Need some help with watershots

[twcull]

Hi everyone,

I've started to get more and more into taking moving water shots lately and I have a couple here I took while walking down to my university. I really liked these but they have poor focus (among other things I'm sure) and I'm wondering if there are any techniques to help me out.

This one I really liked but unfortunately the red berries didn't come into focus as I had hoped. It looked like it had on my screen but with my Rebel 350D the screen leaves much for wanting in terms of clarity.




And then this one below nothing seems to be in 100% focus, I find it frustrating.



For these photos I am using a Canon 350D and a 50mm f/1.8, no flash and 200 iso.


Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks
- Thomas

P.S. there is no editing done to these photos.

[navcom]

Hi Thomas!

First off, what aperture were you using for these shots? It appears you are using a wide-open aperture thus limiting your depth of field. For landscape shots, it's highly recommended you use an aperture between f/8 and f/13 or 16. These ranges usually provide the best depth of field while retaining as much sharpness as you can get from the lens. In your shots, it appears you may have used the lens' wide open setting (f/1.8).

Couple suggestions... First, in landscape photography, a tripod is a must...especially for water shots. With a tripod, you are not handholding the camera and are free to use just about any camera setting without introducing camera shake.

Second, use manual mode exposure. Select your lowest ISO setting that the camera will allow. This will get you the best image quality with the least amount of grain. Then select your aperture. Aperture controls depth of field so select it based on what you need. Finally, let the shutter speed fall where it needs to be to get a proper exposure with the first two settings. Since you are using a tripod, it won't matter.

For water shots, a slower shutter speed is usually desirable depending on what you are trying to convey with your shot. Anything about 1/4 a second or slower will show the water as a blur. After about 1 second it will show up silky.

Hope that helps!

[twcull]

Thanks so much, I was just taking these at 2.2, probably the reason and they were handheld since I was walking down to class that morning. I'll take a tripod along and see what I can achieve next time.

Thanks,