Long Exposure settings on T6

[CraigPearson]

Help! I've been trying to do long exposure to get the bluring effect on running water. No matter what settings I enter into the manual mode all I get is pretty much a white image for anything longer than 0.5 seconds. I set the:
ISO to 100
Aperature to F32
Picture style: Standard
Ambience Priority: Auto
Auto Lighting: Standard

18-55mm lens

50-250mm lens

I've tried using a Hoya ND8 neutral density filter (helps a little but images are still way too washed out)
I've tried using a CPL filter at 90 degrees to the sun, no real improvement.

Any suggestions?
Can I stack two ND8 filters for a better picture, or will that create other problems?

[Waddizzle]

What shooting mode setting are you using on the mode dial on the top of the camera?  Use Av or Tv mode.

[CraigPearson]

Manual mode (M)

[Waddizzle]

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@CraigPearson wrote:

Manual mode (M)

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Hmm. Can you post a sample photo with the EXIF data included?  

With an f/32 aperture, your images should not be washed out with an ND 8 filter and a 0.5 shutter speed.  You really should not need such an extreme aperture setting.  A setting of f/8 to f/11 should be sufficient for most landscape shots.  Your shutter speed is fine, and ISO 100 is ideal for shooting landscapes from a tripod.

Are you using the viewfinder or Live View?  What is the exposure scale showing you before you take a shot?

Again, use Av or Tv mode.

[CraigPearson]

[CraigPearson]

That's the very best I could get

[chriskendrick]

Agree this does not make sense. I'm a novice, so I rely on using PhotoPils. I typically just snap a photo in auto mode, then use the app to determine the appropriate settings with a filter applied. Maybe that will help?

--Chris

[chriskendrick]

May need to combine photos then. Take a photo where you get the disired water effect, then apply layer masks for the backgrounds?

[ebiggs1]

"No matter what settings I enter into the manual mode all I get is pretty much a white image for anything longer than 0.5 seconds.

Any suggestions?"

You bet!

Well for this kind of shooting trial and error is the way to go and it looks like you have tried a lot.  First before you 'try' again reset your T6 to factory.  Menu, Tools , Clear all settings.  Now set the T6 to record Raw only files.  No jpg are needed for this. ISO to 100.  You can set WB to average but it doesn't matter with Raw. Forget all the other settings. Off is best. Use M mode. You will need a tripod.  Your exposures will be in the 10 sec range with the the Hoya ND8 neutral density filter installed. Aperture anywhere from f5.6 to f22. You need to block the view finder opening, too.

This should get you a usable image.  Adjust settings as needed.  Keep in mind with a 10 sec exposure, reducing to 5 sec or increasing to 20 sec is just one stop.

"Can I stack two ND8 filters for a better picture, or will that create other problems?"

You can but it is not needed or required.  Don't use the polarizer either.  My preference is to not use any of that or go to the trouble of all that and edit my shot in Photoshop.  Works every time!

[Waddizzle]

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@CraigPearson wrote:

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Ah, I see.  The background is washed out, not the water streams.  This is an HDR, High Dynamic Range, problem.  I would bet that if you moved about, and took the shot without the bright background, then the problem will be minimized, if not eliminated.

If you are not familiar with HDR photography, you may want to explore it.  The human eye can see a wider dynamic range of light than a camera sensor.  DR is the difference between the brightest and darkest areas of a scene.  Your shot is a textbook example of it, with a much brighter background compared to a darker foreground.

Had you exposed the shot for the background, then the foreground just might be nearly completely dark.  When you expose for the foreground, then the bright background becomes overexposed and washed out.  So, how do you solve this problem, and get correct exposures on the foreground and background in one image?  

Basically, you “cheat.”  You would need to take multiple exposures and then use software to combined them into one image.  This is not as complicated as it might sound, because the software is usually totally automated.  All you have to do is capture a good set of images for the software to work with.  It usually takes a minimum of 3 photos, but you could use a larger sampling if you wanted.