It's waterfall season here :) lens help...

[megkunert]

About 2 hours from here, we have an area called "Lost Valley" in the middle of nowhere with about 12 waterfalls total. During the spring when it rains a lot and water is plentiful, the waterfalls are a-ma-zing. I have a couple of ND filters and a polarizing filter. I'm wanting to get the soft look of the waterfalls with a slower shutter speed and the ND filter, but I also want the surrounding areas (trees, etc) to be sharp. I'll also have a tripod and a remote shutter release with me.

I do mostly portrait photography, so haven't really played around with landscapes a whole lot. Just wondering if there is an "ideal" landscape lens that you all would recommend for photos on a Nikon DX body. I'll be renting, so price isn't really an issue. It would be nice if the lens would fit a 52mm filter... but doesn't have to. I can rent that, too.

Any suggestions or tips for waterfall photography?

[ravncat]

With a tripod, ND filter and Polarizer available - I don`t think you`ll have any problems, just make sure everything is stable and you`Re good to go with what you`ve got.

Small apertures are usually used in landscape photography, so your kit 18-55 lens should be perfectly fine for such a task. I doubt you have to really rent anything unless you want to go alot wider. In which case you should look into renting something like a 10-20, that gets into that really wide range.

If you go into ultrawide territory, you`ll want to get close to your subjects - and you`ll probably want to make sure to use near/far or foreground middle background compositions. A very wide angle lens can make things pretty "small" in your image, and pack in alot of detail so it can be a challenge to keep the image "simple".

[megkunert]

Originally Posted by ravncat

With a tripod, ND filter and Polarizer available - I don`t think you`ll have any problems, just make sure everything is stable and you`Re good to go with what you`ve got.

Small apertures are usually used in landscape photography, so your kit 18-55 lens should be perfectly fine for such a task. I doubt you have to really rent anything unless you want to go alot wider. In which case you should look into renting something like a 10-20, that gets into that really wide range.

If you go into ultrawide territory, you`ll want to get close to your subjects - and you`ll probably want to make sure to use near/far or foreground middle background compositions. A very wide angle lens can make things pretty "small" in your image, and pack in alot of detail so it can be a challenge to keep the image "simple".

thank you!

i was considering a wide angle lens but wasn't sure which one would be best on a DX body. i was considering the 24mm 1.4 but since i'm going to be shooting with smaller apertures, do i really need such a large aperture lens? what do you think?

[ravncat]

That depends,
The 24 1.4 is a great lens - and you can use it for landscape photography, but 24mm on the d5000 isn`t super wide (Just set your 18-55 to 24 to get a good idea of how wide it is.. it`s certainly a "wide angle" As for the large aperture, if you are shooting on a tripod, you won`t need it. The optical qualities of the 24 1.4 are very good, but once you are stopped down to f8 or so, on your 18-55, i doubt you would notice much difference.

If you want to isolate a subject with narrow depth of field in a wide angle shot - then the large aperture will come in handy. Here`s an example of what I mean - this is with the 24mm at 1.4 on my d700 (this angle of view would be kinda like using a 16mm lens on your d5000, except that this has also been cropped for a specific photo frame)



I think for landscape work on a tripod, and using filters, if you are going to stop down the lens, it doesn`t make too much sense to rent a fast prime. If you want to play with narrow depth of field, it`s a better choice.

[navcom]

For landscapes, you are looking for sharpness. Fast aperture isn't really a consideration for most landscape work. I primarily use a 16-45mm zoom and a 28mm prime for my work...both would be considered "slow" lenses.

One thing to consider when taking "silky" waterfall pictures is watching that aperture setting. It's easy to think that you use the aperture to control your shutter speed...that is, the process involves first closing down the aperture to it's smallest setting (largest number) and THEN if you need an even slower shutter speed, adding a ND filter. What this usually does is make your images fairly soft due to the diffraction present at very small aperture openings. And since sharpness is critical for landscapes, this will work against you.

Ideally (in other words, if you have a choice) you should not be using the aperture to help with shutter speed. Aperture is used in landscapes for setting depth of field. So what you really need to do is first set your aperture based on your DOF needs for the scene. Then use the ND filter(s) for slowing your shutter down.

What this usually means is that you will need several ND filters to do it right...or at least a pretty powerful one if you are shooting during daylight hours. Otherwise it won't be powerful enough to slow down the shutter enough for the silky effect...of which you need at least about a 1 second shutter speed or slower to achieve.

The best advice is to show up very early or late in the day during the "golden hour" light (within 1 hour before sunset or within one hour after sunrise). This will do two things. First, the best possible light will be available (thus the term golden hour). Second, the light is not bright or harsh and will require a less powerful ND filter to slow the shutter down.

Hope that helps!