New Photo Blog Post: Part of your Photos too dark/bright? Graduated NDs to the rescue! #ND #filter #photography

Is my camera working?  Why do some pics have parts that are too bright/dark?
Your camera isn't the problem.  The fact is cameras don't have the ability to "see" the range of dark to light tones our eyes can see.  That said, if you have a scene that has elements that are both very bright and dark, your camera is going to freak out.

The pic above is a perfect example.  The pic on the left is just what the camera said is the "ideal" exposure, no filters, no nada.  This ended up with the bridge being too dark and the sky too bright.  The picture on the right is balanced with a graduated ND filter.  There is no Photoshop done in either.

How is this done?  NDs are your friend!

Okay, here we have the first pic.  I marked up the obviously problems 1) cars are distracting/a pain to get out using photoshop 2)sky is too bright 3)bridge/water is too dark.

Step 1) Get rid of the cars with a solid ND...

check out my previous blog post on sold NDs if you want more info about solid NDs.  The basic idea is that using a slower shutter speed you can essentially make the cars disappear.  This was taken at f/11 at 2 seconds

Step 2) Balance the sky and foreground with a ND grad

Using a Lee 2-stop hard step graduated ND I was able to pull up the exposure, but still retain detail in the sky.  Basically I expose for the foreground and then I cover the sky with the dark portion of the filter.  This exposure was 5 seconds at f/11.

Step 3) Photoshop

The original pic is pretty bland in color, so I thought to convert to black and white.  While I might have been outside a little longer setting up the shot and taking multiple pics, I now have a great starting point for Photoshop.  Rather than editing out cars, and trying to balance the sky/foreground, or using HDR software, I can just get right into Photoshop and do little fixes.  This only took 10 minutes to do in Photoshop.  And think about it, rather than being stuck behind the computer, I was spending more time outside...This is a cool office :)

This is just an example of what can be done with ND grads and solid NDs.  The pic is nothing special, but I want to show what is possible and why things go wrong so often when people get new DSLRs.  In the future I'll do another few blog posts about NDs and more specifics on what I use.

-Morgan

New Photo Blog Post: Moving clouds, How to make it happen with ND filters

Cloud Movement
I think one of the coolest effects a photographer has control over is depicting movement.  With slower shutter speeds you can make clouds move, water will become still, etc.  That is exactly what I did in the pic above.  Some people asked how I did this during mid day, so I thought to write about it.

ND Filters
The main ingredients I use to make this effect are ND filters, particularly 6-10 stop filters.  B+W and Heliopan make a good variety of ND filters that are high quality.  Here are some extra considerations when purchasing an ND.

1. Screw-in vs Square filters - Even if you have a filter holder (Cokin or Lee), I would still use a screw in type when working with filters this dark.  I've used square filters (Hitech) and the Lee Big Stopper and they are prone to light leakage (meaning light comes in on the side of the filter and makes an ugly looking exposure) even though they have a gasket that is supposed to block the light...plain and simple, it doesn't work.  Screw in are the way to go in the >3 stop ND range.
2. Composing - My go-to filter is the 6 stop from Heliopan, but I use the B+W a lot too.  Here's why: while most people say you must go to the 10 stop, the problem there is that you can't see anything in the viewfinder!  I don't have live view on 5D, but I'm assuming the problem carries over to live view as well.  If you can't see anything, every time you want to take a new shot, you need to take off the filter, compose, put the filter back on, and if you have a holder kit like I do, then you need to put that on top for each and every shot.  This is a pain!!!  With the 6 stop you can actually see through the finder and compose without a problem.
3. Color Casts - Color casts are a problem with all these filters.  Mine (Heliopan and B+W) have a reddish cast, whereas the Big stopper and hi-tech were very blue!  I correct this in Photoshop or use a Custom WB if I remember to bring my grey card with me.  I have a Lastolite EzyBalance and I like it a lot, but I just wish I used it more.
4. Accessories Needed - A tripod is needed to make the happen.  I know that tons of places say that you need the biggest, baddest tripod around, but this is bs.  I find that if it's so big and heavy, you never bring it with you and it collects dust.  Rather, I have a lightweight tripod that I bring with me everywhere.  It's so light, but I add weight to it if I really need more support or if the winds are really high.  Lastly, once you go past the 30 second mark, you need to get a remote trigger.  They usually have a lock so you can take an exposure as long as you want in bulb mode.

Examples

Here are some simple shots of the same scene to show the difference between the different NDs.  These are original shots with no Photoshop at all.  Remember this is around mid day too.

No ND F/11 1/250th second :

6 stop Heliopan ND F/11 .4 second :

Note the light red cast and a little movement in the clouds

10 stop B+W ND f/11 5 second :

Note the stronger red cast but more movement in the clouds

10 stop B+W ND f/22 20 seconds :

After changing the aperture to f/22 now I'm getting the cloud streaks I want!  Stoked!

10 stop B+W ND + Lee Holder with 3 stop Grad ND f/22 60 seconds :

After changing the aperture, I still thought the trees and lower part of the frame were too dark.  I added a Lee ND Grad 3 stop soft to balance and then further push the time to 60 seconds.  This is the ideal shot to drop into Photoshop and some small effects to make the shot even better.

Side Note on Vari ND - While many of the pros swear by the Vari ND made by Singh-ray I just don't get it.  I've never used one and I bet it's a great product, but what are you supposed to do if you have a filter holder?  This just doesn't work in that case because there would be no way to rotate the filter and work the holder at the same time.  I think if you ever plan to get a filter holder like those made by Lee, the best way to go is with screw in filters and deal with the hassle of having to change out the lenses if need be.  If you don't plan on getting a holder, then this would be your best bet.