Create Long Exposure Streaks When Photographing Waves at the Ocean

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One of the best parts of photographing the ocean is creating beautiful silky ribbons of water from the crashing waves. Here are the 3 simple things you need to make that happen.


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Joshua Cripps is a full-time landscape photographer living near Yosemite National Park in California. His recent work includes the worldwide marketing campaign for the Nikon D750 camera.

For more landscape photography, tutorials, and workshops visit:

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All photos, text, and video are copyright Joshua Cripps. Any use without my express written permission is really not cool, man.

31 Comments
  1. mike smith says

    Is the filter required and if so why what does it do exactly ?

  2. Daren Maloy says

    Awesome vudeo and location.May I ask where this was taken at?Thanks

  3. emmanuel bouilhol says

    Very useful video, thanks a lot !!
    May I ask you, and the community here, how do you work with the spray coming from the see ?
    After a few seconds so close from the sea, my lens is usually full of salty droplets, and it blurs the images…

    Thanks for your help 🙂

  4. Tomer Dvory says

    What about focus? Aperture?

  5. In the trenches with Cas says

    Thanks mate i like your energy querky Bastard

  6. Toby Woolgar says

    What about focal length? Calculating the f stop shutter speed and with the nd? There's a lot more to remember than just the shutter speed!
    plus watch out if your using a manual lens for the first time as you have to make sure its sharp before you put on the nd alots of little silly things can catch you out..

  7. Brian Kenneth Kondas says

    Good tip on shutter speed between .25 and 2 seconds approximately for streaming wave texture. If people shoot waves during sunny daytime at f/8 using ND 6 stop filter, shutter speed is 1/6 second or .16 seconds. If you loss a stop with clouds, shutter speed 1/3 or .33 seconds. Sunny golden hour lose 2 stops of light, shutter speed 1.6 seconds.

  8. Melissa Hall says

    Appreciate your videos so much 👍

  9. Glamour Malngiang says

    Awesome👍👌👌

  10. Jim Miner says

    I want to take a vacation at the beach and try this. Great video.

  11. Gazhacks says

    Nice 👍

  12. Paul Tomlin says

    Even after pushing the tripod legs down deep into the wet sand, won't the rushing surf cause vibrations in the camera?

  13. Sandi Duta says

    Soo beautifull

  14. Soraya Askari says

  15. Adventurous Eater says

    We Hart you JOSH!

  16. yuji morita says

    I am going to Santa Cruz!

  17. sampada pande says

    Hi Joshua, thanks for the tip! I have a question though, I'm still an amateur and don't have a tripod just yet, will the photos come out just as great or will there be a camera shake in the photos? Thanks.

  18. Mj_bharath vardhan says

    Nice tutorial… thanks for the tips..
    By the way which place is that

  19. V3Tv says

    Okay I subscribed because of the outtakes 🙂

  20. V3Tv says

    Isn't it land'lubber' ? sorry 🙂 Ill shut up and watch the video now.

  21. Maximo says

    Is this 3mile beach in santa cruz? Also what ND filter would work best?

  22. Mehdi Gharbi says

    What is the best level of Nd filter u recommend

  23. jimitav says

    Just came across this video. Awesome!

  24. what makes your photo's sooo crisp? I keep trying the same thing, I mean, my tripod ain't that good but still. what's the biggest tip.

  25. NEIL03GAMER says

    Intro: he uses a Nikon camera… immediately clicks of video

  26. Kermit the Frog says

    The bloopers at the end had me rolling!

  27. Kupar Sten says

    How to include person in long exposure shooting mode?

  28. D.P. Joubert says

    Excellent tips. Thanks a lot, only videos that actually get to the tips and trick before bedtime…thank you

  29. Joey Stalone says

    The damn puns

  30. scott loiacono says

    Josh does the f stop and iso matter as u did not mention them. Thanks

  31. Paul Madden says

    Great video, straight to the point, well presented, and those bloopers were brilliant. Thanks Joshua!

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