Achieving Blur effect on water and waterfalls with the olympus e-420

[james_sparkes]

<p>Hi i recently got the Olympus e-420 for my 16th birthday as i am looking to get into photography. Ive used DSLR cameras before and am fairly confident in navigating and setting them up. One thing that i am not so sure about with the e-420 though is that i want to take some photos achieving a blurred effect on some water or waterfalls. If i am correct i assume i need a slow shutter speed to do this. I am attempting it in the shutter priority setting. When i set the camera up in a steady position with what i assume are the right settings on the cameras shutter speed, id take the photo but when i came to view it , it seemed that every time i tryed this in light conditions outside the brightness in the photo would wash out the photo and you would only be able to see small features if you were lucky. Can anyone with a e-420 or anyone who knows the camera tell me what i have to do to set the camera up with the right settings to get the shot that i want ( blurred effect on water, clouds streaming accross the sky etc.)</p>

<p>thanks very much<br>

James</p>

[warren_lafever]

<p>you need to do two things, put the aperture at f22 and get some neutral density filters which will cut the light by a few stops allowing for proper exposure.</p>

[warren_lafever]

<p>using shutter priority might not be the best thing to do but it is a logical place to start. i would use aperture priority at f22 and see what that does because f22 lets in less light which means the shutter will stay open longer allowing for the effect you are wanting.</p>

[robwilson]

<p>Warren is quite correct. I currrently use an ND8 filter, sometimes combine with a polariser to give very long exposure times.<br>

I tend to shoot waterfalls (during daylight hours) on cloudy days. If you are in bright sunlight, it is practically impossible even with a neutral density filter. On sunny days, I wait until around dusk - as long as the setting sun is not directed at the fall.<br>

A polarising filter is also useful to cut down the reflection from the water.<br>

I hope that helps,<br>

Rob</p>

 

[james_sparkes]

<p>thanks i think i should pick up some filters :) im using it at f22 but it flashes which i think means that the camera cant balance the shot so i keep tweeking the shutter speeds. i think ill wait untill later on tonight because it is quite a bright day today the sun is out . thanks for your advice</p>

[dan_b.4]

<p>Neutral-density filters are expensive. You can get the same effect by dialing the ISO down incrementally while using the aperture-priority setting. Of course, if you've got an exposure long enough to blur running water, you'll need to set the camera on a tripod, too.</p>

[godfrey]

<p>I use a 6 stop reduction ND filter stacked with an ND filter for this. It renders ISO 100 into something very close to ISO 1.5 and allows long exposures in sunlight at f/4 for shallow DoF. You also need a sturdy tripod... </p>

[yoshio]

<p>hello</p>

<p>it is exactly the same as with any camera, you simply need a long shutter period. Something like 1 second would be fine. Now, since your camera is automatic it will select things for you. I suggest you try the following and then try to think about the meaning of the suggestions:</p>

 

<ul>

<li>set camera to ISO 100 (this will give the longest exposure time for the any lighting situation and will give you your sensor's best image)</li>

<li>do NOT use shutter priority use aperture priority</li>

<li>select an aperture to give the required amount of Depth of Field but not one which will reduce your image quality with diffraction (try to stay between f8 and f16)</li>

<li>inspect the shutter speed the camera has chosen and use an ND filter to make the speed longer if required.</li>

<li>the camera must be on a tripod and if you do not have a shutter release cable then use the self timer (to minimize your disturbance of the camera creating vibration effects reducing the image clarity)</li>

</ul>

<p>camera automation and "features" are the biggest impediment for a learner to grasp what they are doing. There really is only 3 things to conisder</p>

<ol>

<li>shutter speed effects</li>

<li>aperture size effects</li>

<li>focus</li>

</ol>

<p>in the age of digital there is no reason to avoid taking some simple experiments to cement these things into your mind. From then all things will be simple to understand</p>