Shooting waterfalls

30th September 2016

From streams to waterfalls, photograph moving water on your DSLR camera like a pro with four key tips.

1. Shoot in TV mode

This will let you prioritise the shutter speed while your camera takes care of the aperture for you.

2. Play around with shutter speeds for different effects

To ensure that each water droplet is pin sharp, you'll need a fast shutter speed. Shooting at around 1/2000 means your camera will work fast enough to freeze each droplet. Given shutter speed controls how motion is recorded, also try something a little bit more creative and slow down your shutter speed to recreate that silky smooth effect as the water cascades. Take it down to 1/3 and drop your ISO to 100 to avoid blowing out your exposure. This will deliver a soft, dreamy effect often used by landscape photographers. Use a tripod and activate the two-second self timer to make sure your camera is perfectly still.

3. Mix up your location and perspective

Change up your location and head down to the foot of the waterfall for a different perspective. Shoot with a longer lens for a tighter composition. Try a Canon EF-S 55-250mm super telephoto lens to change your perspective.

4. Apply an ND filter to your final shot

An ND filter is like putting sunglasses on your lens. It blocks out the amount of light coming into the camera and will effectively allow you to slow down your shutter speed just a little bit more to capture a little bit more motion in the waterfall.

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