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Photographing Water Using the Multiplication Factor Technique (cont.)

© Rod Planck Loading...

© Rod Planck

A shutter speed of 1/1000 second stops the water; ten exposures create an appearance of smoothness to its surface. D3S, PC-E Micro NIKKOR...Read More

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Then make one more choice: set the camera for auto gain on or auto gain off. Think of auto gain as an automatic exposure compensation. It takes into account the number of multiples you've chosen to make and reduces the exposure of each one so the buildup results in an accurate exposure. Turn auto gain off and you're in control; each image in the multiple will adhere to the exposure choices you've made.

Rod chooses auto gain most of the time, but will go manual in specific cases. For example, the first image accompanying this story, the waterfall and rainbow. "If I'm in a brightly-lit situation and have a relatively fast shutter speed, say about 1/250 or 1/400 second, I can find that the water won't show either a silky look or a stop-action effect—I'll be in between. So I turn off the auto gain, go to manual exposure from my usual aperture priority setting and then add a zero to whatever shutter speed I had if I'm planning to shoot ten exposures. So a 1/250 second becomes 1/2500 second, and now I've got a stop action effect while the layers of exposure build up a silky look."

One of Rod's multiple methods combines new and not-so-new technology. Take a look at the last photo, a multiple image of a penguin colony. It's a variation of the old zoom-the-lens-as-you-make-a-slow-shutter-speed-exposure. Only here the lens was zoomed between each exposure of the ten-image multiple.

Rod has two final tips to offer:

"Making ten exposures takes a while, especially if you're on a tripod, locking up the mirror and using an electronic release," Rod says. "You want to make sure your exposure is correct, so it's a good idea to make a test shot and check the histogram. The histogram doesn't change on multiples, so I always shoot a test to be sure the histogram is right where I want it as far as the exposure is concerned.

"Often I'll set a particular focus point from the camera's array—one of the 51 points from the D3, for instance—and use it as a reference point for my subject. Say I've got a field of wildflowers. I'll look at one focus point and see that it's always positioned on one particular flower for all ten of the exposures. I'll make sure I don't move the camera so much that the sensor totally leaves that flower. I don't want to be creating color with no edges to it—I need some edge detail to create a painterly look."

So there you have it. Go forth and multiply.

Be sure to check out our related story on image overlay here.

And visit Rod Planck's site at www.rodplanck.com to see more of his photography and learn about his workshops.