Waterfalls are a favorite subject of photographers everywhere. Ever wonder how they get the water to look so silky even in the middle of the day? First, they use the lowest ISO on their digital camera around 100 to 200 depending on the camera. Second, they select small apertures like f/16 or f/22. This gets them the slowest shutter speed possible. Slow shutter speeds does require the use of a tripod to keep everything sharp.
That is what I did below. The water is still too detailed for the look I wanted. A longer shutter speed would be needed.
Canada’s Rocky Mountain Waterfall without an ND filter.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/60s, f/22, ISO 200, EV 0, 28mm focal length.
To cut down the amount of light for longer shutter speeds, I used Neutral Density (ND) filters in different strengths. If you recall, ND filters act like sunglasses.
Canada’s Rocky Mountain Waterfall with ND filters.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, f/22, ISO 200, EV 0, 28mm focal length.
Leaving the aperture and ISO the same, you can see above the effects of each Neutral Density filter I used.
- ND2 (or 0.3) filter cuts 1 stop of light and increased the shutter speed to 1/30s.
- ND4 (or 0.6) filter cuts 2 stops of light and increased the shutter speed to 1/10s.
- ND8 (or 0.9) filter cuts 3 stops of light and increased the shutter speed to 1/3s.
Do you see how the water got silkier the slower the shutter speed became? Not bad for a mid-afternoon in central Florida. But…I wanted more.
Canada’s Rocky Mountain Waterfall with stacked 2 & 3 stop ND filters.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 2s, f/22, ISO 200, EV 0, 28mm focal length.
To get the shutter down to a whole 2 seconds, I stacked my two strongest ND filters, the ND4 and ND8, to create one 5 stop filter. When you stack filters, you may get some vignetting which was the case here. I simply cropped that out.
You can get stronger ND filters or photograph in the early morning, late in the day or when the weather is cloudy and/or rainy.
Click here to learn how to use Neutral Density filters for fireworks and themepark rides.
Thanks for the response Scott. I still have to figure out how to use layers in Photoshop.
Dan
Do you have a high res version of this that could be used as a wallpaper? I love this photo,one of my favorite places to shoot
Scott replies These are vertical images so would not fill up a computer monitor. Sorry. We do have other wallpapers on AllEars. Go here to see them: http://allears.net/desktop/desktop.htm (you will need to copy and paste this into your browser).
Very nice article, Scott.
I have a question: Although the water does look “silky smooth” in your final pic, the trees at the top now look all fuzzy. Is there a way to fix that? Perhaps take two identical pictures (with and without filters) and combine them some way?
Thanks,
Dan
Scott replies: It was breezy the day I took these photos so there is movement in the landscaping at the top of the falls. Yes, you could take a photo at a fast shutter speed to freeze the trees and brush and then layer than in with the long exposure shot. Good point, Dan!
I want to do this again just after sunset when the winds are normally calmer with lower light to get an even longer shutter speed.