In the past, if you wanted to capture smooth flowing water you needed specialist equipment, and a little know how. Know with the Huawei P30 Pro all you need is the Huawei P30 Pro and a steady hand.
The effect traditionally worked by holding the shutter open to gain a long exposure. This meant that during the exposure time the water would have moved with the result being the smooth silky water effect.
In order to capture a shot like this, you would have needed two essential pieces of equipment. A tripod to keep the camera steady as the shot is being taken, and an ND filter to stop down the exposure down so the frame doesn’t just become a burnout.
Using a digital camera it is far easier to capture the effect than with a traditional film camera as you can see the result there and then. If you have an Olympus OMD camera you can use LiveTime and watch the image build which makes it even easier.
Now, the Huawei P30 Pro has the effect built in and like the Olympus enables you to see the effect build until it is eventually cooked.
What makes Huawei’s technique so different is that the long exposure image can be taken without the need for ND filters or a tripod.
Let’s take a look at how it’s done.
How to shoot silky water with the Huawei P30 Pro
Step 01 – Switching to Silky Water
Making sure you have the phone switch to the camera mode, swipe through the modes at the bottom and select More and then Light Painting.
Step 02 – Stabilise the phone
It’s possible to handhold the phone in order to capture these shots but for the best results stabilise the phone against a railing, tree or use a micro tripod.
Step – 03
Keeping as still as possible tap the shutter button and you’ll see the image start build in front of you. Keep an eye on the picture and when it looks right release the shutter.
Shooting this type of image is not hard when compared to more traditional forms of photography. However, you still need to be aware that although you can shoot these images handheld the best results will come with a little assistance from a micro tripod.