Rocky Headland at Noosa

[dje]

I have just acquired a 4 stop Hoya ND filter and wanted to try out the effect of shutter speed on waves breaking over rocks. I had a limited opportunity a couple of days ago at Noosa in the National Park and here are three shots taken about an hour after sunrise. Some of the things I took away from this exercise were

• Do your homework on tide times - I would have liked a higher tide here
• Take some lens cleaning fluid with you when using a multi-coated filter where there is salt spray
• Shutter speeds of around 1/5 to 1/10 sec stop the water but do give some desirable "flow" effects
• Shutter speed of around 1-2 seconds give a slightly dreamy look to the water without over-doing it
• The closer to sunrise, the more interesting is the light
• Timing of when the shutter is released in relation to when the wave breaks is important. I feel that it works best if you operate the shutter a little after the wave breaks when you get water rushing around and cascading over rocks

I've posted these three images in my order of preference (favourite first) - I'd be interested to hear what you think of the images and also if some of my comments strike a cord with anyone else.

Dave

15mm, 1.3 sec, f/16, 6AM


10mm, 1/6 sec, f/7, 6:17AM


20mm, 1/6 sec, f/7, 6:18AM

[IzzieK]

I love all of your three shots..but then Noosa is a beautiful place. You can't go wrong...I can relate to "the closer the sunise, the more interesting is the light" comment...I used to stand up by the deck of my husband's BF's house, before sunrise when staying a few days in Florida to get the best shots of the morning and I am always rewarded. Places in Oz are a different kind of beautiful. I will be copying and pasting your to-think of list before to put in my bag. Going home for a visit to Oz next month...

I have just acquired a 4 stop Hoya ND filter and wanted to try out the effect of shutter speed on waves breaking over rocks. I had a limited opportunity a couple of days ago at Noosa in the National Park and here are three shots taken about an hour after sunrise. Some of the things I took away from this exercise were

• Do your homework on tide times - I would have liked a higher tide here
• Take some lens cleaning fluid with you when using a multi-coated filter where there is salt spray
• Shutter speeds of around 1/5 to 1/10 sec stop the water but do give some desirable "flow" effects
• Shutter speed of around 1-2 seconds give a slightly dreamy look to the water without over-doing it
• The closer to sunrise, the more interesting is the light
• Timing of when the shutter is released in relation to when the wave breaks is important. I feel that it works best if you operator the shutter a little after the wave breaks when you get water rushing around and cascading over rocks

I've posted these three images in my order of preference (favourite first) - I'd be interested to hear what you think of the images and also if some of my comments strike a cord with anyone else.

Dave

15mm, 1.3 sec, f/16, 6AM


10mm, 1/6 sec, f/7, 6:17AM


20mm, 1/6 sec, f/7, 6:18AM

[Sergio M.]

Dave, three equally beautiful images. My order of preference is the same as yours with #1 just barely beating out #2. There are times when I like the softer water and times when I don't. Today it seems I do.

I don't have that kind of scenery here in South Texas, but should I someday be in such a place the information you have provided will be valuable. Thanks for sharing.

Sergio

[Nancy Moran G]

Dave,
Very good advice. I recently was trying to get some water movement here in Florida. We really don't get waves on the Gulf coast, just sort of rough ripples up onto the beach.
You are right, trying to time the wave is tricky. Thanks for your thoughts on the subject.

I like #1 best also, but they are all very nice lighting and subject.
Izzie's remark that 'you can't go wrong at xyz place' , sounds like 'but you have a good camera, so you get good photos' .
I jest you Izzie, I know what you meant
I say it often when people pass me with my camera and say, 'did u get any good ones' . I reply, 'it's hard not to here.'
Nancy

[TonyW]

As Isabel says, this is a beautiful area and these pictures bring back memories of my skin diving days, some years ago, when I swam around that area and I still remember the feeling of being washed in and out by the waves.

I am not a fan of the smoothed out water effect in general and I like to see the flow of water in all it's glory. When I look just at the water, number 3 looks best too me but when I look at the overall picture I prefer number 2. A higher tide might be more interesting but bigger waves would be more so. It looks pretty calm there.

