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| The silky blur of moving water is mesmerising. Giving the water an opportunity flow through your image. |
On thinking about an image of a waterfall, I imagine most people would immediately conjure an image of silky smooth water, deep vivid colours and an overall feeling of tranquility or peacefulness.
But how do photographers get that silky smooth water?
Well it is really quite simple.
Everyone, I'm sure, has taken a photo that has ended up with blurred streaks across the image. This image would have undoubtedly ended up in the bin, but the mechanics that led to such an image are the key to capturing flowing water.
Essentially, when we photograph waterfalls with the aim of getting this smooth texture, we want the water to blur across the sensor while everything else in the scene remains sharp.
How do we do this?
Again, it's quite simple! As the water is moving quite quickly, we really only have to make sure that either a) our shutter speed is fast enough to eliminate camera shake, whilst at the same time being slow enough to capture the blur of the water, or (and this is really the only way in most situations) b) we use a tripod and a longer exposure. To help out with eliminating camera shake, we can use a remote - this will minimise the vibrations through the camera from depressing the shutter button.
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| The rich colours of the sandy/rocky bottom of the pool is brought through by the use of a polarising filter |
Well that's the basics. But if you want to create a quality image, read on.
The time of day counts.
As with most landscape images, the time of day will really impact on your image. Ideally you want to be shooting either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. The low light levels will allow you to slow down the shutter to capture the movement of the water. The pre-dawn or post-dusk light will provide a pretty even, soft light which will help to even out your exposures. Overcast conditions will also provide you with a much softer light source and a much more even quality of light.
Keep in mind that most waterfalls will be located in low light locations anyway. Deep canyons and dense rainforest canopies will naturally lead to slower shutter speeds.
Use a polarising filter!
One thing you may notice about waterfall - and water images generally - is that there tends to be a lot more colour and a lot less reflection from wet surfaces.
This quality can be attributed to the simple, yet indespensible, polarising filter!
The polariser only allows light with a certain orientation through. As reflected light is scattered, a lot of the reflection is blocked out, allowing the wonderful rich colours of rocky and sandy bottoms to shine through.
Be prepared to get your feet wet!
Staying dry is simply not an option! (And you miss out on half the fun) To properly explore a scene you cannot be bound to dry land. But be careful when wading around the creek! All it takes is one slip and you can just about say goodbye to your gear, or - in the worst case - get into serious trouble yourself. Never underestimate how slippery rocks can be and how much force swiftly flowing or deep water has. Half a metre of swiftly flowing water can quite easily knock an adult off their feet and once you've lost your footing it is very, very difficult to regain it.
If you're setting up your tripod in the stream/creek/river, keep in mind that water moving around the legs of the tripod will cause vibrations. To minimise this, try to set up in slow moving water and keep the length of the tripod's legs to an absolute minimum.
Allow for flow through your composition.
It is always best to give the water somewhere to go; for it to flow through the image. The obvious, and most natural is top to bottom, but experiment with diagonal flows and cross-image.
Is this only applicable to waterfalls?
Of course not! Where ever water is moving through a scene you can apply what you've learnt above. The most obvious is the ocean. And the best thing about the ocean is that it never stops!
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| Apply the principles of good waterfall captures to the ocean. |
Cheers,
Will
