Long exposures of water, is it the marmite of photography ?

davidbridges

davidbridges

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David Bridges
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Hello Everyone


I just wanted to see what people think about using long exposures on water, im going to cornwall tomorrow and i'm staying 1km from the sea so i will be trying to catch some nice sunsets. So what does everyone think, are long exposures on water unreal and taccy or mystical and different ?


Thanks for reading

Dave
 
I think it has its place, depends on what situation you are in and what you are trying to show. So i wanted to show the power of the sea i would probally go for a quick shutter speed and if i wanted to show tranquility of a scene in the middle of the forest i might use a slow shutter speed. Yes thats obvious but i was justifying myself.
 
I'd say the same, Depends on the look you want. Although for most landscape type shots I'd go for a slow speed. If your trying to catch a wave battling against a lighthouse in the middle of the sea try both if you can, and see which one suits. If you have no tripod, you can only go for a short shutter speed anyway.
 
Gross :lol:

I'd just try to look for something a bit different if I were you - the long exposures can look excellent but it's the focal points of the shot that'll say whether or not it is most appropriate. Do you have a tripod - any ND filters, etc - all depends really on the equipment you'll be using. Good luck with the shots, looking forward to the results :thumbs:
 
I have no filters but a tripod, my stepdad is going to take his laptop down so i can take as many pics as i can, hes got photoshop on it aswell so if i get any spare time i can work on my pics before i return. I always look forwad to going to place i havent been before i seem to take better pics as its all new and i can spot pictures easier...
 
There was a really interesting debate in Outdoor Photography on this recently. People fell into 3 camps

1. Silky water is wrong and looks like shaving foam
2. Silky water is essential
3. It depends

I'm certainly in the it depends camp. I think it can be overdone and it often a cliche but, when done well it can look good. I think it works better with still things like rocks sticking out of the water and better with smooth running water (a rapid can be better frozen)

Sometimes it can be essential as streams can be under cover of lots of trees and you can't get a fast exposure with a suitable aperture for the depth of field without using silly ISO settings.

I also quite like a bit of movement. Water that is moving quite quick can look good with exposures in the range of 1/4 second to 1 second without looking too "creamy"
 
Personally I think it's the scrambled egg of photography.

Sometimes you really think it would be nice. How much you actually enjoy it though depends on whether you get lovely scambled egg or something you'd expect to find sealing round a bath, or even worse yellow snot. :gag:

I think it can look great in the right place but you have to get the amount of motion just right.
 
This is art, its all subjective!!!

Don't do any of it for anyone but yourself - you create what you want and people will like it or not but it is what YOU wanted it to be.

Did Leonardo Da Vinci ever sit there and wonder whether people liked dark coloured portraits with enigmatic smiles???
 
I think it's fine in it's right place, it just shouldn't be used as the main point of interest in an otherwise uninspiring image. If used to reinforce the feel of other elements of the photo then it can really work. Although by using it you're getting into photo-cliche territory which makes it all the more important to get it right and not just use it as a gimmick.
 
nigelcampbell said:
Um, actually yes - a lot of Leo's (and many other grand masters) paintings were commissions - so the subject got some say as to how the finished item looked. Even Leo had to eat!!
Click to expand...

Well thats a good example - he knew the audience wanted what he was doing because they were paying for something quite specific. The money highlighted how much they wanted it ;-)

If the original question was "do people pay for long exposures of water" then the answer is "yes if thats what they commission". Athena made a fortune from prints like that!!

If you are just doing this for fun then do what you want and damn those who say "I don't like XYZ".

Unmade beds aren't sculpture to me, but some liked it :thumbsdown:
 
[S1]I CONCUR![/S1]


I like my water smooth and creamy.

I just like the effect and often find too short an exposure just looks gritty and you don't know how to or don't have the equipment to produce the effect properly!
 
Simple Question =

"Re: Long exposures of water, is it the marmite of photography ?"

Simple Answer =

NO ... imgo ... :D

Why ...
Well MARMITE only has two camps ... unlike water ...
grumpybadger said:
People fell into 3 camps
1. Silky water is wrong and looks like shaving foam
2. Silky water is essential
3. It depends
Click to expand...

1. MARMITE is wrong ... Hate it ... :razz:
2. MARMITE is right ... LOVE it so right ... :love:

As set out HERE really ... :lol: ...

... AND HERE ... :shrug:

End of ... ;)




08.gif

 
try a bit of everything on everything.

that way you have the best, the worse and probably ok of each worlds.

As for me, silky water has its place, but i find it has been over used. So, the technique hasn't got the wow factor anymore, which is a shame, because silky like water is the one technique that should be kept as a rare occurance and only used on occasion.

:)
 
spannerdude said:
Personally I think it's the scrambled egg of photography.

Sometimes you really think it would be nice. How much you actually enjoy it though depends on whether you get lovely scambled egg or something you'd expect to find sealing round a bath, or even worse yellow snot. :gag:

I think it can look great in the right place but you have to get the amount of motion just right.
Click to expand...

:lol::lol::lol: Well, that's one way to put it!

Like everything else in photography, it's very subjective, and done right, it looks great.
 
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