Long exposures

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Oz

Oz

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Hi guys

I'm wanting to take pictures of landscapes with water where the water is blurred and everything else is sharp. I've sussed the on the Canon 350D I need to use the Tv setting and then use the thumbwheel to alter the time to suit, but when I try this I'm finding that it is well over-exposed.

From reading the manual it seems that a half-way press should focus and light-assess and from there the exposure should be sorted by the camera - in my case it doesn't quite seem to be working this way. Am I missing something obvious? Please can someone who has experience of taking these sorts of shots give me the low down on timings required and how I sort this exposure problem.

On my A95 I was able to take 15 second night lightning shots fine so I think I can handle long exposures - I just can't figure how I sort the white-out I'm seeing at the moment. I know the camera can do it - I just can't make it happen!

:help:
 
All that half pressing the shutter will do in Tv mode is to get it as well exposed as it possibly can at the shutter speed you have chosen. This could still be VERY over exposed if you have selected something like a 15 second exposure. The only sure fire way to do long exposures is to use an ND filter. This allows less light into the camera and therefore lets you have a longer exposures. Also check that your ISO is set to 100 as this will help to make the camera less sensative to the light :)
 
Ok, thanks. I think I had ISO at 200 but will drop it back.

It does sound like I need an ND filter though cos I like those style of shots and I want to be able to do them myself.

:)
 
Sorry for another daft question - which one am I better off with? A 4 or an 8?

Thanks
 
:thinking:

It doesn't actually matter how long the shutter is open for or what ISO is set as long as the correspondingly correct aperture is set to maintain the proper overall exposure time.

I assume by 'parts of the image being 'white out' you mean over-exposed, in which case it sounds like you're not metering from the correct part of the scene to begin with, or not setting sufficient (under) exposure compensation to prevent the highlights blowing out.
 
CT said:
It doesn't actually matter how long the shutter is open for or what ISO is set as long as the correspondingly correct aperture is set to maintain the proper overall exposure time.
Click to expand...

Ah quite possibly that too. But I think Oz will probably be using longer shutter times than possible at even f1.4 or something. (unless I have missed the point somewhere)

One thing that has just occured to me is that if you are wanting to keep the whole landscape in focus then it would probably be wise to use full manual as using Tv and setting the shutter speed to a couple of second will probably make the camera set the lens to its lowest f stop (if you are shooting in daylight) and that wont give you a good depth of field for your landscape shots. The setting are different for whatever you are shooting I have found, its just a case of shooting and see.

This goes for the ND filter too. A ND8 will stop quite a lot of light, and I am guessing would be usefull for shooting in daylight, but not very bright day light, you would probably need an ND10 for really sunny weather. With the ND4 maybe more usefull around sunrise and sunset. These are only guesses to the experiences I have had, you could still use an ND4 in bright sunshine, but it will shorten your shutter speed :)

Hope that all makes sense
 
That's superb - thanks Jimmy. I'll go for ND8 for starters and take it from there.
 
Have you tried in manual mode? Set the aperture very small (to get very little light in) and then slowly adjust the shutter speed until you get a good exposure. This will still show a good flowing motion but obviously you'll be able to get more with an ND filter.
 
No, I must admit I haven't. I'm still getting to grips with the camera and I haven't really played with manual - will give it a go though.
 
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