settings for great waterfall shots????

[kldmom2000]

I have a Nikon D50 and one of the things I'd love to learn how to do is to get a great waterfall shot.... we're going to the White Mountains of NH in a couple of days and I love the photos where the rushing water is blurred but everything is so crisp and sharp otherwise. Any novices willing to share your knowledge with me??? Thanks so much in advance!!!!!

 

[ssanders79]

Here are a few waterfall shots, you can click on the image to see them at flickr to get more exif data if you like.
This was shot at the Poly.

I did not have a tripod so I had to set the camera on the rocks and handhold the camera.
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 3 sec (3)
Aperture: f/10
Focal Length: 30 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV

This is a small waterfull in Columbus, Ohio that feeds into the Scioto River off Riverside Drive and Hayden Run Rd. When I lived in Columbus, I would drive by this everyday and never stopped to take a look. One Christmas I was back visiting family and friends and made a point to stop and photograph the falls I heard were just steps from the main road.

I used a tripod and remote shutter. I choose f20 so i could get a lot of detail, plus I wanted to blur the water. It was a cold cloudy day so I did not need an ND filter.
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 0.2 sec (1/5)
Aperture: f/20
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV


This is the same waterfall.

Same reason as above, but it went to f29 at 55mm.
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 0.2 sec (1/5)
Aperture: f/29
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV

 

[kldmom2000]

Those are beautiful SSanders79! Love them!

 

[boBQuincy]

Somewhere between 1/4 and a few seconds works well for that "silky" look. Take some at various shutter speeds to find the one you like the best, and bracket the exposure too. One option is to take sets of three at nominal exposure, +2, and -2, then you can use them later for HDR (which works well for waterfalls).

0.3, 0.1, 1.5 seconds

0.05, 0.125, 0.5, 0.7, 2 seconds

 

[handicap18]

If your not going to bring a tripod with you, be sure to have VERY steady hands (a VR lens will help a little too) or put the camera on something that will keep it still. Use a remote shutter. If you don't have one, the remote shutter release for the D50 is only like $20 at amazon. Well worth the price. If no remote shutter, use the self time set to 2 seconds so you don't cause any camera shake.

Low ISO, Medium f/stop (f/8-10, though depending on how much light you have at the time, you may have to go as small as f/22) and as others have said, a shutter speed of around 1/4 of a sec to 1 sec. During the day thats about as slow as you'll get without blowing out the shot. If there is a lot of shade then you may get a longer shutter.

 

[boBQuincy]

Low ISO, Medium f/stop (f/8-10, though depending on how much light you have at the time, you may have to go as small as f/22) and as others have said, a shutter speed of around 1/4 of a sec to 1 sec. During the day thats about as slow as you'll get without blowing out the shot. If there is a lot of shade then you may get a longer shutter.

Good point! I forgot to mention that for my photos I used a ND 1.8 filter (6 stops) to get the slow shutter speed without overexposing.

 

[hooperjp73]

Use a tripod and experiment with different exposure settings. In post production you can HDR several frames from one scene to create a beautiful shot. Good Luck and make sure you go to The Basin and The Flume during your visit.

 

[dcg0317]

I would also recommend using a remote shutter release or the timer setting if you don't have a remote shutter release, also mirror lockup too. If you have a polarizing filter that will give you about 1 to 1.5 stops.
Here are some recent shots I shot at the Flume Gorge, NH
I used a polarizing filter to cut down on reflections and glare off the rocks and I stacked a ND filter .9 on the lens.

ISO 100, f/8, 10sec

ISO 100, f/8, 1 sec

ISO 100, f/7.1, 3 sec

ISO 100 f/8, 4 sec

ISO 100, f/8, 4 sec