Taking pictures of moving water

I'm including some photos from Branson at Silver Dollar City. Since we don't have cool waterfalls or streams here around Omaha, I try to take these whenever I see the chance. These were handheld, ISO 100, f8 or smaller and pushing 1 sec in exposure. The longer exposure time gives the water the white foamy appearance. Same applies to pictures shot at the ocean. Use the aperture or shutter priority on your camera settings to help you get this effect. Those of you with point and shoot cameras, sometimes you can choose a similar program. Try the night time exposure or sunset setting. Some point and shoots also allow you to do some manual settings. Just remember that it probably won't work if your camera fires off the flash, so find a mode where the flash won't fire.

Aperture Priority is my favorite mode to use. You basically set your f-stop, and the camera automatically adjusts the shutter speed for you. 

 

Shutter priority, you set the shutter speed. And the camera will adjust the f-stop for you. I will explain f-stops and shutter speeds at another time.

Realistically, my professor at CU taught us that it is impossible to handhold a camera steady at 1/60 sec or slower (this was before the times of image stabilized lenses, which mine is not anyway). What was my fix to get the water foamy and rushing in appearance without a tripod? There was a handrail that I put the camera on. Also make sure that nobody is around to bump the handrail. I had a small tripod and remote release with me, but my parents were waiting for me and it was borderline raining. So I did what I could.

Normally I would recommend a tripod or monopod if you plan to do waterfall/streaming water shots. Makes it a ton easier. Out of the 30 or so that I took, these three are the only non blurry ones. So take lots! Even if it looks clear on the camera, after you upload them to your computer you may be disappointed! Other ways to improvise? In Ireland, I put my camera bag on the ground and balanced my camera on top of it. Set my 2 sec timer to on, stepped back, and let the camera take the picture. If you don't have a remote release, using the timer helps by preventing the camera shake produced by pushing down on the shutter button.

Another tip is to hold your breath for the longer exposures. Believe me, it helps. If any of you have ever shot a rifle or handgun, then you would know that they teach you to hold your breath as you pull the trigger. Same rule applies. Just the simple act of breathing is enough to cause the camera to move ever so slightly. This is very apparent when using a longer zoom lens.