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How To Smooth Water in Camera – Long Exposure Photography

Chris Hau and Lizzie Peirce were in Banff, Alberta, Canada. They were making films, photographing the scene and whatnot. When Chris went over to Lizzie and said…

Chris: Lizzie, are you getting some good photos?

Lizzie: No, because the water is rippling and I want it not to ripple.

I was a bit surprised advice wasn’t given. I mean, I love Chris’s videos, but the lack of help there was a tad disappointing. So I wanted to take a moment to help Lizzie (and anyone else) for the future.

Get yourself a Neutral Density filter from Wine County Camera. It’ll be the best optical quality, and 3 stops should be enough for most photographic and film needs. Either get WCC screw on filter or their slot style filters. Long exposure photography is the answer here.

Transcription was done by Descript‘s automated transcription services which means it’s an AI-generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar, and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video.

I saw something in a video by Chris Hau that I just wanted to address real quick and it’s related to what photographers experience when they’re in the environment. Hey, this is Scott Wyden Kivowitz a storyteller with a camera and talking about all the things photographers like you and I are thinking about. In this video we’re going to be talking about ripple’s ripple’s. So it’s watching this fantastic video from Chris. How I am a big fan of the videos that Chris, how puts out end? Well, I saw something in the first 49 seconds of the video that, uh, had me not concerned, but I just wanted to address this and I was just surprised that it wasn’t mentioned in the video. Is He? Chris, how was out in Banff, which is in Alberta, Canada. And he was with a bunch of photographers including Lizzie Pierce, which is another youtuber. And Chris went up to Lizzie and asked how it was going if she was enjoying the photography there. And lizzie said she was getting a little frustrated because she couldn’t get the photo the way she won because of the ripples in the water.

Where are you getting some good photos? No, because the water’s rippling and I want it not to repeat it,

so wanting to just take a moment and share my answer to that dilemma to any photographers who are out in a photographing where there’s a body of water. If you see ripples in the water, all you need is one of these. This my friends is a neutral density filter. I have talked a lot about neutral density filters. I have done workshops on long exposure photography with neutral density filters. I have done. I have an online course available, which you can access right there. I also have an ebook as well on long exposure photography, which you can access right there. The long and short of it, pun intended is that you can use a filter like this, which is basically a neutral filter. It’s a gray and this one in particular is a three stop neutral density filter and you put that in front of your lens and it will make your shutter speed slow down by your shutter speed.

Slowing down, it means that you are lengthening your exposure and in turn going to smooth out the water, removing the ripples. Now, neutral density filters come in many different styles. There are these circular neutral density filters that screw on front of your Lens, and this is probably the most common style because of they’re a little bit more affordable and they are simple. They just screw in front. The problem is that they’re not very fast to change. You now need to unscrew it to change the filter. Another style is a variable nd which kind of is like a polarizer where you screw it in front of your Lens and then you can turn it to change the density. Those are okay for people who just need a budget thing of having multiple densities. The problem is they often show artifacts and they often have a lot of color shifting, color shifting, meaning when you put the filter onto your front of your Lens, what might be blue might start getting a little bit more red, a little bit more orange.

It’ll change colors. The best method and one that I strongly recommend is using a slot in style system like the one from wine country camera. Now this is a wine country camera filter as well, but this is their screw on style, whereas this is actually the holder kit to their slot in style. I actually have a video in the wine country camera holder system which you can find linked above and in the video description below. Now I strongly recommend using neutral density is to remove the ripples, whatever system and filter that you wind up using it probably get the job done. It just may not get it done as well or as most professional as it could be because you could have some color shifting. You might have some major color shifting. You might get some other chromatic aberration and distortion that you may not want if you go with the cheapest end and if you go with the variable and you might start seeing an x and you don’t want that, so think about it.

Consider investing in a quality neutral density filter and if you need just one for your camera, considered us getting one screw on style from wine country camera, but that’s how you remove the ripples from water. I have to say thank you to mack worldwide warranty because I get a macro the warranty on everything and they partner with me on these videos, which I greatly appreciate. If you need a warranty on your camera, your lenders, or any electronics like a computer or a tablet, consider a mack worldwide warranty sold at like electronic stores in camera stores around the world, and if you like this video, click that subscribe button below. Now, I publish new videos every Monday and Thursday whenever possible. You don’t want to miss it.

By Scott

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