Add Blur To Waterfall Shots With Your Olympus Camera

Waterfalls can look great at this time of year, when they're surrounded by vibrant foliage. Don't worry if it's a little overcast on the day you head out to shoot either, as often an overcast sky can help to balance the exposure of the image if you're shooting through trees, diffusing the light and keeping the attention on the waterfall itself rather than the sky. 

Olympus' latest cameras, including the OM-D E-M10, all feature a bulb mode, which allows you to press the shutter and watch the scene appear in front of you, pressing the shutter again when you're happy with the exposure. 

This is ideal when you're shooting waterfalls and you want to get that silky water effect, but are unsure which shutter speed will be best. You'll need to use a tripod, to minimise image blur caused by movement. It may also be worth investing in a remote trigger to eliminate any chances of camera shake being introduced when you press the shutter.

You'll need to use a relatively small aperture (large number) of say f/16 to f/22, to make sure that the image isn't over exposed when using a long shutter speed. It'll also mean that your image will be sharp from front to back. 

A polarising filter might also be useful to minimise glare on the image and slow down the shutter speed a little more. It will also help to saturate the colours a bit more to give a richer image. 

Olympus has got several workshops coming up that have a landscape and water oriented theme. To take a look and book on to a course now, take a look at the Olympus Events website.