Silky Waterfalls Melt my Heart

There’s something magical about the silky softness of a waterfall, shot with a slow shutter speed! While it’s very easy to do once you know how and have the right equipment, it seems just like pure magic before you master it! In this blog, you will learn how to capture water flow with a silky soft look, whether it be a grand waterfall like Havasu or a babbling brook down the road from you.

 

One thing that is necessary is a tripod, or at the very least, set your camera on a rock or log or something very stationary. Camera movement will destroy this effect in a fraction of a hot second!

In this example, I’m using a Mirrorless Micro 4/3 camera- the Lumix G9 and either the 7-14mm lens or the 8-18mm lens. I have my camera on a MeFoto Backpacker tripod which is light and easy to hike with, so it was my companion for the 57 miles we hiked in 7 days in the Grand Canyon on this trip!

Note: There were times I used it as a walking stick as well, when we walked the Narrows in freezing cold water in Zion National Park too! But next time I won’t do that—I’ll tell you why (and show images) in a different blog!.

Anyway, the trick to getting a soft silky water look is shooting in manual mode and using a slow shutter speed. Typically, you are shooting in the daytime, and hopefully in shade (or you will NEED neutral density filters), and you want to shoot with the shutter speed at 1/8 of a second or slower if possible. It was relatively soft light, but at ISO 200, which is the lowest my camera goes, and the aperture at F22, the highest f-s top it offers, the slowest I could go was in the range of 1/5 to 1/8 of a second. Otherwise my image was overexposed.

It gave me a silky look but not quite as soft and nice as my husband Jon got because he had the Neutral Density filters and was able to drag his shutter to 1/2 second, giving it that extra-smooth look and not get over exposure!

It usually requires a bit of experimenting with a DSLR because you cannot see the effect or the exposure through the view finder and you need to shoot and adjust and re-shoot and adjust a few times until you get the right combination. Even if you use a meter, there is some experimentation or at least bracketing. What I love about the Mirrorless Lumix is the  EVF, or Electronic View Finder, which shows you exactly what your exposure looks like AND the effect of a slow shutter speed! [Be sure to turn on the Constant Preview feature to see that]. My camera is ON Constant Preview all the time and I literally cannot live without it.  The other benefit is the Zebras feature, which shows any part of the image that is overexposed with little black zebra stripes, alerting you to the overexposure BEFORE you take the shot! Take a look at this short video taken of Havasu Falls, where I show how I can confidently get a great exposure without any blown-out pixels (or needing to bracket or use a meter).

This feature is also turned on ALL the time on my camera and is an invaluable tool for getting great exposures all the time.

 

Turning on Constant Preview on the Lumix G9

Menu>Custom Wrench>Monitor&Display>Page4, bottom item: Constant Preview

turn to ON

Setting the Zebras on the Lumix G9

Menu>Custom Wrench>Monitor&Display>Page5, almost bottom item: Zebras

Choose SET and then choose [Zebra2 100%] and then turn it ON. Hit the center Set button on the camera back to be sure it is turned ON.

A few notes about this technique.

If you are shooting in the sun or with a lens that doesn’t go to F22, you may need to use a neutral density filter to cut down the light enough to drag the shutter effectively. The other option is to shoot in low light in the evening or early morning with no direct light, choosing the lowest ISO and highest aperture your camera offers.

Always use a tripod or stationary platform.  Experiment with different shutter speeds, as a little blur-movement is a great look as well!

Photography is an ever-changing field and offers an opportunity to grow in your skills for years. It is always an exciting hobby, craft, passion or skill, and offers no ceiling to its creative potential as we grow in our skills and vision for beautiful photographic art!

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