Exposure compensation for long exposures.

AndyWest

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When taking a shot of say a waterfall and you want the milky effect the usual thing would be to pop a filter on the front of your camera so you can have the long exposure you require.

Rather than using filters does stopping down the exposure have the same effect or will the shot be dark regardless of the settings?

Thanks
 
You need to get as long a shutter speed as possible really , depending on what effect you want. so if say for example iso 200 at f/22 is not giving you long enough then drop the iso down to say 100 or 50. otherwise its a ND filter job.
 
Rather than using filters does stopping down the exposure have the same effect or will the shot be dark regardless of the settings?

this makes no sense :s

you get milky water by having a long shutter speed, to do that you need low iso and a small aperture

you can get long exposures this way if it aint too bright,

if not you need a filter

not sure if thats what you want as I don't understand your post
 
sorry, but what i meant was exposure compensation on the camera so for example going down -2 stops. (this makes my screen darker.)
 
sorry, but what i meant was exposure compensation on the camera so for example going down -2 stops. (this makes my screen darker.)

Going down two stops will make your exposure darker and your exposure TIME shorter - this is not what you want.

Try stopping down the lens to the smallest aperture instead, and use a tripod.
 
When taking a shot of say a waterfall and you want the milky effect the usual thing would be to pop a filter on the front of your camera so you can have the long exposure you require.

Rather than using filters does stopping down the exposure have the same effect or will the shot be dark regardless of the settings?

Thanks

its the shutter speed..or opening time which does it
you need to have the correct aperture to suit the lighting
:|
 
I know what does it, i just wanted to know if you can do the same thing without the filter. I'll have a play with what i have and see if i need a filter.

thanks all. :)
 
If you have your aperture is as small as the lens will allow and your ISO as low as the camera will allow and the shutter speed is still too fast to get the effect you are after then you will need a filter of some sort to cut out more light.
 
Andy, If the light is not too bright and you use a low ISO and a small aperture which in turn will give you a slow shutter speed (at the correct exposure) you will not need a filter. This is not using exposure compensation, you should only use that to correct for differences in exposure between what you meter from and the correct tone, whilst this may in effect slow the shutter speed down giving you your blurred water, you would not have a correct exposure.

You could use TV or S auto mode to set your shutter speed to 1/2 or 1 sec and then let the camera take care of the rest. Be careful though that you are not metering from the white water as you will have to allow for that too!

It is also better to take softened waterfall shots when the sunlight is overcast or very cloudy as this reduces the contrast and amount of shadows, which is a win win regarding the use of ND filters.
 
I know what does it, i just wanted to know if you can do the same thing without the filter. I'll have a play with what i have and see if i need a filter.

thanks all. :)


Edit Its been said ..too slow... yes you can, just wait for the day light to drop down low enough for you to get the long exposure times you need.
 
I know what does it, i just wanted to know if you can do the same thing without the filter. I'll have a play with what i have and see if i need a filter.

thanks all. :)

you dont need a filter if the light is low enough to use long shutter speeds

dusk etc

hell..i am always too late...shucks
 
I know what does it, i just wanted to know if you can do the same thing without the filter. I'll have a play with what i have and see if i need a filter.

thanks all. :)

Not and get a properly exposed image. If you open the shutter for longer, you get movement in the image and a brighter result.
 
If you wait for the sun to set a bit it will get a bit darker allowing you to have a longer exposure...
 
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