I was at a place today that had this little manmade waterfall, so I took this image to see how it came out and then to hopefully get guidance from some of you about shooting waterfalls. This is the raw file processed in PSE9 but with no noise removal at all done to it, and I think the noise is going to be pretty bad when I post it. My guess was that you had to be at the highest possible ISO to not get a blur, but I know that will cause a lot of noise on any camera. Is that right, or no? Your help on what the camera settings should have been if they should have been different would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Canon EOS REBEL T2i
EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
2/5/2011 – 11:36:12 AM
1/800 sec
Aperture priority
f/18
ISO 6400
Focal length 55 mm
Camera on ground
Posted by Luke Ormand on February 5, 2011 at 8:19 PM
You are correct on ISO correlation with shutter speed. However, you had your f/stop at f/18 which was not necessary and thus required an extremely high ISO. You could have photographed this at f/11 and lowered the ISO to 1600 with the same result (but less noise and more detail).
In order to really freeze a waterfall like this, you should look for a shutter speed of at least 1/1250s. Many landscape photographers choose to blur waterfalls and make them look like silky cascades which of course requires a slow shutter speed (1/20 or slower for example). Hope this helps!
Posted by John Mumaw on February 5, 2011 at 9:12 PM
This image is also pretty underexposed. Bringing it up to the correct exposure in your digital darkroom will reveal more noise (esp. in the shadowed areas) than if it were correctly exposed in the field. Check the histogram on your camera's LCD screen after every shot to be sure that you have a correct exposure in the field.
For more info., see this superb tutorial titled 'Camera Histograms: Tones & Contrast'. The on camera histogram is truly one of the minor miracles of digital photography.
Posted by Barbara Graham on February 5, 2011 at 10:03 PM
Thanks, John!
Posted by Derek Yow on February 5, 2011 at 10:06 PM
I completely agree with what Luke said, and it was my first thought when looking at this shot and your techs. This particular shot didnt require f/18 since you didnt need a tremendous DOF. Opening your aperture and lowering the ISO would reduce any noticeable noise.
Posted by Harold Ankney on February 6, 2011 at 3:09 PM
Barbara
I can't add anything more to the spot on information you have already received. Here are a couple of sites that may help you understand exposure and shutter speeds.
http://www.photonhead.com/beginners/ I think if you check out the Sim Cam towards the bottom of the page here, you will get a better understanding of shutter speed and exposure.
I am going to take a slightly different tac, and talk about dynamic range, why this shot is underexposed, and how to achieve a more aesthetically appealing image.
One of the most important things to consider when looking at a scene is its tonal dynamic range. The dynamic range is the difference between the deepest significant shadows and the brightest significant highlights. This difference is measured in stops. In the scene above, the dynamic range is approximately 7 stops, perhaps more; a very high contrast scene, and one that will be difficult to deal with.
So, why is this scene underexposed? Your camera's light meter is looking at all the light values in the scene (the full dynamic range) and then averages them. The camera's firmware then calculates the exposure, which yields an image that averages out to a neutral grey. While the result is technically accurate, our aesthetic sense tells us the image is too dark, i.e. underexposed.
Now, what do we do? First, let's forget the histogram for a minute, and think about the tonal values of the light in the scene above. The surface of the water in the background is very dark and lacking in any detail, as is the rock behind the falling water. The water itself has a range of tonal value from (about) one step above neutral grey, to probably close to pure white. What we want to do is preserve detail in the significant brighter areas of the water.
Now, since our camera meter sees the world as neutral grey, regardless of what the actual tonal values are, we need to adjust our actual exposure to reflect our desire to preserve as much detail in the water as we can.
We do this by allowing more light to be recorded. For example, let's say that the camera calculates an exposure of 1/1000s at f-11, with an ISO of 100. A camera's sensor will record texture (detail) at approximately 2 stops above neutral grey. Therefore, if we expose our scene at 1/250s at f-11 (at ISO 100) (a two-stop increase) we should be able to see nice detail in the water without having significant highlights being overexposed (blown out).
Just a note: The two-stop exposure compensation is an approximation. You will need to run a test with your equipment in order to determine optimum compensation that will allow you to achieve a 'textured' white.
The next question we ask ourselves, is: At the given exposure, what will happen to the other tonal values in the shot? Answer: They all will be two stops brighter, as well. In the very dark values (those approaching pure black) we likely not see any detail, In your shot above, we would see more detail in the far background, but not in the water above the fall, or in the rock behind the falling water. In some of the grey areas of the water will have less detail.
Here is the $64 question we must ask before tripping the shutter: Will this exposure give me what I want to show? Will the water be 'lively' without being blown out? Can I live with the lack of detail in the background water and the rock behind the falling water? These are aesthetic questions you will need to ask yourself, apart from technical considerations.
