Slow shutter speed help needed?

[Chinook]

I am embarrassed to ask this question

I want to go down the beach tonight to try for a sunset. I want to use a slow shutter speed.
hmm I cannot for the life of me remember how to do the settings for this I have a canon550D

I want to take some pics of the water on the rocks to. Can someone guide me please?

I am off to read the manual yet again

Thanks you very much

[james derek]

have you got a tripod?

[William]

Hi Lillian, You'll need a tripod, If you don't have any filters, In Manual, ISO 100, Aperture F16-22 and set the shutter speed to suit the lighting at the time, Just check each shot on the in camera Histogram to get the right light exposure, If you have filters you'll get a longer exposure and the Milky water effect but you will be able to go to around f8 -f11 , Hope this helps

[Chinook]

Hi James,

Not yet I have ordered one but it has not arrived yet.

[Chinook]

Shame about the tripod. I do have the small one from the light tent I could try. William I do not have any filters yet just the camera & lens.
What filters should I be looking at getting for just starting out? Appreciate your help.

Thank you very much.

[pmack]

a neutral density filter that screws onto the front of your lens will let you get a slower shutter speed if you are trying to get the blurred water look.
but if it is dark enough you don't need em.
so put in in manual, set the iso to as low as it goes (100), close down the aperture to restrict the light (higher iso numbers eg f/16. and greater as already suggested), and choose a shutter speed that gives you enough exposure
and you don't want the camera to shake when you press the button, so either get a remote shutter realease, or set the timer to two seconds

[Analog6]

It is possible to manage without a tripod, I have in my time rested the camera on fenceposts, rocks, my shirt crumpled on the ground, in a tree fork - you get the idea. The main thing is it must be 'untouched by human hands'. If you do not have a cable/remote release you will need to use the self-timer. Read up on your manual on how to set this, most have 2 sec and 10 sec delay.

To start with, compose your image, set the camera to Av (aperture priority), set an aperture and half press the shutter to see what length of exposure (shutter speed) the setting is giving you.

An aperture of f8 or better will give you a good depth of field with more rather than less in focus. To blur water you probably need 1/15th second or slower (eg 1/10th, 1/5th etc). If f8 says a short shutter speed like 1/125 then make the aperture smaller (towards the larger numbers - f11, f16 etc).

ISO does come into it, I'd advise 100 to start with for this exercise.

Once you have some settings you think may work, set the self timer release, steady the camera on whatever support you have decided on, and take the shot. You can dial round the apertures and let the camera decide the shutter speed.

Once you see what you have, you can go to full manual next time with a good idea of what sort of combinations of aperture and shutter speed will work.

Good luck and have fun.

[Chinook]

Pmack & Analog6,

What great help you have been. It is so great to have such lovely people who are willing to help someone new. Thank you & I do appreciate your help. I will post some pics soon.

[fabian628]

set camera to Tv mode. this will let you change the shutter speed. Use iso 100, maybe a shutter speed of 1/5s.

You could try to hand hold, if you have a wide lens with IS (eg 18-55mm or 17-55mm) at 17mm or 18mm with IS you could do 1/5s hand held