| Have you looked at a landscape photographers photo | | | | your aperture to a setting around F16 if you can. It |
| and wonder how they got the water coming down | | | | goes without saying that your next step should be |
| from a waterfall to look so misty? Or how did they | | | | to focus on your chosen subject to make sure your |
| get the ocean in a seascape photograph to look so | | | | photo will be as sharp as possible. You should also |
| smooth? My guess is that if you are starting out in | | | | consider getting a remote shutter release and to use |
| landscape photography its probably one of the first | | | | mirror lockup to make sure that your camera doesn't |
| things you've tried to do. If you got it right the first | | | | shake while you are taking the photo. Now for the |
| time that's great, if you didn't then let me show you | | | | fun part, take the photo! If your shutter is open long |
| just how easy it can be to create the misty water | | | | enough you'll see that you too have created the |
| effect. There is every chance that if you are just | | | | misty water effect that you have been after. How |
| starting out that you won't have purchased yourself | | | | hard was that? |
| any filters as yet. Filters will make it easier for you to | | | | If you decide that landscape or seascape |
| create the misty water effect but they aren't | | | | photography is something that you definitely want to |
| essential, its just means you'll have to get up a little | | | | continue doing then you should at some stage |
| earlier in the morning and stay out a little later in the | | | | consider purchasing a few neutral density filters, |
| evening. | | | | preferably the darker the better. The darker a |
| So the first thing you're going to need to do is to | | | | neutral density filter the longer you can shoot your |
| get up early in the morning to get your misty water | | | | subjects after the sun has risen or the earlier you |
| shot, its pretty much impossible to do it during full | | | | can take a photo before the sunsets. |
| daylight conditions unless you have the new breed of | | | | Over the years I have found from experience that |
| neutral density filters which are extremely dark. Even | | | | the best shutter speeds for creating the misty water |
| then I wouldn't recommend shooting during full | | | | effect is anywhere between 1 to 4 seconds. |
| daylight as you just aren't getting the best available | | | | Anything less than this and the water doesn't have |
| light. You should be ready to start shooting your | | | | that silky smooth look and anything more than that |
| subject at least 30 minutes prior to sunrise or 30 | | | | flattens the water almost entirely and makes it look |
| minutes after sunset, you will also need to have your | | | | almost boring. Of course every scene is always |
| camera mounted on a tripod as you'll need to keep | | | | different and you may need to hold your shutter |
| your shutter open for quite a few seconds to create | | | | open longer or for a shorter period depending on |
| the misty water effect. | | | | what you are trying to achieve. Now for my last tip, |
| Once you are ready to go its probably easiest to set | | | | make sure that you focus on your subject before |
| your camera onto aperture priority mode and use | | | | putting on your neutral density filter otherwise its |
| the lowest ISO setting that you possibly can. Set | | | | almost impossible to focus. |