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Tips On Taking Pictures Of Water. |
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Photography & Camera -
Photography
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Tips On Taking Pictures Of Water.
WATER IS IMPORTANT STUFF.
We couldn't exist without it besides being necessary for life as we know it, water provides us with power, transportation, recreation....and great photo- ops. Here are some tips and ideas to help you make the most of them.From huge seas and frontal clouds to tiny water droplets, water provides an abundance of photo-ops.
Tip # 1. Reflections.
Pure water is color less. Bodies of water take on colors of things they reflect. Water appears blue when it reflects the blue sky. If you’re viewing a body of water at an angle that reflects plants, the water will look green.
If a nearby red building is reflected, the water will appear red. Look for colorful reflections in water, and use them as compositional elements. If the water is not perfectly smooth, the reflections will take on interesting abstract shapes; but beware of “rough seas” if the water is too choppy, there wont be any reflections.
Shutter Tip. To get long exposure times in brighter light, stop the lens down, and use a slow film or a low ISO setting on a digital camera. You can also use a neutral-density filter to reduce the amount of light reaching the film or image sensor, but ND filters are quite expensive.
Tip #2.
When water is moving, you can get a valley of effects by using different shutter speeds.
Short exposure times will freeze the moving water into strange forms, while long exposure times will blur the water into ethereal wisps I tend to like the effects of exposure times in the 1/8 - 1/30 range best, but It depends on the subject and the shooting distance It's simple enough to try a variety of shutter speeds, then pick the images you like best.
Mount the camera on a tripod when using long exposure times to avoid camera shake-you want the moving water to blur, but not the whole scene A slow shutter speed (1/10 here) will blur moving water into cotton-candy wisps. A fast shutter speed (1/4000 here) will freeze moving water, allowing the viewer to see it In a way the eye can't "live".
Tip #3. Rainbows.
Rainbows can occur anytime you're between the sun and water droplets of the right size. This rainbow appeared in park sprinklers one morning and seas recorded with a 300mm lens on a digital SLR.
It's a good idea to focus manually when shooting rainbows autofocus systems sometimes have trouble with them. You'll and rainbows when you are between the sun and water droplets of the right size. We most often notice them during clearing storms when facing away from the early-morning or late-afternoon sun, but they can also appear In waterfalls and sprinkler spray-anytime the sun angle and water drop size are right. Keep your camera ready when storms clean and keep an eye out for rainbows anytime there's water In the air.
source PhotoGraphic Mag.
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