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View Full Version : Taking photos of Waterfalls - tips please!


djhampson
31st December 2008, 06:44 AM
I'm staying at Niagara Falls tonight and have a beautiful view of the falls from my hotel window....

So can anyone offer any tips on what I should do to take some photos of the falls. Its late afternoon now so it will be dark soon and they light up the falls with different coloured lights so I'd like to capture those if I can.

I have a tripod, a 14-42mm lens and a 40-150mm lens connected to an Olympus E-420 body.

I took some shots last night that worked pretty well but nothing spectatular. I started on the Auto mode and then moved into Manual mode using a slower shutter speed. I didn't have my tripod tho so they were a bit blurred.

Thanks,
vnx205
31st December 2008, 07:14 AM
You will certainly need the tripod if you want those arty shots that make the falls look milky. You will need to use shutter speeds slower than about 15th sec, maybe even 1/4sec.

On the other hand faster shutter speeds like 250th should freeze the water and gives a different, but quite spectacular effect.

It depends what effect you want.
dullbird
31st December 2008, 09:46 AM
when doing slow shutters for water also be aware of your surroundings make sure there are no people or fasting moving objects in the shot.....as it wont be pretty unless you can crop them out
Outlaw
31st December 2008, 10:17 AM
can't wait to see them.... absolutely loved my time at Niagara (canadian side).
djhampson
31st December 2008, 02:44 PM
Thanks for the tips.

I've just got back from an Ice Hockey game and was getting ready to take some photos but... its snowing... can't even see the falls :(

Its a beautiful place tho... hopefully tomorrow I will have some fine weather.
dmdigital
31st December 2008, 05:21 PM
1/4 to 1/15 shutter and f/11 upwards for aperture. You can go slower on the shutter but it depends on how much motion blur you want. Use the camera's self timer to delay the shutter release and place the camera on a stable surface (I carry a cam-pod bean bag for this purpose). Don't try and hand hold.

If you've got an ND filter you may need it to slow the shutter down. By the sounds of it though you're going to need more thermals!