Blurring of flowing water?

[ken1953]

Hi all,
This may not be the best place for this, but I'm trying to figure out..What is too much blurring? Lately, even with professional photos, I've seen a lot of blurring of waterfalls etc. where the water looks like sugar rather than a nice silky flowing "water". Is this just a matter of taste or is there a limit of how much you want to blur the flow?
Please feel free to move this if it would fit better in another forum.
Ken

[Loupey]

Hi, Ken. You're right. There is a wide range in regards to the amount of blur used. It depends on what you want to achieve. There is no right amount. From tack sharp (for kayaking events) to an almost ghostly (for sunsets, tidal pools, etc), it all depends on the mood you want to convey.

Good idea to take a wide range of shutter speeds in order to nail down which effect works best for the scene at hand.

[another view]

Exactly what I was going to say!

[Loupey]

Exactly what I was going to say!

Thought you might - just had to beat you to it

Notice that part about kayaks?

[another view]

Notice that part about kayaks?

Yup! Great minds think alike?

[Ronnoco]

I think a lot depends on the particular waterfall. Blurring the flowing water does not always work, particularly when the result is a mass of blown out white with little or no detail. On the other hand with Photo-John's waterfall from a little while ago it worked very well. If the waterfall is mostly in the shade or it is a cloudy day then the effect of blurring will likely be better than with a waterfall out in the sun and the potential for lost detail and whited out sections.

Ronnoco

[almorsol]

I got a question regarding this, so it depends on the ISO you use, is that correct? or am I wrong? Also I am new here, I would like to know if a lens 100-400 is good enough to take great shots to birds or animals who are far, because well... you cant get close enough because they could either blow away or attack you. So please let me know what you know... also if you have some way to get this lenses cheaper... let me know that too. My camera is a canon EOS rebel k2.
GRACIAS!!!

[Asylum Steve]

...is that a lot of shooters seem to think that blurry, flowing water alone is enough to make a shot "artistic".

I've seen many water shots that, even though the water was nicely blurred, were otherwise poor or weak compositionally.

I agree with the advice you've gotten so far. Yeah, there's no set rule, and different scenes call for different water effects. But you need to be sure that the scene composition and lighting are solid to begin with, then worry about how much to blur the water...

[Anbesol]

...is that a lot of shooters seem to think that blurry, flowing water alone is enough to make a shot "artistic".

I've seen many water shots that, even though the water was nicely blurred, were otherwise poor or weak compositionally.

I agree with the advice you've gotten so far. Yeah, there's no set rule, and different scenes call for different water effects. But you need to be sure that the scene composition and lighting are solid to begin with, then worry about how much to blur the water...

well yeah - ive seen some people who thought they were the first to think of it ;)...

it can be cool but its certainly not original.