[FrankMi]

You have some excellent take-away point to remember here, Dave!

The first image is a little too blurry for my tastes.

I like the 2nd image for the overall composition and plethora of objects to explore.

I like the 3rd image for the water action, particularly flowing off the rocks.

It looks like you had some dramatic sky changes over a short period of time, was it also windy at the time?

[mknittle]

What Frank said All good though.

[Ken Curtis]

Good take away thoughts, Dave. I prefer image #2, with the wider view, because you captured clouds that added interest to the sky. #2 doesn't have as much wave action in close, but I'll bet you could get it if you went back to that location based upon what you learned.

[dje]

Thanks very much for your comments Izzie, Sergio, Nancy, Tony, Frank, Mark and Ken.

Izzie Noosa is a beautiful place but it gets over-run by Victorians at this time of the year (my daughter is a "new Victorian" so I can say that !)

Sergio you'll just have to travel !

Nancy I also get comments when out and about like "did you get some good shots" and never quite know what to say !

Tony these shots were taken at Dolphin Point. It was quite calm and bigger waves and a higher tide would have seen the water crashing over the large rock on the right hand side. Maybe next time !

Frank Mark and Ken, I was chasing water movement over the rocks hence my preference for the tighter shot but I know what you mean about the wider view. The clouds do add interest. The sky didn't really change much, it was just that the wider view included the higher clouds. This second shot had the bottom cropped off to make it a 16:9.

Dave

[IzzieK]

Izzie Noosa is a beautiful place but it gets over-run by Victorians at this time of the year (my daughter is a "new Victorian" so I can say that !)

Typical Aussie thingie to go to warmer places like yours. When I used to live in Sandringham by the Port Philip Bay, our street was really almost without people walking about in certain times of the year -- we all lost them to either the Queenslanders or you people "across the border".

Nancy I also get comments when out and about like "did you get some good shots" and never quite know what to say !

Will you feel stupefied if you just casually say tongue-in-cheeks that it is because you got a very good camera? [/QUOTE]

[FootLoose]

Hi Dave,
I played around a bit with this type of shot using a variable ND last year. In terms of my own efforts, I achieved better results just setting the camera to a slow shutter speed.

1. I have a copy of the tide tables sitting on my desktop. I always check first when anticipating shooting around the water.

2. Salt spray - yup. And always have some kind of filter on the lens to protect it from the salt spray when going anywhere near the beach.

3. Shutter speeds depend on the wave action. If it is relatively calm you need a slower shutter speed, but I found 1/13 was enough to produce the milky affect. I prefer the water falling back into the ocean / receding from rocks for this.

I think the success of this kind of shot really does depend on the shoreline ie how much vertical movement there is in the water when the wave comes in, and the ruggedness of the rocks that it will be washing over, and how far it has to fall back into the sea.

[dje]

Hi Dave,
I played around a bit with this type of shot using a variable ND last year. In terms of my own efforts, I achieved better results just setting the camera to a slow shutter speed.

1. I have a copy of the tide tables sitting on my desktop. I always check first when anticipating shooting around the water.

2. Salt spray - yup. And always have some kind of filter on the lens to protect it from the salt spray when going anywhere near the beach.

3. Shutter speeds depend on the wave action. If it is relatively calm you need a slower shutter speed, but I found 1/13 was enough to produce the milky affect. I prefer the water falling back into the ocean / receding from rocks for this.

I think the success of this kind of shot really does depend on the shoreline ie how much vertical movement there is in the water when the wave comes in, and the ruggedness of the rocks that it will be washing over, and how far it has to fall back into the sea.

Thanks for your comments Greg. As I don't have a variable ND, I'm using the fixed 4 stop ND and adjusting aperture to vary shutter speed. The range of shutter speeds that can be achieved depends of course on the amount of light there is to start with.

Yes I suppose the optimum shutter speed depends on the nature of the wave action and also the effect you are after.

In these particular shots, I haven't captured any spectacular water action but was at least reasonably happy with the compositions and the light.

Dave

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[dje]

Thanks John