How to Photograph Ponds & Lakes

Use a wide angle lens on your camera to capture a broad landscape. Unless you are planning specifically to shoot creatures in the water, there tend not to be specific details in ponds and lakes that require the use of a long telephoto lens. Wider lenses will give your photographs more context and, as a result, more visual appeal.

Attach a polarizing filter to your lens. These filters remove glare from the surface of the water. In ripply ponds and lakes, this can be the difference between a good photograph and a great one.

Shoot in the morning or at dusk to avoid harsh mid-day lighting. Additionally, there tends to be less activity in ponds or lakes during this time, and less wind, which means the amount of waves and ripples in the water will be reduced.

Set your camera to a small aperture (large f-stop number). Anything between f/8 and f/22 should provide sufficient depth of field to keep the entire pond or lake in sharp focus.

Choose a slow shutter speed to induce a slight blur on the water. The effects of ripples can be minimized with a slower shutter speed, and longer exposures will give a desirable "milky" quality to the pond or lake. Anything slower than 1/15 of a second will achieve this effect, but exposures of 1/2 of a second or longer are best.

Mount your camera on a tripod to minimize the effect of camera shake during long exposures.