Advice on blurring water in bright light please.

ethan

ethan

ethan

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Last week I had an issue trying to produce a smooth waterfall scene with both my cameras. I can only assume it was myself that was the issue. The problem I had when trying to lower the shutter speed was the cameras were telling me to lower the sensitivity despite the fact that both were at their lowest setting? Cameras in question were Fuji XT1 and Sony RX100. I had no ND filter available at the time and the lighting conditions were very bright. What would be the best way to deal with this issue. Thanks.
 
The RX100 will let you set a max ISO, which will stop the S mode from upping the ISO as you take a longer exposure. However, once it maxes out the highest f-number, increasing the shutter time will just cause you to have an over-exposed image.

The best bet, without an ND filter, would be to use mean stacking for multiple exposures, eg:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNzBNLxLPQY

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcZkCnPs45s
 
Buy an ND filter plenty of budget options out there that are good enough these days, don't get a 10 stopper for this waterfalls that look more like smoke are tedious beyond belief!

There is nothing you can do to lengthen an exposure once you have ISO at base level and the aperture stopped down as far as it will go(which should be avoided as diffraction will soften your image at tiny apertures)
 
I would say to avoid bright lighting conditions and make use of the golden hours. On bright sunny days forget about it from mid-morning until late afternoon.
 
It really depends on how much you are trying to photograph, small areas can be darkened using shadows from jackets etc.

In a pinch, I've also used sunglasses over the lens then correct colour balance in post.

Other options are to look at carrying ND filters, welding glass is a cheap option but affects the colour or to look at taking multiple and stacking them up.
 
AHarvey said:
It really depends on how much you are trying to photograph, small areas can be darkened using shadows from jackets etc.

In a pinch, I've also used sunglasses over the lens then correct colour balance in post.

Other options are to look at carrying ND filters, welding glass is a cheap option but affects the colour or to look at taking multiple and stacking them up.
Click to expand...

Welding glass is a bit of a waste of time these days with plenty of cheap ten stoppers out there that perform much better from the likes of Haida but I still say you want much less than that for a waterfall if you want it to look anything like real!
 
I'm due to go down to Fairy Glen at Betsy Coed on the 12th ( which was closed due to flood damage last Winter) and will need to slow the stream down to a smooth milky like texture. Previous photographers have been doing it at an exposure of 22 seconds and focal length of 80mm. I simply can't predict the weather so some kind of a ND filter will be a must if it's too bright. Either this or choose the correct time of day. Are there any particular brands that are cost effective/recommended? I'll be using the XT1 but the only lenses I have approaching 80mm is a XC 50-210 and the Xf 60mm macro. My other lenses fall below and above the two mentioned. I'll look into ND attachments for the RX100 mk2 I have as a back up.
 
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There's a shot of Fairy Glen at Betws y Coed on my Flickr stream. I sat on one of the rocks in the river which was a bit sketchy (slippy rocks) but OK if you take your time. Light wasn't great that day but Betws is only an hour away from me so will return sometime.

Little stopper (6 stop)
ND grad (3 stop)
30mm
F9
ISO 100
167s

ethan said:
I'm due to go down to Fairy Glen at Betsy Coed on the 12th ( which was closed due to flood damage last Winter) and will need to slow the stream down to a smooth milky like texture. Previous photographers have been doing it at an exposure of 22 seconds and focal length of 80mm. I simply can't predict the weather so some kind of a ND filter will be a must if it's too bright. Either this or choose the correct time of day. Are there any particular brands that are cost effective/recommended? I'll be using the XT1 but the only lenses I have approaching 80mm is a XC 50-210 and the Xf 60mm macro. My other lenses fall below and above the two mentioned. I'll look into ND attachments for the RX100 mk2 I have as a back up.
Click to expand...
 
I use a big stopper quite often for those sorts of scenes, or a grad (3 stop). I regret investing in filters though as I don't use them enough! The big stopper alone is expensive.
 
I'm pretty sure the Sony PlayMemories Apps will work on the RX100 you mentioned - I've used the "Smooth Reflection" App loads of times to get the smooth water effect in broad daylight. It even saves in Raw :)
Basically it will take about 30 or so pictures under normal exposure and blend them to create your final picture. Tripod definitely recommended!
Here's a test from my a6000:
Waterfall by Matt Skinner, on Flickr (hope that works, I am rubbish at posting pics!!
 
You can also just take multiple exposures and to an average blend in Photoshop. This gives you the advantage of reduce noise etc, also opens up options for HDR.
 
ethan said:
I'm due to go down to Fairy Glen at Betsy Coed on the 12th ( which was closed due to flood damage last Winter) and will need to slow the stream down to a smooth milky like texture. Previous photographers have been doing it at an exposure of 22 seconds and focal length of 80mm. I simply can't predict the weather so some kind of a ND filter will be a must if it's too bright. Either this or choose the correct time of day. Are there any particular brands that are cost effective/recommended? I'll be using the XT1 but the only lenses I have approaching 80mm is a XC 50-210 and the Xf 60mm macro. My other lenses fall below and above the two mentioned. I'll look into ND attachments for the RX100 mk2 I have as a back up.
Click to expand...

Make sure you're wearing some good shoes/boots. The rocks here can be treacherous. They're covered in Lichen and moss and can be very very slippery and the water can be very deep and fast flowing.

You will be surprised at how little light gets into the deepest part of the gorge, the rocks walls are very steep and even in bright sunlight the River tends to be in shadow. Best times of the day would be early morning and early evening. Midday light is quite harsh, although at this time of the year it will be filtered by the leaves on the Oak trees.

Autumns always nice, since you get a good contrast between the brown leaves and the rock walls, covered in moss.

A long lens will allow you to take shots of the far end of the gorge, but don't forget a wide angle, if you get low down you can get some really nice shots.

Here's some of mine from that location


Autumn in the glen by Andrew Jones, on Flickr


Fairy Glen by Andrew Jones, on Flickr
 
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