BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

Freezing a water fountain & fall

Thanks

To love this question, log in above
February 08, 2006

To love this comment, log in above
February 08, 2006

Just so you understand the concept - to freeze the motion of water as it falls requires a relatively fast shutter speed. Exactly how fast depends a lot on how close or far you are to the falling water,, but in general you'd need to catch a shot at 1/250th of a second at the minimum.

Now, shutter speed is but one component of the puzzle called "proper exposure". The other components are how much light the lens lets through (the "lens speed" or aperture setting), how sensitive the film is (the ASA or ISO number) and of course, how much light there is out there in the first place.

So. To use a fast shutter speed, you need a combination of sensitive enough film with enough light on the scene and enough light getting through the lens - does that make sense?

The meter in your N55 will compensate all these elements - it "knows" what type of film you have put in the camera, sees the light on the scene, and reads your settings for lens speed and shutter speed. In automatic mode, the camera will adjust lens or shutter speed accordingly (depending on which setting you use).

So the thing to do is set the camera on aperture preferred mode (I think it's the "A" on the dial) and open the lens to it's widest aperture (the smallest f-number) and then let the camera set the shutter speed. Remember it will do this according to the film sensitivity and how much light is on the scene. IF the shutter speed it sets isn't at least 1/250th, then you can try again with faster film (replace the roll with ISO 400 or 800 film).

I hope that helps...

To love this comment, log in above
February 09, 2006