Long Exposure of Stream/River

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  • Hello everyone. I went camping this last weekend and tried to take a picture of some running water with a long(er) exposure to get that misting water look. It was in the afternoon, sun was shining. I have a canon xt. Well when I took the picture it came out completely white. So I turned the aperature all the way up (the highest number) and left the exposure...which was only like 3 seconds. But it was still white. I dont understand why this wasn't working. Am I just making a silly mistake? thanks


  • OP, presumably you used a manual setting?

    What you would need to do would be to meter the scene as normal (at the lowest ISO your camera is capable of), then determine the correct f number.

    e.g. If the correct exposure was 1/2 second at f22 and you wanted a 4 second exposure you would need to stop down 3 stops which you probably wouldn't be able to do on a 35mm camera.

    So you'd need to use a 3 stop ND filter.


  • I agree with Melissa. You need to carry either a Ciruclar Polarizer or, ND when you go to do these shots. Preferably an ND but, having a CP around is a good thing too and, will work in a pinch. Shoot at like ISO 100 and at f/16 and up. I just shoot till I get what I want at diffrent f-stops.


  • wow...

    Anyways

    http://luckyshotphotos.com/cache/landscape/IMG_4205.JPG_595.jpg

    Canon EOS XTi
    Canon EF 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6
    F/25
    1 second shutter
    37mm focal length
    Exposure Comp: -2/3
    ISO 100

    Notice, its dark, i have a hard time doing this is the day time, not to mention not a lot of these where I live :P

    Its not very sharp but it was wet and cold and about 6AM or something... I only had one change and it was "okay" not great... but ya I like it


  • ofta thanks everyone, think I have a better understanding now!


  • I just place the camera in shutter priority mode or aperture priority mode to get what I want. It can also be easily done in manual mode of course. The trick is to balance it out properly.

    Yes, it also can be done on bright days too, just learn to choose your battles... lol. In my example below, I waited till the waterfall was in the shadows... it makes a big difference.

    http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2351/2264245180_c1ba2683dd.jpg

    http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2014/2263457065_fb05607714.jpg


  • How long was your exposure and what were your ISO settings?


  • On a sunny day even using the highest f/number and lowest ISO might not be enough to allow use of long exposures. If you shoot water a couple must-haves in any camera bag are neutral density filters and a polarizer. The polarizer will help a bit for use of a longer exposures, but it's best benefit is reflection reduction. The various grades of neutral density filters will allow you to use longer exposures as needed.







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