How to photograph a fast running stream without a tripod
Many days of recent months have started or finished with a walk from the door. Carrying a camera has provided an incentive to get out, even on less than clement days. As the months have gone on, I’ve had to look beyond the most obvious subjects. One of the most distinctive aspects of the local landscape is the steep slopes running down towards the Tyne. Over winter, as streams have swollen over winter, there’s been plenty of fast-running water. So I’ve taken the opportunity to experiment with a subject I’ve found intimidating, as I’ve struggled to produce results I’m happy with. Most of what concerned me is though relatively easy to solve with a modern camera and a bit of experimentation.
Photographs of any moving object depend most on the camera’s shutter speed. Flowing water is no different from any other moving object; how long the shutter is open determines how far the water moves across the camera’s sensor. The longer the shutter is open, the further the travel across the sensor. A fast shutter speed, where the sensor is only exposed for a small fraction of a second, will in effect ‘freeze’ any drops of water, clouds of spray or bubbles. But with slower shutter speeds, it is the paths taken that become more prominent than the drops or bubbles themselves. The resulting silky surfaces are quite seductive, particularly for the small-scale dramas that play out in miniature waterfalls and cascades than otherwise most rarely consider worth capturing.
1/80 second f7.1
But with slower shutter speeds, it is the paths taken that become more prominent than the drops or bubbles themselves. The resulting silky surfaces are quite seductive, particularly for the small-scale dramas that play out in miniature waterfalls and cascades than otherwise most rarely consider worth capturing.
1/6 second f8.0
Keeping the shutter open long enough to capture the flow is therefore key to varying the appearance. There are a few ways of doing this- perhaps the easiest is to limit the light and force the camera to compensate. To do this, set the camera to Aperture Mode (the A of PASM) and close down the aperture (larger f-number) to cut the light reaching the sensor. The camera will then compensates by lengthening the time the shutter is open. It’s a matter of experimentation as to how long- but I’ve used anything from ⅙ of a second to a second, depending on the distance from the water and flow.
At this point, I should qualify this guide. I use a compact mirrorless micro four-thirds camera. These notes should apply to any mirrorless digital camera with a good degree of image stabilisation. Mine claims to make a difference of five stops compared to hand-holding an unstabilised sensor. So, if you have a camera that does not boast image stabilisation in the body (Olympus models) or lens (many Panasonic models), you may need to go the tripod route.
The feasibility of this method also depends on the focal length of the camera lens. There is no great mystery here; try pointing a short stick at a distant object and compare the amount of shake you observe when you swap to a stick three times as long. Longer lenses mean greater chance of camera-shake creeping in. I have had greatest success with a standard (12 to 40mm equivalent to 24 to 80 mm full frame) zoom lens.
Professionals use tripods for such work. Tripods are designed to keep your camera still and stable, making it much easier to get really good clear pictures, even with slow shutter speeds, where otherwise camera-shake would ruin any images. Using a tripod therefore maximises the flexibility over camera settings.
But tripods are bulky and heavy and have rarely passed the test of being important enough for me to carry more than a few hundred yards. This has limited when and how I take pictures, but has meant I’ve kept a camera at the ready more of the time. That has made a difference for many of my short walks from home in recent months; the absence of a tripod has meant I have taken more photos on these daily trips. But I’ve had to work out what is feasible in getting good images.
If you find your photographs of moving water unsatisfactory- and have a camera with image stabilisation- then I hope these notes encourage you to some productive and enjoyable experimentation.
12mm (24mm full frame equivalent) f13 4/5 sec
How do I improve my photography?
We all own cameras, and all carry a good one round with us every day. There’s no problem with taking too many photos, we can take as many as we want. And there are any amount of pictures available online about any subject.
There are still some choices left; in what to photograph, how to compose and record the image, and how to process what’s recorded. I’ve wrestled with all of these in recent months, and these are notes of the main sources I’ve used to improve, to the extent I’m happy to share what I produce.
These notes are in gratitude to those I’ve recently learned from. To be clear, while I’m grateful I’m not recommending any just because they are good photographers (though they all are), rather because they made me think about why I take photographs, or encouraged me to take and make more of them.
Great all round:
Chelsea and Tony Northrup- they have lots of free videos on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDkJEEIifDzR_2K2p9tnwYQ You can pick and choose from their channel. Their ebook Stunning Digital Photography (which includes more free linked videos than I’ve been able to watch) is far more structured. It is available from their website https://northrup.photo/product/stunning-digital-photography/ or Amazon is a great resource. The Northrups also guarantee to give you free updates to their ebooks (and I’ve availed myself of these for other titles)
Why take photographs:
Sean Tucker’s philosophical videos https://www.youtube.com/user/seantuckermerge are all worth watching, for Sean’s considered and generous manner. They also have great cinematic quality. His philosophical playlist is worth watching to improve any creative endeavour https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtEck2fInszGXrz5T7KanHqB8E8i9E9NA
Landscape photography:
Nigel Danson has lots of great material on taking and editing photographs, with a strong emphasis on landscapes. Much is available free https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkJld-AoXurbT2jDnfM8qiA. I’ve been tempted by his landscape masterclass https://www.nigeldanson.com/landscape-photography-masterclassold, particularly with the substantial periodic discounts. If I were starting again, I would make the financial and time commitment.
