Step by step Backwash! (the good kind)

Capture the motion of receding waves as a silky blur with long exposures

01 Watch the Waves

Watch the waves as they come in and out, then look for a spot where the white water travels in interesting patterns as it retreats back out to sea, perhaps swirling around a rock. A beach like this, with a combination of sand and rocks, is ideal.

02 compose the frame

We need to keep the camera perfectly still throughout the exposure, so set it up on a tripod and compose to include the path of the water in the frame. Find a sturdy spot for your tripod legs as the water may sweep over them – and your feet!

03 testing the Waters

Set your DSLR to Aperture priority. Set ISO to 100 and use a narrow aperture like f/16. This will result in greater depth of field and it will also enable you to use longer shutter speeds. Take a test shot and note the shutter speed.

04 choose a density

The strength of your ND filter will determine how long your shutter speed becomes. Each stop enables us to double the length of our exposure. A 6-stop filter is a good choice here, as it extends our initial shutter speed of 1/30 sec to 2 secs.

05 attach the filter

Fit the filter, switch to Manual mode and adjust the shutter speed by six stops. When changing stops, it can be helpful to count the clicks on your dial. Assuming you’ve got it set to 1/3 increments, every third click will change things by a stop.

06 capture the Waves

Attach a cable release in order to prevent camera shake when pressing the shutter. At these speeds the mirror can also cause shake, so engage Live View, as it will lock the mirror up. Now capture the water as it recedes back out to sea.