How the S95 Photographs Waterfalls

13sec exposure on KLIA Jungle Walk Waterfall.

Always a wonderful subject to photographers, waterfalls with the water movement means a challenge but also a real opportunity for a more dynamic shot. With the moving water element, a photographer can either choose to freeze the motion by using a fast shutter speed or to capture and enhance the motion by using a longer shutter speed. Most photographers take the second option and allow the water to blur. However, most compact point and shoot, with the lack of manual controls, will almost certainly choose an exposure that freezes the water somewhat. That's absolutely not the case with S95. Here’s how I do it.

1. Use a tripod or any flat surfaces. 
2. On Manual Mode, select a low ISO (80 or 100) and off the flash.
3. Adjust the aperture starting at f8.0 initially (try to limit the exposure and focus more details).
4. Set the shutter speed starting at 1 second (generally you’ll want to get a shutter speed of 1 to 3 seconds to get a nicely blurred water.
5. Make sure the exposure meter on the bottom right of your LCD screen is centered or near the center. If the line is above the center, it will be overexposed and the camera will show a '+' for exposure compensation when you half-press the shutter.
6. Use a 2-3 second timer when you shoot to avoid camera-shake.
7. Also try shooting at Shutter Priority Mode.
8. Use Exposure Bracketing and try to shoot at other color settings (Vivid).
9. If the scene is just too bright or you're in a hurry, you can also try the built-in HDR feature (make sure you're using a tripod as well).
10. After you shoot, you can also adjust the picture by using the I-Contrast function to retain shadow detail.

If you still can't get the blurry water effect you desire, there're some measures you can experiment on:

• Schedule your session around sunrise and sunset, or overcast days
• Take off your sunglasses and put it in front of your camera lens
• Spend some extra cents on the camera filters