Developing a personal approach to landscape photography
Alister Benn’s Expressive Photography videos are useful, albeit many are available only to paying subscribers https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCILI7Qu2dfTE0iWHGvIPwqA. I have bought some of his ebook and video training series, which have been good value.
Pool.
OMD EM1 Mk ii. M Zuikio 1-40mm f2.8.
19mm. 1/2 sec. f11. ISO 320
More recently, I’ve found Mark Denney’s insights on editing technique very helpful https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCujr_HrX3ThMb34DV5YXHIg.
And, of course, take lots of photos!
Finally, a disclaimer- I put together these links based on what I’ve found useful. I have no financial links to anything I have recommended here. I have bought products from them, out of my own pocket. I have not received any financial inducements.
Restart- photographs in quarantine season
Studio printmaking is now on ice; it has been for some months and it’s hard to tell for how much longer. Opportunities for studio practice are limited by expectations to minimise travel and physical contact with others. This has changed work and family commitments. So, what's possible and relevant to my practice? Taking more photographs, and taking them locally seems both possible and relevant.
So, in recent months I've upgraded my camera and lenses (sticking with the mirrorless micro four-thirds format). Both are a great boon; I can now work quickly, hand held, and extended exposures are now possible even in even relatively low light.
Fortunately there is plenty close at hand by way of landscape-related subjects. Our local footpath network gives us access to a varied landscape of woodland, hills and streams punctuated by marks of industrial history. So, plenty of opportunities close to home.
As well as taking more photos, I've been improving my image processing and editing. While it is perfectly possible to leave all the decisions to the camera’s own algorithms and still produce great images. But to get consistent focus on the subject, it really helps to remove odd colour artefacts and other distractions. This is just as relevant and important as in any traditional darkroom. Sadly, it isn’t obvious that early experience of printing from my own black and white 35mm negatives with an enlarger, trays of developer in my makeshift darkroom shortcuts much of what I now need for processing digital images.
So, there’s a lot to learn and I’ve been learning differently, mostly through the generosity of those who’ve shared their knowledge, skills and insights online.
I am now sharing the output of all this- posting an image a day (see my Instagram profile), and am compiling these by adding new sections to the website. The first of these being Water- as there is plenty of this about- images of local streams and cascades.
Symbols and endings
This post is in two parts- it starts with the last of the South Pennine Paths collection - and finishes with some reflections and initial thoughts about future plans.
This plate is from a late afternoon walk across Withens Moor, where a series of flagstones ease the the path across an otherwise tricky stretch of peat bog. Many of these stones are recycled gateposts and such.
This stone is deeply cut for a purpose I cannot discern, but these graphic symbols appear almost as writing. But if writing, it is unclear about what and for whom, particularly as the only common visitors to this open moorland are curlew and skylark.
Withens Moor 24 July 2018 20:07. Photo-etching 2019
This is an interesting plate, with the central symbols sliced by deep shadows from the evening sun. The overall effect became overwhelming when re-worked, so I ground the plate to one side- which opened up more possibilities.
I then under-printed with freshly ground inks, warming up the final impressions.
Withens Moor 24 July 2018 20:07. Photo-etching and monoprint. 2020
Withens Moor 24 July 2018 20:07. Photo-etching and monoprint. 2020
So, to the end of this blog about putting a virtual exhibition together. Completing this collection has taken longer than anticipated. Selecting and editing the images for presentation, preparing the narrative and organising the web-pages all together were a great way to review the work, remember the the places and consider the methods of production. All of this was under pandemic constraints- with no opportunity for re-visiting, for improving or revising the prints. Not that I’ve wanted to, this review has made it clear that the work had reached a conclusion.
I’m happy to have reached this point and to have the opportunity to consider what next. I can now re-organise these South Pennine Paths prints into a definitive collection on this website. Further, I am still committed to landscape-based work, but the next phase is likely closer to home.
Any exhibition of this work beyond the virtual realm is sadly still some way off.
I hope the blog has provided some insight into the work, how it arose and was produced. I am yet to decide what place a blog might play in developing or documenting future work, so am happy to hear views.
With all good wishes
Mark
Memory
I was convinced that the photographs for both last week’s posting and for this were both taken in midsummer, when everything was dry. This is the case for many images in this collection; those taken in the summer of 2018.
These were both certainly taken within minutes of each other on the same stretch of road up to Warland reservoir. However, In preparing this post, I spotted inconsistencies in the timings assigned to them, so went back to check the source images. This confirmed that, rather than dry midsummer, this was late spring, in far from clement weather. Indeed, these photos were among many taken of damp places that day.
So, it seems my records have corrected my memory, and I have redrafted both this posting and the last.
In any case, this hollow was drying out more slowly than most that day:
Wet Warland Road. 28 April 2017 14:30. Photo-etching 2019
Two sets of masked under-printing with monoprint follow:
Wet Warland Road. 28 April 2017 14:30. Photo-etching and monoprint 2019
Which are strongly reminiscent of the beaches on the Northumberland coast.
Wet Warland Road. 28 April 2017 14:30. Photo-etching and monoprint 2019