Silky water effectwith F10

[digitallearner]

I have had the F10 for about a year now and i was wondering if anyone knows how do to a silky water effect with this camera. i would like to produce images such as this one
http://www.cameraangles.co.uk/Vermont%20Waterfall.jpg

i know you have to have long exposure somewhere, but long exp is only used in night mode. and if i use it, it will produce very Blown out images not even viewable.

any help?

[sjseto]

It might not be possible with the F10. That kind of shot requires not only a longer shutter speed, but a small aperture as well, so that you don't get an overexposed image. With an SLR you can set the aperture all the way up to f/22, and then you can put on a neutral density filter to block out even more light if that isn't enough. But the F10 only goes up to f/8 (as is the case with most compact cameras) - and you can't select it manually. In practice, I've found it very difficult to force the camera to choose f/8.

I think the best way to go about it would be to take the shot in dim lighting, e.g. heavy shade or overcast conditions. Mount the camera on a tripod, switch to Night Mode, and set the ISO to 80. Use maximum telephoto to force as small of an aperture as possible. Hopefully it will be enough for you to require a shutter speed of at least 1 s, but I'm kind of doubtful.

Stephanie

[mmelgar]

You may be able to get this effect with shots as short as 1/4 second but it depends on how fast the water is flowing. You could try mounting a neutral density filter ( or just place your sunglasses) in front of the lens to get a slower shutter speed.

[toriaj]

I posted waterfall shots in this thread: http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21371

The first one is at 1/20 sec, the others are at 1/8 sec. I think the more water coming down the fall, the shorter shutter speed you can use.

[sjseto]

I managed to get a decent (at least I think so!) "silky" waterfall shot with my F30 by using the shutter priority mode (1.5 s was used) and waiting until almost 9 PM.

http://i.pbase.com/g4/89/6589/2/63223845.iHJd6Ou8.jpg

If you're using the F10, which doesn't have shutter priority, I think that the lighting conditions and time of day will be the key to getting that silky effect. You want the ambient light to be dim enough to force as long a shutter speed as possible. I did try the shot using a 1/4 s shutter speed (which is the maximum allowed on the F10 unless you're in Night Mode) and the effect was still quite pleasing.

Stephanie

[sft109]

Hi Sjseto,

Your waterfall shot is very impressive, the colors look excellent and the water motion effect is very nice also. Great job. My F30 is on the way, Im looking forward to playing around with it.


I managed to get a decent (at least I think so!) "silky" waterfall shot with my F30 by using the shutter priority mode (1.5 s was used) and waiting until almost 9 PM.

http://i.pbase.com/g4/89/6589/2/63223845.iHJd6Ou8.jpg

If you're using the F10, which doesn't have shutter priority, I think that the lighting conditions and time of day will be the key to getting that silky effect. You want the ambient light to be dim enough to force as long a shutter speed as possible. I did try the shot using a 1/4 s shutter speed (which is the maximum allowed on the F10 unless you're in Night Mode) and the effect was still quite pleasing.

Stephanie

[lOLOS]

I don't know if it is me, but I notice a strong bluish-purplish cast over the image, don't you agree with me?

I managed to get a decent (at least I think so!) "silky" waterfall shot with my F30 by using the shutter priority mode (1.5 s was used) and waiting until almost 9 PM.

http://i.pbase.com/g4/89/6589/2/63223845.iHJd6Ou8.jpg

If you're using the F10, which doesn't have shutter priority, I think that the lighting conditions and time of day will be the key to getting that silky effect. You want the ambient light to be dim enough to force as long a shutter speed as possible. I did try the shot using a 1/4 s shutter speed (which is the maximum allowed on the F10 unless you're in Night Mode) and the effect was still quite pleasing.

Stephanie

[toriaj]

I had the same blue-water effect with my D50 at about 9 p.m. The light was just getting too low, I guess. See http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21371

I don't know if the F10 has any white-balance adjustments. My D50 does, but I don't think there is a setting that would have helped, other than if I did a custom setting right there.

[sjseto]

I don't know if it is me, but I notice a strong bluish-purplish cast over the image, don't you agree with me?

I know. It's because this photo was taken with the Chrome Color setting rather than Normal Color. The same thing happens when you use the Auto Saturation Enhancement tool in Paint Shop Pro.

I don't know if the F10 has any white-balance adjustments. My D50 does, but I don't think there is a setting that would have helped, other than if I did a custom setting right there.

The F10 does have white balance settings, including a manual one. I didn't try manual, but the next best one was Shade, and it left everything with a slight green tint.

For comparison, I did take the same photo using Normal Color:

http://i.pbase.com/g4/89/6589/2/63223804.tdaDcVzN.jpg

And I also took the Normal Color photo and saturated the greens only, using Paint Shop Pro:

http://i.pbase.com/g4/89/6589/2/63252457.Bdci04CT.jpg


Your waterfall shot is very impressive, the colors look excellent and the water motion effect is very nice also. Great job. My F30 is on the way, Im looking forward to playing around with it.

Thanks very much. I hope you enjoy your F30 as much as I'm enjoying mine!

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

Stephanie

[P_Schneider]

Another way to achieve the effect would be to shoot several shots from the same position and then merge them later. I would do it when there was no wind so the plants stay in focus but the running water would (possibly) create it's own silkiness. I have'nt tried this but it might be worth checking out.

[toriaj]

Stephanie, I didn't want to hijack your thread, so I sent you a PM.