I had my first go at using a ND filter (not grad ND) and I'm looking for both CC and more importantly, usage tips, because I'm at a bit of a loss.
Here was my setup:
Camera on tripod with remote release. ISO set to LO 1 (100). Aperture F/22. ND 8 (3 stops, I believe) filter. I put the filter up to the lens and recomposed, refocused and allowed it to recalculate the shutter speed (was in Aperture priority mode).
Flickr did a crummy job uploading because I forgot that I set it to auto-resize but here is what I have:
What were you trying to accomplish here? An ND filter doesn't really offer any benefits for a scene like this, other than to let you use a longer exposure...
As molson said, all the ND is going to do is give you a slower shutter speed, which is also (I assume) why you used f22 (though you need to be aware that could degrade how sharp the shot is due to defraction).
So..... what was the final shutter speed? What were you hoping for? What ere you expecting that you didn't get?
DaveEP wrote:
As molson said, all the ND is going to do is give you a slower shutter speed, which is also (I assume) why you used f22 (though you need to be aware that could degrade how sharp the shot is due to defraction).
So..... what was the final shutter speed? What were you hoping for? What ere you expecting that you didn't get?
I CAN'T believe I forgot the most important part. Yes, I was trying to slow the shutter speed to give everything that smooth look that long exposures do.
I got it down to 1/60th of a second. I was hoping to get it to like 1 second, but it looks like I would have to stack a number of filters for bright daylight like this.
I very much hit diffraction at f/22 (I think it starts at like f/16 or even higher on this lens) but its negligible at web size uploads like this.
A polarizer is kind of a neutral density filter. I cannot understand why you wanted to use a ND filter for this particular shot instead of a polarizer. It is a nice shot thought.
I use a graduated neutral density filter often with my wide angles because with the polarizer not all areas of the sky are evenly polarized. The graduated filter allows me to keep an even sky.
I see neutral density filters being used more often to tone down the exposure, to slow down movement.
William Rodriguez
Miami, Florida.
as others have said, this is the wrong type of scene to do very long exposures and come up with much different from a short exposure. you're looking at exposures of a minute or two to get the water smooth enough and even so, the scene will hardly change. you need about 10-12 stops of ND filter to get to those kinds of shutter speeds at reasonable lens apertures.
Herb....
Taylor Barrett wrote:
I CAN'T believe I forgot the most important part. Yes, I was trying to slow the shutter speed to give everything that smooth look that long exposures do.
I got it down to 1/60th of a second. I was hoping to get it to like 1 second, but it looks like I would have to stack a number of filters for bright daylight like this.
I very much hit diffraction at f/22 (I think it starts at like f/16 or even higher on this lens) but its negligible at web size uploads like this.
LarsOJohannes wrote:
Kudos for experimenting.. keep at it
+1
BTW, it is near impossible to get smooth running water in bright sunlight. The ND's work great when shooting running water in overcast or sweet light. Don't let the negative comments get you down.
Couple of ideas. Since you are in Seattle, try this filter out on the Olympic Penn at Sol Duc Falls - where you could get nice blurring of the water. Another idea in town is the lighthouse at Discovery Park.
I can see where this is headed to now.... as cameras have more or less attained terrific quality at high ISO's.... we'll soon be seeing DSLR's offering iso's as low as ISO 6
since in reality the water is very far away , it will likely never really "smooth" out much. Find a spot nearer the water with a strong anchor point and then use the long exposure to add the illusion
Well, you probably know what I think about people experimenting. They should be flogged and then hang, drawn and quarted. Green auto mode people... green auto mode.
I think it's good to try different things. Occasionally you stumble across some effect you like.
The shot here itself is actually quite nice. But as has been said, let nature kill the light for you. You're going out again at sun rise so that should give you much better light to work with. And possible a bit of a better colour in the sky to boot. (I've already imagined the shot in my head. )
Looking forward to it because that really is a photogenic scene.
Well I see you got gasworks park nice and sharp! Yeah, I agree with everyone here, you need some extra stops, try combining the ND8 + polarizer, also, have you considered shooting earlier in the day or later? I bet the warm sun setting over in the north east direction would look pretty nice... where are you shooting from? Westlake or 99?
Don't worry about my feelings, I'm still learning. I had better results closer to night.
bellyface wrote:
Well I see you got gasworks park nice and sharp! Yeah, I agree with everyone here, you need some extra stops, try combining the ND8 + polarizer, also, have you considered shooting earlier in the day or later? I bet the warm sun setting over in the north east direction would look pretty nice... where are you shooting from? Westlake or 99?
