Need help on waterfalls

[sascha]

I went out today to practice on a local waterfall. I was following Scott Kelby's advice on shooting with the aperture wide open since it was a cloudy day and shady area so that I could get that silky look. I know the composition is bad and it looks crooked, but I'm not worried about that, just want to know what I can do next time to get the rest in focus? Oh, and camera was on a tripod.
Thanks!




Camera: Olympus E-410
Exposure: 0.4
Aperture: f/22.0
Focal Length: 215 mm
Exposure: 0.00
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: -0.7 EV
Flash: On, Did not fire

[RoyL]

f22 is not wide. And you should be shooting at about f8 to f16. At the two ends of the aperture scale you will end up with softness or blurring (dof) and for shots like this you want sharpness so midway is a good starting point.

Wide is in the region of f5.6 or less.

[mdruziak]

I'm not sure of your lens, but many telephoto lenses loose sharpness when they are stopped down to f22.

I see you were shooting at 215mm and 0.4 seconds. Did you use a cable release or the timer on the camera to fire the shutter? If not, you probably moved the camera when you pressed the shutter button.

You may need a neutral density filter to cut down on some of the light entering the camera to allow you to go to an f-stop between f8 and f11. The other thing you can do is to test your lens at f22 under more controlled conditions to see how the sharpness is.

My guess is that the camera moved when the shutter was open.

[sascha]

Originally Posted by RoyL

f22 is not wide. And you should be shooting at about f8 to f16. At the two ends of the aperture scale you will end up with softness or blurring (dof) and for shots like this you want sharpness so midway is a good starting point.

Wide is in the region of f5.6 or less.

ooops, wrong use of words I have figured out the smaller the number the wider the aperature, I guess when I'm typing my brain still rejects the concept. Thanks for the input

[sascha]

Originally Posted by mdruziak

I'm not sure of your lens, but many telephoto lenses loose sharpness when they are stopped down to f22.

I see you were shooting at 215mm and 0.4 seconds. Did you use a cable release or the timer on the camera to fire the shutter? If not, you probably moved the camera when you pressed the shutter button.

My guess is that the camera moved when the shutter was open.

No, I was thinking about using about using the timer though This was also probably part of the issue. Thanks for the help, now I know what to do next time

[dcclark]

Yes -- use a self-timer or cable/remote release. Also, if your lens has any vibration/shake reduction, you should turn it off. Occasionally shake reduction can actually make things worse when you're using a tripod (because it may try to account for shake that just isn't there!).

[PattiJ]

Great little tidbit of Information thank you I know it will come in handy




[QUOTE=dcclark;398869]Yes -- use a self-timer or cable/remote release. Also, if your lens has any vibration/shake reduction, you should turn it off. Occasionally shake reduction can actually make things worse when you're using a tripod (because it may try to account for shake that just isn't there!).[/QUOTE]

[zebthepilot]

A quick clarification on image stabilization/vibration reduction.

If you camera has it, you need to test it on a tripod off vs on. Some cameras, as noted above will create blur when IS/VR is on and on a tripod. Others will make it tack sharp.

A friend of mine has a shinny new nikon DSLR, the other night we went out for some low light work. He, not really knowing his camera, couldn't figure out why on a 10 second shot on a tripod, he had blur. Part of that was a crappy tripod, the other part was the vibration reduction was causing the lens to move. When I convinced him to turn it off, the images came out sharp. Now, on my canons, I leave my IS on and the images are tack sharp regardless of tripod. The IS will help reducing vibration from the mirror mechanism and tripod vibration (i.e. from wind). Any shot above 30 seconds and I turn it off to save battery, because the effect of any temporary vibration isn't noticed on such long shots.

So, it's not a clear cut 'turn if off' or on; it's 'learn your camera.'

There is no magical setting for water shots. You start getting noticeable blur around 1/15 depending on the speed of water and how close you are. If I don't have a tripod I'll (with IS on) shoot around 1/10 or 1/13 and still have the flowing look. But if I have a tripod, and I try my best to always have one I'll shoot as long of a shot as I can.



your aperture plays a huge role, but don't rule out anything. the above shot (without flipping back over to look at the exif was 13 seconds and f29. Yes, in general your lens isn't as good at or near the extremes of it's aperture, but that shot is sharp enough for me, learn your camera so you know what it'll look like at various stops. (hehe, you should of seen me holding onto a tree not to fall off the 10' bank into the creek and how I had my tripod set)

I'd say your biggest problem in the shot you posted is vibration you induced firing the camera. Use the timer, it'll fix that. or use a remote control if your camera will accept one.

So, go take some more water shots, and post another one here so we can see.. good luck!

zeb

[Darvidanoar]

Hi Sascha,

Looking at the image you've posted, I'd say your problem with this photo is not necessarily focus. I can definitely see camera shake. It's especially noticable in the verticle grass/twigs above the waterfall (see how it looks like there's two exposures in the crop below).

If your tripod is a bit light, you can use mirror lockup as well as the timer/remote to help stop the camera shake.

[sascha]

Thanks Darvid and Zeb for your help. I have no idea if my camera has the IS/VR function, I'm thinking it does so I'll just have to figure it out. And will try the timer. Thanks for everyone's advice, as soon as I shoot again I'll repost