Another fountain

[Bo_]

On my vacation in Pärnu, Estonia I saw that near the beach they have made some new fountains. One of the last days in Pärnu it was very windy and a small fountain got an interesting look. I took the picture with an aperture of f/8 (max) & a shutter speed of 1/640s with my Canon S3IS.

I like the way the water flies true the air.



Any ideas on how to do a better job?

[phlyersphan]

I've very new to this, so I don't even know how to do what I'm suggesting, but I feel like this picture needs richer colors. It seems a bit washed out. I love the water pattern you've captured! Good timing

[clockdoc]

Interesting shot! Depending on the capabilities of your camera, you could have used aperture/ISO to expose for the sky to make it darker. A polarizer may have helped as well. Then use flash to add a little stopping power to the fountain if that is what you wanted. However you need to check on your flash sync speed (maybe 1/200 max?). What is the fastest shutter speed you can use here with out flash? Conversely, using a slow shutterspeed would have turned it into a different misty result. I could not find the EXIF data to see what ISO you used. Watch your horizon cutting the image about in half. Lastly, the fountain itself needs a little more room as it is cropped quite closely.

[Bo_]

Hi Clockdoc

It was a bright day - so it was probably ISO 100.

The canon S3IS has some limitations with the aperture (max f/8) - and I don't own any polarizer (even thou it is possible to buy them to the camera). And I will probably save the mony for a polarizer - and buy a better camera instead (some time in the future)

The idea with flash sounds interesting - the water will look still have a frozen look and the sky can be darker with more detail? Of course I will not have the possibility to try it before next year (I live in Denmark - and with car (and ferry) it takes around 24 hours to get there).

Thanx for the help

[clockdoc]

That's a long way to go for a test shot. 8-) You could try it out at home in your garden with a hose. Just remember to know that max sync shutter speed for the flash. Otherwise go for a much higher shutter speed without flash. The sky will darken as you increase the shutter speed at you max aperture of f/8. Try to have some direct sunlight on the water to pick up some specular highlights. It may not have the same "water freezing" effect as a very short pop from an electronic flash but it should give you some good info to try on your next visit to the fountain.