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Shooting Near Water
I am doing a documentary on an artists’ community that was at the mouth of a river here in Washington state. The location is exposed to sun and water 180 to 270 degrees. The river runs into salt water where I am shooting. It is common that there is a high haze. A year ago, I did some preliminary shooting at the location. I was shooting at roughly mid-day. (The area is accessible only by boat; we are limited in access time by tides.)The area is stunningly beautiful. However, the footage I got was flat and drained of color.
Suggestions?
Shoot late in day?
Use a polarizing filter? I understand that this knocks back some of the diffusion from the haze?
Your ideas?Shooting with a PD150. Thanks in advance.
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16 Replies
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Water doesn’t have it’s own color. What color are you hoping to get?
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
[Steve Wargo] “Water doesn’t have it’s own color. What color are you hoping to get?”
Ok…you’re from Arizona.
Air over marine water (at least in the NW) is often hazy due to water vapor. This diffuses the light. I understand that a polarizing filter helps a bit. The abundance of light, from the sun,light bouncing off the water, diffused light through the haze produced footage that was less than stunning. Even with the aperture closed down, the colors were pretty lifeless. Supposedly late in the day/early evening evening light is wonderful at the location.
I was wondering if anyone has had experience shooting on the water or near large expanses of water.
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pat,
considering the fact that you will be shooting sd video I would highly recommend that you shoot this early in the day and late in the day. I polarizer can only take you so far. And even film doesn’t look so good in high noon.
of course you may want to have that de-saturated look so you can accurately document what it is truly like there. May add to your story.
cheers
Todd McMullen
Flip Flop Films
Austin
http://www.toddmcmullen.com -
[Pat Ford] “Ok…you’re from Arizona. “
Pat, what color is the water where you live?
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
[Pat Ford] “polarizing filter helps a bit”
Remember that a polarier bends the light to accomplish it’s function. For more info on the color of water, see this: https://www.dartmouth.edu/~etrnsfer/water.htm
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
The advice you’ve been given is great. I’ve spent the better part of my career shooting outdoor shows, many on saltwater all over the world.
First off, water (if it’s clear) seems to take it’s color from the sky. Deep blue sky, deep blue water. Unless it’s shallow, then obviously the color comes from a combination of the sky and the bottom you can see.
Shoot early and late like the others have said. High noon is the worst possible time to shoot. Definitely ALWAYS use a polarizer. It really does help reduce glare on the water, helps “cut thorough” the haze of the moisture in the air, and helps with overall saturation of the blue sky and the water color.
I hope this helps.
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[Mark Maness] “The advice you’ve been given is great. I’ve spent the better part of my career shooting outdoor shows, many on saltwater all over the world.”
Ok, yes, thanks to all who answered.
I had the good fortune to run into a marine photographer at a classic boat event today (my other job).
Since my situation for the doc is essentially like shooting on the water, I asked he how he handled shooting boats and dealing with the surfeit of light…and the scattered nature of that light.
He suggested
1. Shooting late. Shooting early would had little advantage since we are just west of a significant hill.
2. Using a skylight filter.
3. Using a haze filter.
4. Stopping down a bit..he mentioned there are drawback to this..problems with areas in shadow.I don’t know where the heck the color of water discussion came from..Interesting, I suppose.
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[Pat Ford] “I don’t know where the heck the color of water discussion came from”
In your opening post, you said “footage I got was flat and drained of color”. So my comment was along the lines of: If the sky is hazy, that’s going to be almost white and when it reflects on the colorless water, it’s going to make the water white, like the sky, so that’s what I thought that your issue was. I guess I misunderstood your question, if there was one, which I guess there wasn’t, so I don’t know why I answered your non-question.
Well, it’s 11:20pm and, according to Boomer, it’s almost bed time.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
Sounds like the photographer friend of yours knows what he is talking about. I agree with using a polarizer and or a UV filter.
edward chick
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Hi Pat,
I’m up here just north of Seattle. One of the filters I like to have in our kit is a Grad Blue.
https://tiffen.com/results.html?search_type_no=365&tablename=filters&family=Tiffen+Filters&search_filter_format=Screw-InOn flat gray days around the Pacific NW you can really punch up a scene with a few tricks. So I’ll ND Grad the Sky Blue, then if I’m shooting people, I use a Photoflex 5n1 reflector with the White/Gold side to warm up the talent. You can also get a matte box and use larger 4×4 grad filters. I’ve shot scenes where we did a “tobacco” sunset grad for the sky and a Blue Grad flipped upside down for the water.
Hope this helps,
Guy Cochran
DVcreators.net__________________
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