Photography Question

Rollin · 10-11-2009, 06:38 PM

I bought a Canon A2000is at the beginning of the summer to take with me commercial fishing in Alaska. Fast forward to today. I was trying to take some delayed shutter pictures of a river in Keene, but whenever I turned on the delayed shutter feature, the picture would be completely white. I tried changing the white balance but it didnt change anything at all. Idk what Im doing wrong.

Here are some of the macro shots I took today:

**Grape Ape** · 10-11-2009, 06:52 PM

You have to adjust the shutter speed and the aperture in order to get a pic with. The problem you are having is that the aperture opening is to big and letting in way to much light in the amount of time that the shutter is open. You have to work both of them until it comes out right.

helicase50 · 10-11-2009, 06:58 PM

he could also close the shutter sooner. But the whiter the pic, the more light it has, it means it needs less light. If you want the same shutter speed because you are capturing something the is moving slow then yes, smaller aperture.

Rollin · 10-11-2009, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grape Ape

You have to adjust the shutter speed and the aperture in order to get a pic with. The problem you are having is that the aperture opening is to big and letting in way to much light in the amount of time that the shutter is open. You have to work both of them until it comes out right.

Unfortunately I cant find an aperture setting on this camera. It seems to be decided for the user (very poorly apparently). I just tried it in my dorm and it came out alright since its darker in here.

Rollin · 10-11-2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helicase50

he could also close the shutter sooner. But the whiter the pic, the more light it has, it means it needs less light. If you want the same shutter speed because you are capturing something the is moving slow then yes, smaller aperture.

The water is moving fast. Even when I set the shutter speed to 1 sec it is still almost completely white. I looked online and apparently there are only 2 aperture settings on this camera and you cant choose between them.

helicase50 · 10-11-2009, 07:21 PM

fast= faster shutter speed. you should be no where near 1sec, your should be about 1/60 of a sec.

jeepsarecool · 10-11-2009, 07:24 PM

What exactly is your "delayed shutter" function like? Are you actually setting the shutter speed, and if so, what are you setting it to? Also what "mode" are you shooting in? What ISO setting are you using? Are you adjusting the aperture size at all?

It definitely sounds like you're just WAY overexposing the image.

By the way, "white balance" is only used to get the correct color light. It should only make your photos tinted blue or orange if you have it set incorrectly. It won't make the whole photo white.

**Jeffro06** · 10-11-2009, 07:34 PM

Are you doing this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhotoReview

Exposures up to 15 seconds long can be made when the long exposure mode is set.

This requires the camera to be in P mode and the user must press the Func/Set button and select the exposure compensation mode. Pressing the Display button switches the Long Exposure mode on. Shutter speeds are set by toggling with the horizontal arrows on the arrow pad.

Rollin · 10-11-2009, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffro95

Are you doing this:

Yes. Im trying to produce an image where all of the water is blurred but the rocks are clear.

Rollin · 10-11-2009, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helicase50

fast= faster shutter speed. you should be no where near 1sec, your should be about 1/60 of a sec.

I wanted the water to be blurred with the rocks nice and crisp like this:

**Jeffro06** · 10-11-2009, 07:45 PM

I would say if you are following the directions listed above, it's just too bright to get the effect you are looking for. Sometimes to get that blurred water motion photographers use neutral density filters, which make it darker, and allow for longer shutter speeds, which in turn expose to look brighter, but with the blur. If you are trying this shot in broad daylight, try it on a cloudy day, or closer to dush. You can even hold a pair of sunglasses over the camera lens and take the shot, you'll kind of see what a neutral density filter does.

helicase50 · 10-11-2009, 07:50 PM

In that case, don't focus on the water, hold the shutter release half way after it is focused on a tree scene, then with it half way down bring it back to the water.

jeepsarecool · 10-11-2009, 07:58 PM

I get the feeling that you're wanting a quick answer. Photography isn't difficult, but it does require you to know the relationships between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.

If your whole image is white, you've exposed it much much too long. You can't have a 1 sec shutter speed in sunlight. It's just not possible. You need to use the lowest ISO setting that your camera has, then use something like 1/10 down to maybe 1/2 sec shutter speed and whatever the correct aperture size is for that shutter speed based on the amount of light on your particular day in your particular scene. It's not rocket science, but there are a lot of moving parts. Your camera may not even be capable of doing it - I don't know anything about most point and shoot cameras.

**10achik** · 10-11-2009, 08:02 PM

Hey I did one of those with my camera, I think it was by accident but they do turn out cool.

rickm8 · 10-11-2009, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10achik

Hey I did one of those with my camera, I think it was by accident but they do turn out cool.

It looks very raw, organic, and genuine, I like that shot!