken effect? You won't have to use a very high ISO if you want the silken effect on a gray day. However, if you are shooting your water in a dark forest you may still should increase your ISO.
Your ISO is a handy function that gives you more light. Just remember the key to shots of moving water is light and shutter. Your shutter speed captures the movement of water, your aperture and ISO can take care of the light for you.
About the Author:
Amy Renfrey is a professional photography teacher. She is the author of several photography ebooks and a monthly photography emagazine. She shows you how to take stunning photos every single time, even if you have never used a digital camera before. Click here to learn photography the easy way.