Milky Water effect

[ptsmiles]

Hi,
Need to bother all of you for a question. I'm looking to get a milky(silky)water effect that I've seen in numerous pictures. It was suggested to me in another group that I set my shutter speed to anywhere from 1/30th-1/4. I tried setting it a whole range under 1/30th and my pictures were really bright and washed out. I set my exposer to the darkest it would go and still no luck. I asked a professional photographer that was there today and he suggested that I set my aperature to about 9.0. My camera (Panasonic Lumix FZ20) only goes to 8.0. Am I doomed to not achieve that effect? Is there a filter that may help with the extreme brightness?
Thanks,
Tracey

[another view]

Bother? This is the help forum - that's what it's here for!

The thing to understand is that talking about shutter speed, aperture (and you really have to throw ISO speed in there too) is a little meaningless without taking a meter reading. Now, the advice of 1/30 - 1/4 is pretty good for this effect but try longer than that too, and try a few speeds because the effect also depends on how fast the water is flowing.

Just setting the shutter speed at, say 1/4 sec, without compensating with aperture and/or ISO speed will give you an overexposed image. Where the other settings have to be is something you will determine with your lightmeter.

Have you ever heard of the sunny 16 rule? It says that if you set your camera to f16, then your shutter speed will be the reciprocal of the ISO speed. Don't worry - it's not that bad - it means that ISO 100 you'd use 1/125. You want a much slower shutter speed so you could compensate by closing the lens down, but that's not an option here. Really, a large format lens that goes to f128 could do this, but most others won't do that. So the options would be to use a lower ISO if it's available or to use a Neutral Density filter which evenly cuts the amount of light going to the lens (like sunglasses for the camera).

In reality, waterfall and stream pictures will come out much better in the shade or on an overcast day than they will in sun - and this will help you by a couple or few stops - but that's how the theory works.

[Outdoorsman]

You know, I've been working with a little p&s olympus digi that only goes to f/8 as well. Normally I would set my aperture to the max to get the slowest shutter possible. Waterfalls and moving water are one of my favorite subjects. I hear a lot of people say that for this effect, 1/4 shutter speed is okay. I disagree. In my experience, 1/4 only gets you started. I like to do anywhere from one to four seconds.
Trying this with the digital isn't all that different. Just set to your lowest ISO, your aperture to f/8, and see what the shutter speed is in aperture priority mode. Bracket to a stop or so.
As AV said, an overcast day will give you usable results. Even with a ND filter on a sunny day you may still not get the results you want.

[Cowgirl]

The absolute best time is to shoot right after a rain. The ground, rocks, & grass will produce a beautiful saturation - esp. if you use Velvia (ISO 50 cranked down to 40) slide film. I use a bogen tripod, very sturdy, a release cord, and with the mirror locked. I take several meter readings, and I usually want a large depth of field on a beautiful landscape, so I usually use F16 or even F22, depending on which lens I am using.

Another trick that I do, is shoot on an overcast day, and I make sure that I do not get any skies on the photo.

Next I bracket, bracket, bracket. I may shoot for a full second or more!

I am also digital, and I sometimes use the AP mode on F22 or F16... and let the camera set the shutter after metering. I take my time on location and experiment - did I mention bracket?


Anyway, my favorite images are the ones taken right after a rain - no sky, and super milky water!

Kathy

[steeven]

Hi,

I saw some great photos with milky water effect shot at full moon light.

[w.slayman]

For excellent examples see "Canyon Hikers" posts in the critque forum, I think they were posted around the first of Dec.

[freygr]

To do long exposures to get the water to be "milky(silky)water effect", you have to change some settings in your camera and purchase a filter holder, and ND filters. The ND filters you will need a set.

1) for long exposure you do need to know, the longest shutter speed the camera supports, and the ISO range you can set.

2) Set your camera to the highest f stop you can, and the lowest ISO.

3) Add the ND filters to slow the shutter speed to the desired time.

4) take the photo.

Note if you a B setting you can do very long exposures, but the longer the exposure you will find a point where noise will start to be a problem.