Rodney Campbell's Blog

Wanaka Silver

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 44 mm, 123 sec at f/9, ISO 100

Thunder Creek

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 30.5 mm, 1/5 sec at f/8, ISO 64

not Dorothy Falls

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 53 mm, 1/6 sec at f/8, ISO 200

Mysterious Blue

Another full 360˚ panorama taken at the absolutely amazing Hokitika gorge in New Zealand

DJI Mini 3 Pro FC3582 + 6.7 mm f/1.7 @ 6.72 mm, 1/1250 sec at f/1.7, ISO 100 x 35 Frames

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

A Different Speed

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 24 mm, 8 sec at f/16 ISO 31 & 1/5 sec at f/8 ISO 400

Same composition – different “look”. Simply by adjusting the exposure settings to result in a different shutter speed

You can see that the longer 8 second exposure results in a much smoother more whispy look to the flowing water. The shorter 1/5 second results in a much more stringy textured look. If I took this to the extreme and went for a very fast shutter speed you’d end up with a more frozen look to the water. More extreme in the other direction with a many tens of seconds to minutes exposure could result in an even softer misty look

This is definitely something to think about when shooting moving water (or moving clouds). Considering your shutter will impact the look and feel of your resultant image. There’s no “one speed” to use – it’s dependant on how fast the water or clouds are moving and in what direction relative to the lens and so on

Note: the adjustment of the other parameters of the exposure triangle (Aperture and ISO) to compensate for the shutter speed you’ve chosen also has other impacts on your image (e.g. depth of field and noise)

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.