Shooting water is one of the most pleasurable and interesting ways to create really exciting natural photography. The best thing about shooting water is that you can create some diverse effects each time you photograph. Some of these effects can be smooth and gentle. Other special effects can be amazing and commanding. It all relies upon on your lighting and your shutter speed.
What does lighting and shutter speed have to do with taking photos of moving water? In order to get a clear photograph of your water photograph you have to have the right level of light. Because most flowing water shots are taken outside you will be at the mercy of the weather. You will also need to be able to work with your natural light in an effective way.
Let's take a water fountain for example. Fountains in the city can provide fantastically artistic images. 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. Alternatively we can shot the flowing water so we see every drop. These two things rely heavily on your shutter speed.
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 shutter means that you can slow the speed of motion. This generates what is called a silken effect. A silken effect is where your shutter slows down. The water appears like it is streaking across your photograph. You also have to carefully look at your light so that you do not over expose your photograph.
So how does this work? Let me go into more detail. The longer you have your shutter open the more light comes in. And it works the other way too. The quicker your speed of the shutter the less light that you have to work with. So you must find the equilibrium between what result you want to capture and your light.
Lets say for example you wanted to photograph the water fountain. It is a dim day. Perhaps there are clouds approaching and creating some overcast light. You already have in mind that you want to stop the motion of the water. You want to be able to capture a photo where you can observe each separate water drop. You know that you need a speedy speed of the shutter to do this. But there is not a lot of lighting in the scene. So how do you get a fast speed of the shutter (so you can freeze action) and be adept to get just the precise level of light?
The way you would do this is the following. You would choose a very fast speed of the shutter. 8000th of a second may be your preference. However, you see that the camera is telling you that to take photos of at the speed you are going to have a very underexposed and dark photo. This will not suffice at all. Therefore you select a large aperture. Remember that a wide aperture will blur your background. This might be fine given the circumstances. So therefore you choose F 4. An aperture this large 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 will not have to use a very high ISO if you want the silken effect on a cloudy day. However, if you are photographing your water in a dim forest you may still need to increase your ISO.
Your ISO is a useful function that gives you more light. Just keep in mind the key to shots of moving water is light and speed of the shutter. Your shutter speed captures the movement of water, your aperture and ISO can take care of the light for you.
What does lighting and shutter speed have to do with taking photos of moving water? In order to get a clear photograph of your water photograph you have to have the right level of light. Because most flowing water shots are taken outside you will be at the mercy of the weather. You will also need to be able to work with your natural light in an effective way.
Let's take a water fountain for example. Fountains in the city can provide fantastically artistic images. 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. Alternatively we can shot the flowing water so we see every drop. These two things rely heavily on your shutter speed.
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 shutter means that you can slow the speed of motion. This generates what is called a silken effect. A silken effect is where your shutter slows down. The water appears like it is streaking across your photograph. You also have to carefully look at your light so that you do not over expose your photograph.
So how does this work? Let me go into more detail. The longer you have your shutter open the more light comes in. And it works the other way too. The quicker your speed of the shutter the less light that you have to work with. So you must find the equilibrium between what result you want to capture and your light.
Lets say for example you wanted to photograph the water fountain. It is a dim day. Perhaps there are clouds approaching and creating some overcast light. You already have in mind that you want to stop the motion of the water. You want to be able to capture a photo where you can observe each separate water drop. You know that you need a speedy speed of the shutter to do this. But there is not a lot of lighting in the scene. So how do you get a fast speed of the shutter (so you can freeze action) and be adept to get just the precise level of light?
The way you would do this is the following. You would choose a very fast speed of the shutter. 8000th of a second may be your preference. However, you see that the camera is telling you that to take photos of at the speed you are going to have a very underexposed and dark photo. This will not suffice at all. Therefore you select a large aperture. Remember that a wide aperture will blur your background. This might be fine given the circumstances. So therefore you choose F 4. An aperture this large 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 will not have to use a very high ISO if you want the silken effect on a cloudy day. However, if you are photographing your water in a dim forest you may still need to increase your ISO.
Your ISO is a useful function that gives you more light. Just keep in mind the key to shots of moving water is light and speed of the 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.
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