The soft flowing water shot is a classic – in fact some might go so far as to say it’s a cliché! Even so, it looks great and it can be a useful practice exercise when you're learning to use your camera. You can achieve the effect with any DSLR and more advanced compacts. Story by Andrew Fildes and James Ostinga
How to you get that blurry water look? It’s not hard really, you just need to set your camera up on a tripod and select a slow shutter speed to capture the movement of the water, rendering it a milky blur while the rest of the image remains still and therefore sharp (you hope). A shutter speed between a quarter of a second and 10s will do it.
That’s easy with a DSLR but can be tricky with a compact camera. The problem with some compacts – especially the really basic ones – is that there’s no easy way to set a slow shutter speed. Some can be tricked into a slower shutter speed by switching off the flash and setting a low ISO but that doesn’t deliver much control over the results.
Whatever camera you use, with these type of shots it can be useful to use auto exposure bracketing. In this mode, the camera will take three or more shots at different exposure settings – above and below the selected exposure. You can then pick the best of the three exposures or blend the three images together using software like Photomatix, Photoshop, or Paintshop Pro.
There’s something else you need to consider. Sometimes, if you’re shooting on a bright day it may not be possible to get a slow enough shutter speed, even with the camera set to its minimum ISO and the aperture closed right down.
There is a solution. A neutral density (ND) filters can help you artificially darken a scene, allowing you to use a slower shutter speed, a wider aperture or even a faster ISO.
Neutral density filters come in a range of densities and are usually marked with an attenuation factor (for example ND2, ND4, ND8), which indicates the filter’s power to reduce light. An ND2 filter produces an f-stop reduction of one, which means you can effectively double the shutter speed, say from 1/8s to 1/4s. An ND4 filter results in an f-stop reduction of two, and an ND8 cuts three stops of light.
ND filters are available in most camera stores, and can be found in screw-mount form (in a range of diameters to suit different sized lenses) and rectangular drop-in form, which are designed to be used with special filter holders.
The following steps explain how to capture the soft flowing water effect using shutter priority mode. Remember, the blurry water look can be a cliche so be careful how you use it. Make sure there is something else in the picture to grab viewers’ attention. And have a go at using long exposures with other subjects: moving cars at night, sparkler trails, long grass blowing in the wind, etc.
01 COMPOSE THE SHOT
Put the camera on a tripod and compose the shot. Keep the camera level.
02 SHUTTER PRIORITY
Turn the mode dial to Shutter Priority (Tv or S). On most cameras the mode dial is on top of the camera near the shutter button.
03 REDUCE ISO
Reduce the ISO to the camera’s lowest setting. Some cameras offer a minimum ISO of 50, though 100 and 200 are more common.
04 SHUTTER SPEED
Dial up a shutter speed between 1/4 and 10s. As you change shutter speed the camera will automatically select an aperture to balance the exposure. Ideally, the aperture should be above f/11 (f/16, f/22, etc.) for optimal depth-of-field (sharpness from background to foreground). Note: if the aperture value shows in red or starts flashing it may be telling you that the image will be under- or overexposed. Check your camera manual.
05 SHUTTER RELEASE
You can minimise camera shake by using a cable release or your camera’s self-timer function. Check your camera's manual to find out how.
06 FLASH OFF
Make sure the flash is switched off and you’re ready to shoot. Press the shutter and then hands off while it does its thing.