slow shutter speed at lake

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scoobychief

Senior Member
hi guys before I pull out what left of my hair I need Some advice, was fishing today in peaceful quiet surroundins I had my tripod etc and decided to take a photo of the lake using a very slow shutter speed to just see the effect etc... needless to say nothing came out everything was almost white is this going to be possible with a kit lens 18-55 I had set camera on tripod and selected shutter speed use a slow shutter speed and all it was saying was subject too bright no matter what shutter speed i was setting from 30 to 1 second and it would still not have it. so tried aperture priority still no joy so tried manual mode still no joy and this was middle of the day, so just imagine how gutted I would be if there was a waterfall there and I wanted to get that silky smooth effect, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG....
 
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Jonathan

Senior Member
Is this an ISO thing? (I have no idea, but this is what can happen when I try moon shots and before I dial in the correct ISO for the shot (i.e. it's too dark or too light when on long/slow shutter speed).)
 
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skene

Senior Member
Daylight long exposures you should be using an ND filter or GND filter. Otherwise the photo will overexpose. If not try shooting just before dawn when the sun is just starting to come up or sundown.
 
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Blacktop

Senior Member
scoobychief said:
hi guys before I pull out what left of my hair I need Some advice, was fishing today in peaceful quiet surroundins I had my tripod etc and decided to take a photo of the lake using a very slow shutter speed to just see the effect etc... needless to say nothing came out everything was almost white is this going to be possible with a kit lens 18-55 I had set camera on tripod and selected shutter speed use a slow shutter speed and all it was saying was subject too bright no matter what shutter speed i was setting from 30 to 1 second and it would still not have it. so tried aperture priority still no joy so tried manual mode still no joy and this was middle of the day, so just imagine how gutted I would be if there was a waterfall there and I wanted to get that silky smooth effect, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG....
Click to expand...

In the middle of the day, you have too much light for a slow shutter speed.
Set your Aperture to high number. f/22 perhaps.
Set your ISO to 100. (lets in lowest amount of light)
Put on an ND filter, (It's like sunglasses for your lens).
Also using a circular polarizing filter would help cut out the reflection coming off the water.

Then try playing with your shutter speed. 1-5 seconds should be plenty.
 
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RussellHons

Senior Member
If I understand the post, you are saying you were trying to take a 1 second exposure during the middle of the day? About the only way that I know of to do that, or to get that "silky smooth effect" of moving water during the day would be to use a ND Neutral Density filter to cut down the light getting into the camera so that you can slow down the shutter speed.
 
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Blacktop

Senior Member
Here is one from the same setup you have

Burgress Falls-8.jpg
 
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scoobychief

Senior Member
Show Off no kidding aside I have read online and it looks like a filter job I di have the iso at 100 and even tried different iso to no effect, and even tried the f stop from fully open to fully closed and never got a correct exposure..
 
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Blacktop

Senior Member
I just wanted to show the EXIF data on that photo. It was in the daytime, but it wasn't too bright out. Sometimes there is nothing you can do if it's too bright, just wait for sunset.
Did you notice the shutter speed? less than a second.
 
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