Dark Wave

[ZannieGirl49]

I think I know what could have improved this shot but wanted to get input from others. The crappy part is I had my epiphany at 2a.m. after crawling into bed. Even more annoying is that it made me want to jump in the car and go right back to the beach and try again. Not gonna happen at 2a.m.

Here goes, I really love the ocean and want to try and capture the spray but at a quick shutter speed so that the drops of water are visible rather than the soft misty feel that a slow shutter speed gives. Also, I've just started shooting in Manual mode. When trying this yesterday I found that some of my shots ended up being pretty dark. Should I have slowed the shutter speed down a bit or maybe raised the ISO?

Thanks for any tips.



Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Not Used

[EMansfield]

Maybe for this shot, you should have boosted your ISO more. Also, to capture that smooth flow of the water, you have to shoot the scene with long exposure, hence, slower shutter speed. A sturdy tripod should come handy. Hope that helps.

Cheers!

Eric Mansfield

[ZannieGirl49]

Originally Posted by EMansfield

Maybe for this shot, you should have boosted your ISO more. Also, to capture that smooth flow of the water, you have to shoot the scene with long exposure, hence, slower shutter speed. A sturdy tripod should come handy. Hope that helps.

Cheers!

Eric Mansfield

Thanks Eric! I was thinking that higher ISO may have done the trick. Actually, I didn't want the smooth flow of water but more of the drops of spray like this (I probably didn't explain myself very well.:




Thanks so much for the feedback, I'll keep it in mind next time.

[Sterling]

The thing about manual mode is that you need to read the meter to see what your settings are going to produce. By the looks of it, this shot probably had the meter blinking to warn you of underexposure. If 1/250 was the speed you had to have and the lens was maxed out at f/5.6, the only thing left would be to raise the ISO, probably to 800 or more.

[ZannieGirl49]

Originally Posted by Sterling

The thing about manual mode is that you need to read the meter to see what your settings are going to produce. By the looks of it, this shot probably had the meter blinking to warn you of underexposure. If 1/250 was the speed you had to have and the lens was maxed out at f/5.6, the only thing left would be to raise the ISO, probably to 800 or more.

Thanks for the heads up, I guess I just kind of jumped in with both feet on the Manual mode thing. Metering is actually something that I've highlighted in the manual for follow up reading. Luckily I'm in a photography class that starts Wednesday.

[Doctor Atomo]

One of the handiest tricks I learned on my D90 is to take a quick shot in full auto. That sets up what the camera wants to use, then I go to manual and adjust shutter speed, aperture, White Balance and ISO from there. It saves me a lot of time and missed shots!