This weeks homework in the A Year With My Camera course was to blur water using slower shutter speeds.
I found this lesson valuable to notice how hard it is to set the aperture in manual mode and daylight for these shots. Initially they were over exposed, and I struggled to get the EC to 0 or -0.
Once I took the plunge and experimented with ND filters I was able to use longer shutter speeds. ND stands for Natural Density. They do not change the colour of the light, You attach the filter to the front of the lens. With ND filters, the light comes to the sensor more slowly. You have to use manual mode with ND filters. It enables the photographer to get longer exposure times, particularly useful if you want to create images of smooth water for example.
I started at 1/25 sec and saw what happened as I got slower. The longest shutter speed I was able to achieve was 10 secs.
The first two images were using the Sony 70-350 mm zoom lens, the second two were using the Sony 10-18mm wide angle lens , and the remaining images were using my tried and trusted Sigma 30mm prime. ISO was 100 for all images.
1/25 sec, f 4.5 at 70 mm.
5 secs f 18 70mm
1/25 sec f 22 18mm
1/6 sec, f22 18mm
1/25 sec, f 8, 30mm
1/6 sec, f 16, 30mm
10 sec f16, 30mm
This was a nice combination of doing homework while out with a friend for a pre planned trip to beautiful Sandcut Beach which has two small waterfalls.
This blog is the perfect platform to record my learning from the AYWMC course, and will hopefully be of interest to others. I envisage blog posts for the foreseeable future will feature the lessons I am learning on this excellent course.
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