Time and the Flow of the Water

Please be aware that you will see the same waterfall multiple times in this post, but before these images and at the end of the post I will put different waterfalls, because otherwise the post might be a bit boring 😊

Time and the flow of the Water
^{It's all about the Shutter Speed}

Last Saturday, when I photographed a little waterfall in the Lepena Valley in Slovenia, I realized after the shot that somehow the ISO value of my camera had increased to a quite high value ... no wonder why the shutterspeed was so short and thus the water looked like frozen.

Mlinarica Waterfall, Slovenia

Mlinarica Waterfall - Time and the flow of the Water - Tiny - Johann Piber

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When I saw the result on the little screen of the camera, it really wasn't pleasing to my eyes, but then I had the idea that I could try to take the same photo with different shutter speeds to see which looks best and maybe to make a blog post, showing you the difference that shutterspeed makes when photographing waterfalls.
Some people may like the "frozen" water and some the silky or even milky water. I personally prefer it when there's still some texture in the water like in the waterfalls above and below.

Boka Waterfall, Slovenia

Time and the flow of the Water - Tiny - Johann Piber

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But now let's carry on with the actual post and the little waterfall in the Lepena Valley I mentioned above ...

I have used my trusty RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens and a CPL filter (Circular Polarizer) to take the glare from the water. To gain the higher shutter speeds for the first few photos I have increased the ISO values.

As you can see in the images, it is the same composition in all images, as well as the same exposure value of f/14 and also the editing in Lightroom and Photoshop was exactly the same for each image.

#1 : f/14 . 1/25 sec . ISO 3200	frozen water
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#2 : f/14 . 1/13 sec . ISO 1600	still frozen but better
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#3 : f/14 . 1/6 sec . ISO 800
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The following are my preferred shutter speeds for waterfalls, which are between 0.3 and 0.6 seconds, depending on the speed of the water, of course.

#4 : f/14 . 0.3 sec . ISO 400
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#5 : f/14 . 0.6 sec . ISO 200
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We have now come to the lower end of my available ISO values, which is ISO 100. Because the sun hasn't completely reached this area yet, the shutter speed increased to 1.3 seconds, which is quite high in relation to the flow speed of the water, but there's still some texture to see in the water flow.

#6 : f/14 . 1.3 sec . ISO 100
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To get an even slower shutter speed I have started using ND filters, which extend the exposure time. Neutral Density filters reduce the amount of light that gets through the lens and that way it extends the shutter speed. They are just like sunglasses, but for camera lenses.

#7 : f/14 . 6.0 sec . ISO 100	Filter: ND 8
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#8 : f/14 . 30.0 sec . ISO 100	Filter: ND 64
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For the last photo I have used a ND 1000 filter that extends the shutter speed 1,000 times. My phone app calculated about 22 minutes, but after 5 minutes I had enough ... you know my lack of patience 😎

#9 : f/14 . 306.0 sec . ISO 100	Filter: ND 1000
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As said above, some certainly like the frozen water just as well as some like the milk you can see in the last photo - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The image below is a close-up photo of the lower part of the waterfall, shot with a shutter speed of 0.5 seconds. It looks just the way I like it most.

Time and the flow of the Water - Johann Piber

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The Gift of Time

The gift of time, God's freest boon to men,
So steadily outpoured through days and years!
Thus ever let us yield it back again
ln liberal lives and consecrate careers.

The gift of time, for which no gold is weighed,
Nor least petition offered to the Lord, -
Shall He not still by gratitude be paid,
And all our thankful days be His reward?

The gift of time, fit measure of the heart
Wherewith our Father wholly loves His own, -
Be it a symbol of our lesser part,
Just to be wholly His, and His alone!

^{by Amos Russel Wells}

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Maybe you remember the little waterfall above, although it looks a bit different: it has grown 😄 ... the water level is lover, so the waterfall is higher, and this is "Tiny", one of my favourites in the Soča Valley.

And with the grown up Tiny I end my post for today and hope you have enjoyed seeing the same waterfall 18 times 😅

Information

All photos were taken with the Canon EOS R and one of these lenses: Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, Canon RF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM, Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM, Canon EF 16-35mm 1:4 L IS USM, Canon EF 50mm 1:1.8 L STM, SIGMA 105mm 1:2,8 DG MACRO HSM.
If you are interested in the image data, I leave all EXIF and IPTC information stored in the pictures.

If you like my work I would appreciate an upvote, nice comment or maybe you want to share my post on your blog 😊 ... and maybe you would like to follow me, so that you never miss a post from me.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog,

^{Photos and Text: @johannpiber | Johann Piber | All rights reserved - do not use without my permission
Please contact me if you would like to get one of my photos in full resolution or visit my NFT galeries ⬇️}