How to take a still pic of waterfall

[Thomas B]

As has been suggested you can arrive at the exposure time needed to create the motion blur in the water with ND filters.

Another effective method is to take multiple frames and then stack, align and blend in processing. The end result is, in most instances indistinguishable from that attained with a single linger exposure.

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Beautiful work!
Thanks for the tip!

 

[bobh665]

I shot this with my MP .8 seconds @ f2.2 with a 64 ND filter.

 

[plav1959]

Taken with an ND512. Bright sunlight and windy so it limited exposure to .6 seconds

 

[tomsmavic8804]

Waterfalls are generally best shot on a cloudy day to avoid harsh light, reflections and issues with exposure.
Even on real cameras shooting a waterfall in direct sunlight is tough.

You'll need a big ND filter to try to get the shutter speed to 1/2 a second or so and need to shoot in bursts and take the clearest shot with least motion blur. And ideally a calm day (although big falls themselves produce an outflowing wind which can be strong).

Yep. Agree. Some of my best shots are from cloudy days or after a rain. This one was not with drone, but will be doing these in fall in NC mountains with my mavic, filter, slow shitter, and stacking in Photoshop and Lightroom
I haven't had a chance to get my mavic up in the North Carolina waterfalls yet, but I agree with above. Cloudy days or even just after a rain are perfect. Here's a shot I took with my DSLR,. Looking forward to doing this with my mavic. But will be using slow shutter speeds, photo stacking, in Photoshop and Lightroom adjustments. Funny thing is, that we started their day with rain and thought our shots would be horrible. But this turned out to be one of my best.

 

[The Flashman]

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

I need your assistance on the right setting for a waterfall pic. I was trying to take the pic so the water will have that silk smooth look to it. Can someone direct me to possible ways to get this look. It was a bright and sunny day. What settings can accomplish this? I also had a N16 polar pro shutter series filter on it. Should I use those , or should I try it w/o. Please advise. TIA.

 

[sputnik378]

ISO at 100, f-stop at 22, and shutter speed at one second or two seconds

That's where you start with a DSLR. Use that as a starting point, keeping in mind that you will not get a completely stable shot due to the nature of the flying robot in space.

 

[gnirtS]

ISO at 100, f-stop at 22, and shutter speed at one second or two seconds

That's where you start with a DSLR. Use that as a starting point, keeping in mind that you will not get a completely stable shot due to the nature of the flying robot in space.

f22? Diffraction is going to kill that even on full frame. ND filter is the way to go (or as above, image stack)

 

[sputnik378]

f22? Diffraction is going to kill that even on full frame. ND filter is the way to go (or as above, image stack)

The f22 is used for the increased depth of field though. It's like many things in photography, it depends on what you are after.

The M2P has the sharpest image at 2.8 or maybe 3.2 I don't remember.

Photog life is way different when you take to the air. Personally I use a 256ND and adjust the shutter due to the large amount of physical sensor float it seems to work pretty well.

 

[ICHOTT]

Practice with moving objects eg cars driving past, don’t follow the cars and keep the drone still aiming at eg a lamppost/tree. Take shots as cars pass the object you’re aiming at. Take a sequence of shots at different exposure settings from fast shutter speed to slow etc.

Use ND filters according to the previous tips, when you’re ready and have an idea how the pics look blurred v sharp go to the waterfall and do the same.

Let us know how you get on, with pics of course

 

[MikeC]

1/2 second at F10 ISO 100 No ND filter. I usually avoid waterfall pics on sunny days....especially with on F11 to work with.

 

[WithTheBirds]

The f22 is used for the increased depth of field though. It's like many things in photography, it depends on what you are after.

The M2P has the sharpest image at 2.8 or maybe 3.2 I don't remember.

Photog life is way different when you take to the air. Personally I use a 256ND and adjust the shutter due to the large amount of physical sensor float it seems to work pretty well.

Depending on the sensor/film frame size and focal length you may get acceptable DOF and better overall sharpness at a lower Fstop.

If you are prepared to take extra frames and spend a few minutes extra in processing best DOF and sharpness is realised by shooting a focus stack. That way your lens is operated at whatever the optimum aperture (for absolute sharpness) might be. Very handy for macro work also.

 

[Skydriver]

Here is another sample taken early morning, but still too much direct sun which blew out some whites. SS= 1/2 sec f8, ISO 100 using a polarizer filter. Yes, go early or late and remember that white water will reflect much more light than other surfaces. For water, polarizers can be better than ND filters. Use shutter priority, start at 1/2 or slightly faster, set ISO to 100, and let the aperture float depending on total light. The other variable will be filter density which you may have to change depending on conditions.

The good news is that with this P4P taken picture, the cliffs were tack sharp even though there was some wind off of the falls. Good luck!

 

[Skydriver]

1/2 second at F10 ISO 100 No ND filter. I usually avoid waterfall pics on sunny days....especially with on F11 to work with.

View attachment 81265

Very nice composition.