parkway Loc: PINEOLA,NC

What ARE THE BEST SETTING TO TAKE PICTURES OF WATER FALLS?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I suggest reposting this with a title like, "How Do I Shoot Waterfalls?"

Tripod, neutral density filter, 1/2 or longer shutter speed.

DaveMM Loc: Port Elizabeth, South Africa

And THAT YOU DON'T SHOUT!

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

MATE THAT IS NOT SHOUTING!!!! ASK ME HOW I KNOW.....

photosarah Loc: East Sussex, UK

I did a day's outing last summer with Experience Seminars, Canon pro's here in the UK. To sum up their advice:

Overcast conditions better than bright sunshine (to prevent burn-out on the water)
Large waterfalls usually work better with high shutter speeds e 1/250th and above, to freeze action - but with very large waterfalls you may need to use speeds of 1/1000 or more to freeze the water.
Smaller waterfalls usually work better with shower speeds eg 1.15th sec and below to give soft effect
(But take photos of the waterfall reversing the above and see which effect you like)
If working with slower shutter speeds and with a tripod, use a spot or partial reading off a mid-tone area and then set up camera accordingly
Consider taking small sections as well as whole waterfall.
Keep an eye out for rainbows and use a polariser to intensify colours
Wide angle lens eg 16-35 mm lens for whole waterfall, or longer lens for smaller sections
Small aperture (i.e. big number) eg. f/22 for depth of field
Up the ISO since waterfalls are usually surrounded by trees and foliage
Tripod and cable release
Polariser filter
Lens hood (to keep lens dry in drifting mist)
Take lens cleaning cloths in case mist still gets on lens
Take care how you change lenses, if you do, because of the mist/spray/damp.

I set my camera to manual focus, focus and then use Live View and magnify 5 or 10 times to make sure I am in focus.

I attach a photo of a waterfall in Yorkshire taken this last summer following the above advice. Settings were:

Aperture Priority
f/29
ISO 100
Lens 24-105mm set at 65mm
2.5 seconds
Tripod/Cable release

Hope some of this might help you.

Ingleton Falls, Yorkshire

mrtobin Loc: North East Ohio

Ok, how do you know?

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

Early in 1975 was going through my "A" school at USCG Training Center Petaluma CA at 2 rock (an old army covert listening post) anyway they taught me how to type on an ASR28 teletype... guess what it only had upper case letters only no lower case, three rows of buttons and you had to do a shift function to get nrs.. or puncuation (sp) so anything you typed came out in upper case..... not like these hiflutin thingees.... so to me not shouting at all.... here is one inaction...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dHP7eB8yR8

ptcanon3ti Loc: NJ

Turnpike

ptcanon3ti Loc: NJ

what is toll roads?

Swamp Gator Loc: Coastal South Carolina

I thought this was gonna be about the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey.

I wonder if parkway's finger accidentally hit the Caps Lock button after typing the first word?

ptcanon3ti Loc: NJ

:-D

parkway Loc: PINEOLA,NC

Thanks. That will help a lot. I really like the idea of magnafing and making sure that the water falls is in focus.

parkway Loc: PINEOLA,NC

I have been asked not to use all caps so I will comply.Maybe there is a good reason not to use all caps. I don't know.
I live very near the Blue Ridge Parkway in the mountains of North Carolina,hence Parkway.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

The reason you have been asked not to use all CAPS is because in blog and internet circles, CAPS is considered shouting and is hard to read. Second, you've been advised NOT to use your username "Parkway" as the subject on the subject line as this is better used for the subject in which your blog or thread is about. Nobody is trying to be harsh with you, it's just that you are new here and it's quite possible that you are new to using the internet for joining groups like Ugly HedgeHog. So, we offer friendly advise to those that are new and hope you come back so we can help you more.

In any case, to smooth out the water in a waterfall, play with shutter speed. The slower your shutter speed, the smoother and blurrier the water will appear. You might need a tripod to keep the camera steady because you don't want everything blurry, just the water. Start with a shutter speed of about 1/10th of a second. You might want to tell us what camera make and model you use because this advise will probably NOT work with most point and shoot cameras.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Call me jealous! That's one of my favorite areas of the country!

:thumbup: