[Mychael]

Still getting a feel for the new K5 so just in the experimental stage.
I was trying to get shots of a water feature in my garden and wanted to blur the water but keep everything behind it out of focus.

Tried various settings, Tv, Tav, Manual but found I was chasing settings. I could get blur but the aperture would be too small and too much background was in focus.

Trying to alter the aperture would bring up the SS so I'd tried to alter the iso but then something else would change.

I know it's something I'm doing wrong but a few tips to get me started would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Adam]

You need to go in M mode, choose a slow shutter speed and a large aperture, and choose iso 80.

However, I have a feeling that if you want to create a blurry forground, you won't want a blurry background as well!

[v5planet]

I will agree on the points and suggestions Adam made above, but I will add another: avoid doing this in bright light. Your best bet will be in the early morning or evening, otherwise you will have far too much light hitting the sensor to use a wider aperture while still keeping the shutter open long enough for motion blurred water. Alternatively, if you want to do this image during the middle of the day, you could hunt down a neutral density filter to put on your lens.

[twitch]

Blurring water means a slow shutter speed, and blurring the background means a wide aperture. That leaves just ISO which as Adam says should be set to 80. This is easiest to do in manual mode. If you are getting over exposed shots then you will need to either take the picture when it's darker (after sunset), or use a Neutral Density filter on your lens.

[Mychael]

I'll give it another go Thanks Adam. What seems to be happening is if I go to those settings then it seems to auto adjust the Ev. I should add this is with a Da lens. not one of my older manual primes. It's the background I want oof. i'm trying to get a particular shot, rather just learning how to get certain effects and make the camera do what I want.

Thanks guys, It's an overcast day here today.

[DAZ]

In the days of film you could/would have many filters for all kinds of things. Filters for color correction or in B&W to make some things darker or lighter like the sky. In digital most filters are not of much use but 2 filters are still useful. The first is a polarizing filter. This can help here as it will give about a stop of light loss and also help reduce some glare. But if you want vary low shutter speeds and small DOF you need the last filter that is of use in digital photography. The neutral density filter. All a ND filter should do is reduce the amount of light that gets to the sensor. There are many different company’s and systems you can get for ND filters. A lot depends on how much you are going to get into this kind of photography and how much you are willing to spend.


DAZ

[v5planet]

Mychael, when you're in Manual mode, the camera does not automatically adjust the Ev for you. I assume you're referring to the little bar that normally indicates your exposure compensation value by ticking to the left or right? In Manual mode that indicates to you how close to a proper exposure the settings you have dialed in will get you. For instance, if the tick mark is far to the left of center, it means the settings you have chosen will cause an underexposure -- but importantly, it will do nothing to correct them for you.

[edit] I should correct my wording slightly: those tick marks indicate where you are relative to what the camera thinks is proper exposure. We put the camera into Manual mode generally when we know exactly what we want to do and don't trust the camera to do it for us. I would still recommend for your purposes trying to get that tick mark within a stop of center for a decent exposure, however.

[Mychael]

Well I've tried it in 'M' mode. My settings are ss= .5 f = 4.5 iso =80. However it overexposes by putting up the Ev to +3.5. If I bring it down via the controls as soon as I half press the shutter again it jumps back up to +3.5 so overexposes again.
All that aside those settings do give blurred water from the fountain and oof background.

[Mychael]

Mychael, when you're in Manual mode, the camera does not automatically adjust the Ev for you. I assume you're referring to the little bar that normally indicates your exposure compensation value by ticking to the left or right? In Manual mode that indicates to you how close to a proper exposure the settings you have dialed in will get you. For instance, if the tick mark is far to the left of center, it means the settings you have chosen will cause an underexposure -- but importantly, it will do nothing to correct them for you.

Looking in the viewfinder. I am seeing 6(the shutter speed) f4.5 (aperture) The focus hexagon, the steady hand, A run of little bars, with just the centre one lit, a + sign followed by 3.5 and lastly a star.

So perhaps an ND filter is the answer, it's what I would have done with my P&S trying to do the same thing. I've been assuming with the DSLR I'd have other ways to get the same result.

[DAZ]

I've been assuming with the DSLR I'd have other ways to get the same result.

You do but there are still limits.

DAZ

[Mychael]

You do but there are still limits.

DAZ

In a way I find that comforting for whilst I'm not a technophobe I do prefer analouge features when they are available.

People much more experienced then I may disagree but sometimes I think you can get too much technology driven with some things, cameras being one of them.

[v5planet]

Looking in the viewfinder. I am seeing 6(the shutter speed) f4.5 (aperture) The focus hexagon, the steady hand, A run of little bars, with just the centre one lit, a + sign followed by 3.5 and lastly a star.

So perhaps an ND filter is the answer, it's what I would have done with my P&S trying to do the same thing. I've been assuming with the DSLR I'd have other ways to get the same result.

Yes, that means the camera thinks you will be 3.5 stops overexposed at those settings. If you can, turn down the ISO further, which will reduce the sensitivity of the sensor to light. Also, depending on the focal length of your lens and the distance from the water to the background, you can possibly get away with a higher f-stop.

DSLRs offer you a lot of control over the particulars of taking a photograph, along with higher performance and tighter precision, but they follow the same basic rules as any consumer P&S at the end of the day. If there's still too much light you will need to shoot later/earlier in the day or with a neutral density filter to get your desired effect.

[Mychael]

Iso was 80, the lowest setting I can go. Day is cloudy overcast, guess we can say it's a good sensor then.

[aleonx3]

If you can't slow the shutter down enough to make the water look smooth and silky... try using multiple exposure option to get the combine result, however, in this case, you have to use a tripod though.

[v5planet]

Iso was 80, the lowest setting I can go. Day is cloudy overcast, guess we can say it's a good sensor then.

Well, strictly speaking, ISO doesn't say much about the sensor itself in this case, because it is simply a measure of sensitivity to light. ISO100 on your K-5 has the same sensitivity as ISO100 on an older K20. The K-5 sensor, however, is able to function at much higher sensitivities (ISO6400+) that were simply not possible on older cameras. This means the K-5 can perform in far lower light than an old camera, but your situation is one where you have a lot of light. You'll need a way to limit the amount of light getting to the sensor without affecting your shutter speed or aperture -- again, I would recommend waiting until evening.