It's trial and error, because the amount of exposure time needed depends on the water flow as well as whether the sun is shining or not. It's much better to have the sun behind clouds for these stream shots so you don't get harsh highlights and shadows.
Of course a tripod is a necessity. A good sturdy strong one. Water and cameras don't mix!
All these photos were taken with my Canon 50D body and 10-22mm EF-S lens. Using neutral density filters. The ISO was set at 100, but apertures and exposure times were really variable. From 3 seconds to 30 seconds! There's no easy way to work out what's the right exposure, though I do use the in camera light meter to give me a guide. After all, you're trying to create something that you can't see - a picture of light in motion - so only practice gets you there.
I'm working with two different neutral density filters at present. One is the Tiffen Variable ND filter which gives you a bit of flexibility in controlling the light coming through the lens, between 2 to 8 stops, which means you can try a bunch of different timed exposures to find the right look. I found this filter particularly useful for running water shots.
The second filter is the previously mentioned Hoya NDX400, which is one dark piece of glass, and awesome for those silky long sunrise shots over the ocean.
The final thing that happened not long after this shot was captured was a wave toppled my tripod and flooded/ ruined my camera. Perhaps I hadn't stabilised it as well as I thought I had - it was certainly a rather unpleasant surprise.
So I'll soon be the proud owner of a new Canon 70D!!
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