With this post I would like to share some self-made experiences and tips, especially for beginners.
Topic today: Water flowing in a stream, river, lake, sea, etc.. Over the time, more examples will come. Let’s start small today, on a small creek near my home.
When we photograph water and set the camera to „automatic“, for example, or use the smartphone, the water often appears frozen, static. It looks unnatural. The dynamics are missing.
To make water appear „flowing“ works better with the help of longer exposure times. Question: how is this supposed to work in bright daylight? The answer: with the use of an ND filter. ND stands for „Neutral Density“, or more simply, for so-called gray filters. These are available in numerous gradations and extend the exposure time from low to almost infinity, depending on the gray factor. Gray filters have no effect on the image color – hence „neutral“. Long exposure times require a tripod or a firm steady support. Otherwise the image will get blurred. For measuring the correct exposure time per filter, a table is included by the manufacturer, or various apps are available for the smartphone, completely simple.
For the long exposures I use products of the company HAIDA, currently 3 ND filters with
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| They come with a screw on cover for top and bottom | The different gray factors | The stack of reduction rings |
The light is more of a back light. Exposure reads f/4, 1/40 sec.
Here we go at 1.3 sec.
At 30 sec. of exposure time you can´t distinguish any single wave. This looks quiet.
The following images present more examples how to play with exposure times and their impact on the result. Just try it for yourself. It´s fun.