Exercise - Shutter Speeds

For this exercise I took my camera down to a local spot at Cramond in Edinburgh to shoot the waterfall over the weir on the river Almond.  It was a bright day and I found it difficult to get more than one second exposure.  I forgot the ND filters!

I shot 8 images ranging from 1/1000th to 1s.

It is clear at this shutter speed motion is captured and stopped in time. The droplets of water can be observed falling over the fall and spray is quite defined in places as the water leaps into the air before falling back into the river.  It is not a particularly pleasing effect here although I imaging it could be best in a situation where the river was in full flow and you wanted to capture its power.

 At 1/500 the camera still captures greater detail but there is the beginnings of more flow, but just.

At 1/250th the spray is becoming less defined and more mist but in the main there is still definition of the structure of the fall and the water coursing over it.

At 1/60th the definition is beginning to reduce and a more milky effect is being seen in the smaller elements of the falls.

At 1/30 the effect of the slower shutter speed is becoming more noticeable. Anything moving has, in effect become a blur.

At 1/8th the real effect is much more noticeable.  Detail in anything moving is disappearing and becoming more ghostlike.

At 1 /4th spray is almost an opaque milky cape.  The main fall is also much more of a milky mass, still opaque but appears as one.

At 1s the full effect is more apparent, and would increase the slower the shutter speed achieved.

Again, selectivity of use will be crucial depending on the subject.  In sport for example the ability to capture the split second, or the expression greatly adds to the drama of the photograph, where as flowing movement of, say, a gymnast could also be captured by a slower speed giving an idea of grace in movement.  As to water, I do prefer, particularly in waterfalls a soft flow, although as seen in two of my images both faster and slower shutter speeds can be equally effective.

13 Second exposure

This image was taken near Comrie in Perthshire on a walk.  In dark woods a 13s exposure provided a pleasing ribbon of water as it hit the rocks cascading down into the pool.

1/3000th Second exposure

This image is of the nymphs in trafalgar square on a bright sunny morning. At 1/3000s the camera captures the droplets as the water is sprayed directly onto the nymphs hands.

I like the effect of both and both can create powerful or soft pleasing images.