With a scene such as the one above, I would consider a few things, assuming that the falling water is the primary subject of the shot. First, I would choose an aperture that would give enough depth of field to provide for acceptable sharpness from the foreground bubbles to the very top of the waterfall. Next, I would set the ISO so that the calculated shutter speed will stop the motion of the water while keeping noise to a minimum, and give the water an aesthetically pleasing tonal value.
Basically, Barbara, photography is all about seeing. When we are out in the field scouting about and notice a scene we would like to photograph, the very first thing we need to do is stop, take a deep breath and a 'chill pill', and carefully evaluate the scene in terms of shape and form and how they relate to one another, the color and tonal relationships, and how all these elements are tied together (or not) and then start the visualization process; i.e. how we want the image to look. Once we do these things, we can then set up the camera and think about the technical aspects of the shot.
There is a great deal of info in this thread that is 'spot-on', and that, coupled with my observations will, hopefully, help you in your learning process. If there is anything I've said here that you do not understand, please ask.
Discussion
9 repliesCanon EOS REBEL T2i
EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
2/5/2011 – 11:36:12 AM
1/800 sec
Aperture priority
f/18
ISO 6400
Focal length 55 mm
Camera on ground
In order to really freeze a waterfall like this, you should look for a shutter speed of at least 1/1250s. Many landscape photographers choose to blur waterfalls and make them look like silky cascades which of course requires a slow shutter speed (1/20 or slower for example). Hope this helps!
For more info., see this superb tutorial titled 'Camera Histograms: Tones & Contrast'. The on camera histogram is truly one of the minor miracles of digital photography.
I can't add anything more to the spot on information you have already received. Here are a couple of sites that may help you understand exposure and shutter speeds.
http://www.photonhead.com/beginners/ I think if you check out the Sim Cam towards the bottom of the page here, you will get a better understanding of shutter speed and exposure.
http://photographycourse.net/
Harold
One of the most important things to consider when looking at a scene is its tonal dynamic range. The dynamic range is the difference between the deepest significant shadows and the brightest significant highlights. This difference is measured in stops. In the scene above, the dynamic range is approximately 7 stops, perhaps more; a very high contrast scene, and one that will be difficult to deal with.
So, why is this scene underexposed? Your camera's light meter is looking at all the light values in the scene (the full dynamic range) and then averages them. The camera's firmware then calculates the exposure, which yields an image that averages out to a neutral grey. While the result is technically accurate, our aesthetic sense tells us the image is too dark, i.e. underexposed.
Now, what do we do? First, let's forget the histogram for a minute, and think about the tonal values of the light in the scene above. The surface of the water in the background is very dark and lacking in any detail, as is the rock behind the falling water. The water itself has a range of tonal value from (about) one step above neutral grey, to probably close to pure white. What we want to do is preserve detail in the significant brighter areas of the water.
Now, since our camera meter sees the world as neutral grey, regardless of what the actual tonal values are, we need to adjust our actual exposure to reflect our desire to preserve as much detail in the water as we can.
We do this by allowing more light to be recorded. For example, let's say that the camera calculates an exposure of 1/1000s at f-11, with an ISO of 100. A camera's sensor will record texture (detail) at approximately 2 stops above neutral grey. Therefore, if we expose our scene at 1/250s at f-11 (at ISO 100) (a two-stop increase) we should be able to see nice detail in the water without having significant highlights being overexposed (blown out).
Just a note: The two-stop exposure compensation is an approximation. You will need to run a test with your equipment in order to determine optimum compensation that will allow you to achieve a 'textured' white.
The next question we ask ourselves, is: At the given exposure, what will happen to the other tonal values in the shot? Answer: They all will be two stops brighter, as well. In the very dark values (those approaching pure black) we likely not see any detail, In your shot above, we would see more detail in the far background, but not in the water above the fall, or in the rock behind the falling water. In some of the grey areas of the water will have less detail.
Here is the $64 question we must ask before tripping the shutter: Will this exposure give me what I want to show? Will the water be 'lively' without being blown out? Can I live with the lack of detail in the background water and the rock behind the falling water? These are aesthetic questions you will need to ask yourself, apart from technical considerations.
With a scene such as the one above, I would consider a few things, assuming that the falling water is the primary subject of the shot. First, I would choose an aperture that would give enough depth of field to provide for acceptable sharpness from the foreground bubbles to the very top of the waterfall. Next, I would set the ISO so that the calculated shutter speed will stop the motion of the water while keeping noise to a minimum, and give the water an aesthetically pleasing tonal value.
Basically, Barbara, photography is all about seeing. When we are out in the field scouting about and notice a scene we would like to photograph, the very first thing we need to do is stop, take a deep breath and a 'chill pill', and carefully evaluate the scene in terms of shape and form and how they relate to one another, the color and tonal relationships, and how all these elements are tied together (or not) and then start the visualization process; i.e. how we want the image to look. Once we do these things, we can then set up the camera and think about the technical aspects of the shot.
There is a great deal of info in this thread that is 'spot-on', and that, coupled with my observations will, hopefully, help you in your learning process. If there is anything I've said here that you do not understand, please ask.
--P