It’s been a little while since we have focused on a specific technique, so today I thought I would post this beginner’s guide on how to shoot water in motion.

Water in motion is a very popular subject and one that is constantly changing which makes it fun to photograph. Some might consider soft, silky water effects a bit of a cliché, but call it a cliché or not, it’s still a beautiful visual effect that often creates a certain mood in your photographs.

That’s especially true when it comes to slowing down the shutter speed enough to capture the soft movement you see in many flowing water mages.

But how slow is slow enough? To blur flowing or falling water, it’s a good starting point to set your shutter speed around 1/8th of a second and then work your way down to around half a second, and even all the way down to one full second or two. Longer exposure times increase the slow-motion effect.

Photographing water, however, is not really an exact science so it always a good idea to experiment and see which effect you like best.

Image by Thomas Folke Andersen

So how can you slow down your shutter speed?

Use Low Light

This means shooting in overcast light, deep shade, at sunrise, sunset or twilight or perhaps even indoors creating your own flowing water.

Image by Thomas Folke Andersen

Set a Low ISO

When it comes to slow exposures the lower your ISO setting the better. Most of the time you’ll want to set your ISO to 100 or lower if your camera features lower ISO settings.

Image by Thomas Folke Andersen

Small Aperture

Your lens’ smallest opening (the highest f/stop number) will automatically result in the slowest possible shutter speed for the given ISO setting and lighting conditions. In Aperture Priority mode simply choose a high f/stop number. The camera’s auto-metering system will then compensate for the small aperture by lengthening the exposure time.

Image by Thomas Folke Andersen

Neutral Density (ND) Filters

A neutral density (ND) filter cuts down the amount of light entering your lens and therefore allowing for longer exposures. But a polarizing filter also blocks some of the light entering the lens, typically with 1-1/2 to 2 stops. Used in combination these two filters can achieve quite slow shutter speeds in low light situations.

Image by Thomas Folke Andersen

You’ll Need Your Tripod

Long exposures require a steady camera. So you’ll need to bring your tripod when you set out to photograph water in motion. It’s also a good idea to use a cable release or the self-timer function in combination with the mirror-lock mode if you have it (not all SLRs have this latter feature).

For more details refer also to How to Prevent Camera Shake When on a Tripod.

Consider the Speed of the Water

Slower-flowing water requires longer exposures to obtain the silky smooth look while fast or cascading water can be blurred with relatively ‘fast’ shutter speeds.

Image by Thomas Folke Andersen

Distance to the Water

The more you magnify your subject in motion (i.e. either by physically moving in closer or by zooming in tighter with a zoom lens) the easier it is to blur it. More distant scenes require much slower speeds to convey that soft-movement look. So if you’re photographing with a wide angle lens from a cliff top (like I was in the image below) and want to blur the ocean you’ll need some really slow shutter speeds to achieve a soft, smooth effect in the water.

Image by Thomas Folke Andersen

Play

Make sure to “play” with your camera settings since the constantly changing water makes it difficult to tell exactly what you’ll get. Experimenting is key to successful water in motion images.

In other words shoot the same scene at a few different speeds and then compare the results on your monitor when you’re back home with a cup of warm coffee behind the screen.

Have fun photographing water in motion!

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