Before the water got turned off by our local water company “for repairs” I was enjoying watching the patterns our oscillating sprinkler was making. Fortunately I got a few photos before the water stopped.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I wanted as slow a shutter speed as I could get, but shooting into the morning sun made this a bit of a challenge for me. So I narrowed my aperture to f/32 and kept the iso at 100. Also had a polarizing filter on and still only got to 1/4 of a second. Any other thoughts or comments about how to slow down the shutter speed on a bright day? Any other thoughts are more than welcome
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
What caught my attention was all the different patterns the sprinkler would make. Does this image dance for you?? Any other comments and thoughts are welcome.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
I cropped to 16:9, did some content aware to remove distracting portions and toned down some of the highlights in the trees.
Nikon D7200 , f/332, 1/4 sec., iso100, @80mm
Thank you.
I like this, Linda. It does look like an elaborate dance of some sort, especially with the many arches in the image.The foliage at the top and the grass at the bottom creates the stage. I would not slow it down more than this but another tool you could use is a neutral density filter.
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Yes Adhika, definitely need one and have yet to be able to work it into my equipment, hopefully sooner than later. Thanks for your kind words.
Linda, this is a fine and fun take on “dancing sprinklers”. It’s also a great “local” view. I think your ss choice is just right as it blurs some of the flow while retaining some of the details. Adhika is right about adding a neutral density filter to your kit if you want more blurring under sunny skies. My one caution in that is that many of the highest density filters (10 stops or more) add color casts. I carry a 4 stop filter that covers most sunny day situations.
Linda, this is a fine image for the WC category. I love the arches in it. I think the SS was perfect for the speed of the water. You got good advice from Adhika and Mark about the neutral density filter. I had never owned a 10 stop, so Mark’s advice on that is good to know. A nice look at the dancing water.
Thank you @Adhika_Lie, @Mark_Seaver and @Shirley_Freeman for your kind thoughts and comments. How intuitive all of you are because I was just going to ask “if you could only get one ND filter, what would you pick” question. Once again, thanks all of your help and suggestions.
Great patterns from the water streams! I might burn down the highlights on the leaves top center to keep more attention to the patterns. Good advice received on the ND filters. You can start with a 4 stop and add another if you find you need it. No harm in stacking them. Real good submission for the challenge.
Thanks Harley. The top upper leavers were bothering me also and did do some burning down, but clearly not enough. . . .since you’re right, they are still a bother to me. ND 4 filter is most definitely next on the list to get.
@Shirley_Freeman, @Adhika_Lie, @Harley_Goldman and @Mark_Seaver, should have asked before, but can anyone recommend a brand of ND filter you prefer? And preferred vendor; B&H or Adorama?? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Linda, I’ve used B&H for 30 years as my main source. My 4 stopper is Hoya, but I think that most brands would work fine. (There may be subtle quality differences, especially in the anti-reflection coatings and glass quality, for the cheapest brands, but those likely don’t matter unless you’re thinking about a large print.) A quick B&H search showed lots of adjustable ND filters (covering 2 - 8 stops). Those would give you more dynamic range, but I’d want to hear from someone about color shifts in the ND 6 - 8 range.
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