Boy, am I sorry I didn't think sooner!

[juanita]

I wasn't planning to shoot moving water but when I got out there I thought 'I'll do a little practice...had my tripod...didn't think about grabbing the remote or using the shutter delay, or even the timer...I took gads of these kind a photos only a handful was decent...not sure when I'll be going back. The creek looked pretty cool with the clumps of leaves all around...I am so disappointed-I think I have to go back before the days end...

1st two are samples of my mistake...




Hopefully someone can offer feedback/constructive criticism on the other...

[NCPhotoTrekker]

Camera shake is your worst technical goof in the first two shots. There is very little that is still in the frame, and it is blurred due to motion of the camera. The last one appears to be sharp and steady.

For the technique you were trying for, these might not have been the best candidates. To get that silky effect you really need more disruption to the flow of water. You have a little bit, and you worked it fairly well. A longer shutter would have benefitted you because of the slow rate of flow. I would think that 30-45 seconds would be just fine here and would amplify the areas of disruption.

I can tell you weren't using a polarizer in the first one, or if you were it wasn't dialed in. Normally this would be a bad thing, but seeing the surface reflection actually helped this image out. Looking at the other two, it appears that a polarizer was used, but set somewhere to a mid point. I'm not sure if this is on purpose, or accident. Forgive me for asking, but you do know how to properly work this filter?

I would like to see a bit more thought into composition here. Each of the scenes looks a little haphazzard in design. I can't really offer much in the line of advice on how to correct this because there doesn't appear to be much that you had to work with.

Despite the weak compositions, the last image does offer a nice and dreamy feeling. That might be partly due to the lack of orderly composition. Dreams aren't organized, and can bounce from idea to idea. There is a nice cohesive force with the minor water disruptions which adds the soft element to the whole thing.

You are on the right track here. When you return, think about your compositions first. Then concentrate on your filters and shutter speeds. Be sure to use the tripod...but to make full use of it, you will need the remote release, or a time delay release. This will eliminate the camera shake that the first two suffer from.

[juanita]

yeah-I was using the circular polarizer. Its been on for a couple weeks trying to get the hang of it...I thought the only proper way of using it-'stick it on and shoot'. So there is a technique...The haphazard in design was what I actually sorta had in mind but not in that word sense. Was trying to get the clumps and water and when I was viewing as shot, i saw the color in the water that was appealing to me, too...Guess you can't capture alllll of it, . I put the camera up high to point it down on the subjects...The water streams are flat except for the small depth the occasional jag of rock offers...I tried a few straight across at a lower angle, not sure if I liked it or not.

What speed-as in 'bulb' for the 30-45 sec.? I need to go to a nice site that this guys gives these really great tips on this kinda stuff and read!!!

I most certainly appreciate your critique-it is a valuable tool for me!!!

[NCPhotoTrekker]

I tell you what Juanita...I've been wondering about what to do my next Tips and Tricks on. I've got the basics on how to work a polarizer already down, so I will just go ahead and put that one down at the end of the month. There is a bit more to using one than screwing it on and taking the picture.

The bulb setting is one that you will need a stopwatch for. You set the camera on Bulb and press the shutter button. You will either hold it down, or lock the remote switch down until the time elapses. Then you will release the button and finish up the exposure. Exact timing is not a major concern with these exposure times because a stop over one minute is two minutes..so a minute and 15 seconds won't be that big of a deal.

[NCPhotoTrekker]

Here's a link to a filter tutorial that I did a while back that includes a little bit about using a polarizer.

phototrek.446photography.com/2009/07/28/tips-and-tricks-the-use-of-filters.aspx

This gives you the basics, but I will get into more detail about them at the end of the month.

[NCPhotoTrekker]

Hey Juanita, I forgot to ask if you wanted to use this as an attempt at the homework assignment I did for waterfall photography? I think it fits the assignment just fine.

[Steve (FloppyDog)]

I think Greg's covered this well. It looks like this was a good experience shooting water and movement. You can see by the first photos how sensitive long exposures are to camera shake. The 3rd photo is quite good, with nice movement of water and sharp rocks.

One of the things I picked up on Greg's tutorial is using a polarizer to balance the reflecton between showing enough white in the water movement, and the detail in the water. This would be a good subject to apply this technique.

[juanita]

Thanks Greg and Steve-Im checking the info out! I didn't realize there was anything to the cp. I know when I got it from what I read that it was a pretty basic thing to have in your bag-I wan't given instructions nor did I ask-same thing for a neutral density...That's one thing about photography-the learning never stops!!!

[Steve (FloppyDog)]

Oct 26, 2009 8:32:42 GMT -5 juanita said:

Thanks Greg and Steve-Im checking the info out! I didn't realize there was anything to the cp. I know when I got it from what I read that it was a pretty basic thing to have in your bag-I wan't given instructions nor did I ask-same thing for a neutral density...That's one thing about photography-the learning never stops!!!

Yep. One of the only real constants in photography is that learning is an infinite, on-going process. A person can learn something from another, or from a book. Then when they go out and put what they learned into practice, they discover a well of details they didn't realize before hand. Keep up the good work!