Hot take: taking photos of the food court fountains is pointless

My buddy Jason swore I'd get better shots of the old food court fountain at Oak Hollow Mall if I used a tripod and slow shutter, but half my pictures came out blurry and the other half showed too much dirt in the water. Did that advice help you guys or was it just me screwing up the settings?

2 comments

2 Comments

adam_thomas2d agoTop Commenter

Read a blog that said you need to lock focus on the water surface first.

harris.vera2d ago

Well, I actually tried that water surface focus trick with my old Canon 5D Mark III last summer at a lake near my house, and it messed up more shots than it helped. The problem is the water surface moves all the time, so locking focus there just makes the camera hunt back and forth when the ripples change. I get why someone would suggest it because the reflection is on the water, but I found way better results by focusing on something solid at the same distance as the reflection, like a tree trunk or a dock post on the far shore. That way the camera has a steady target and the reflection stays sharp because the depth of field covers both the water and the solid object. I'd say give it a shot but don't be surprised if you end up deleting a bunch of blurry frames like I did.