Photographing water

I am quite often asked how I get that strange misty effect on waterfalls and on the coast. It is all to do with shutter speeds. This probably sounds a bit technical, but the shutter speed is the length of time that the picture takes the camera to capture. I am old fashioned and still using film. The film that I use, Fuji Velvia 50, is a very slow film, which usually results in pictures that take longer, especially in a dark river valley or at dusk on a beach. In a longer picture (for example, half a second or longer) the water has moved whilst the camera has taken the picture, creating an out of focus, misty effect. Solid objects, such as rocks, have not moved, so they still look sharp. In order for these longer pictures to work, and for rocks and land to look in focus, your camera will need to be on a tripod or something unmoving. Leaves and branches may look in focus or not, depending on whether there is any wind blowing them around.

Faster shutter speeds (for example 125^th of a second or faster) will freeze the water, and give quite a different effect. It is also interesting to play around with speeds in between to see what can be achieved. I have put a few different pictures in this article to give you an idea of the different looks to different shutter speeds. I guess most of you have digital compact cameras and will think that it is not possible for you to experiment, but many of these cameras do give you control over shutter speed if you search the menu.