Newbie Question On Taking Waterfall With Dreamy Water Effect

[babytweety]

Hi all,
Have been trying a few times today to take a photo of a waterfall with the dreamy water effect but not sucessful

The camera keep telling me subject is too bright. I have played around with all aperture value from f8 onwards.

Later, read up from the net and found out that need to use ND filters. Any advise which type for kit lens 18-55?

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Strength of ND filter required will depend on brightness of scene and the final shutter speed you require.
For example if you meter iso100, f/16, 1/8s, and you require 1s exposure to smoothen the water flow, you will require a 3stop ND filter. Hoya calls it ND8 (8 times the shutter duration) and B+W calls it ND103. There are other brands of course 

 

[LFC25]

Strength of ND filter required will depend on brightness of scene and the final shutter speed you require.
For example if you meter iso100, f/16, 1/8s, and you require 1s exposure to smoothen the water flow, you will require a 3stop ND filter. Hoya calls it ND8 (8 times the shutter duration) and B+W calls it ND103. There are other brands of course 

That's right. A better option is to shoot waterfall in a overcast day.

 

[babytweety]

Strength of ND filter required will depend on brightness of scene and the final shutter speed you require.
For example if you meter iso100, f/16, 1/8s, and you require 1s exposure to smoothen the water flow, you will require a 3stop ND filter. Hoya calls it ND8 (8 times the shutter duration) and B+W calls it ND103. There are other brands of course 

Is there for any othet use for this type of filter? I try not to buy too many types. Prefer that can multi usage if there is such filter

 

[Csboi]

Is there for any othet use for this type of filter? I try not to buy too many types. Prefer that can multi usage if there is such filter

Yes, to protect your lens in any case of knocking onto the lens glass. :bsmilie:

 

[photoart]

there is a type of fader ND filter that is a variable ND filter. This is a all-in-one ND filter whereby you can turn the filter to achieve various degree of "darkness". Some people stack a few ND filters on top of each other, but that might cause vignetting because the filter rings get too thick

 

[David Kwok]

there is a type of fader ND filter that is a variable ND filter. This is a all-in-one ND filter whereby you can turn the filter to achieve various degree of "darkness". Some people stack a few ND filters on top of each other, but that might cause vignetting because the filter rings get too thick

You mean the effect is same as 2 CPL stacked?

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

You mean the effect is same as 2 CPL stacked?

Apparently it is very similar to 2 CPLs.
Most of the vari-NDs aren't very good in terms of IQ though.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Is there for any othet use for this type of filter? I try not to buy too many types. Prefer that can multi usage if there is such filter

Errr... the main use of an ND filter is to cut the light passing through the lens.
People do use ND filters for outdoor portraiture with flash too, amongst other things. You shoot more then you should be able to figure out what strength of ND filter you use most. For me it is the ND106.

 

[edutilos-]

Hi all,
Have been trying a few times today to take a photo of a waterfall with the dreamy water effect but not sucessful

The camera keep telling me subject is too bright. I have played around with all aperture value from f8 onwards.

Later, read up from the net and found out that need to use ND filters. Any advise which type for kit lens 18-55?

For waterfalls, a more useful piece of equipment is CPL. ND serves to extend exposure, and yes it will help in your case, but CPL will cut through glare and saturate the colors of the waterfall surroundings.

You can use B+W ND106 for brighter days. If the waterfall is in the shade then you don't really need any filters.

 

[babytweety]

Hmm... I have tried looking around at Artphoto, sgcamera etc. Mostly no filter for 52mm. So far I only saw someone by the id name, Snooze, selling Hoya CPL filter for that lens size.

I was reading around and saw that square filters kit. Is that good enough? Saw a lot of varieties of filters in the package.

 

[edmundt]

Hmm... I have tried looking around at Artphoto, sgcamera etc. Mostly no filter for 52mm. So far I only saw someone by the id name, Snooze, selling Hoya CPL filter for that lens size.

Can consider using a 52 to 58mm step up ring. Attach that to your 52mm lens. And then attach the 58mm filter to it.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Hmm... I have tried looking around at Artphoto, sgcamera etc. Mostly no filter for 52mm. So far I only saw someone by the id name, Snooze, selling Hoya CPL filter for that lens size.

I was reading around and saw that square filters kit. Is that good enough? Saw a lot of varieties of filters in the package.

The 'de facto' thread size for a large number of higher-end lenses is 77mm.
for example, lenses like 17-55/2.8, 10-24, 16-35/4 VR, 24-70/2.8, etc are 77mm threaded.
You can consider getting step up ring(s) from 52mm to 77mm if you have intentions of getting some expensive lenses in future ;p

square filters are quite popular as well. Especially if you intend to use GND filters, going completely to square filters might be more convenient.

 

[SkyStrike]

The 'de facto' thread size for a large number of higher-end lenses is 77mm.
for example, lenses like 17-55/2.8, 10-24, 16-35/4 VR, 24-70/2.8, etc are 77mm threaded.
You can consider getting step up ring(s) from 52mm to 77mm if you have intentions of getting some expensive lenses in future ;p

square filters are quite popular as well. Especially if you intend to use GND filters, going completely to square filters might be more convenient.

Another point to note is using the filters on a UWA. It may cause vignetting if you stack (or in some cases, don't need to stack also vignette), so just take note of it before you buy.

Case in point: Nikon Crop + Tokina 11-16 without any UV filter. Filter holder used: Cokin Wide Angle P-holder. Vignetting will happen at 11mm and will only be gone at 12mm (or abit more?)

 

[babytweety]

Thanks guys for the infos and suggestions. Have read thru the thread on filters and now I know which to get. Have decided to get the cokin P holder and hitech filters, if I can get it cheap. Not sure about Tianya thou.
Just one more thing to confirm. Using my kit lens on this square filter, wont get any vignetting right? I am using a dx camera D5100.

 

[coolthought]

Hi all,
Have been trying a few times today to take a photo of a waterfall with the dreamy water effect but not sucessful

The camera keep telling me subject is too bright. I have played around with all aperture value from f8 onwards.

Later, read up from the net and found out that need to use ND filters. Any advise which type for kit lens 18-55?

Most important question for TS. Do you know what shutterspeed to shoot at to get the dreamy water effect?

After you know this, do you know how to get a properly exposed photo at that shutter speed?

 

[babytweety]

Most important question for TS. Do you know what shutterspeed to shoot at to get the dreamy water effect?

After you know this, do you know how to get a properly exposed photo at that shutter speed?

Shutter speed should be a long exposure. A few seconds, i think.

For properly exposed photo, that, I have yet to play around and know how

 

[XavierShoot]

Shutter speed should be a long exposure. A few seconds, i think.

For properly exposed photo, that, I have yet to play around and know how

if the speed of the water is fast, ur shutter speed need not be as slow~
u can try shooting the watter running from a tap before going to the waterfall =)

 

[babytweety]

Btw, was thinking again, if I want to use those screw type filters, a CPL and an ND filters stacked together, can caused any problem? Vignetting?

 

[babytweety]

if the speed of the water is fast, ur shutter speed need not be as slow~
u can try shooting the watter running from a tap before going to the waterfall =)

Ok, noted. Will try soon. Txs!