On Wednesday this week (3rd February) I had a free day so
contacted a good friend and fellow photographer Nathan Roberts of NR Imagery
and arranged to visit Cwm Idwal in the Ogwen Valley, North Wales to take some
photos.
As I knew I would be taking landscape shots I didn’t see the need to
take some of my lenses such as my Sigma 70-200mm and also my Tamron 90mm Macro
instead opting only to take my Sony Zeiss 24-70mm f2.8 (A-Mount) and my Sigma10-20mm f3.5 (APS-C sensor lens) along with my Sony A7R and Sony A77ii bodies. I
always like to carry two bodies on photo walks just in case one decides not to
work.
I also decided to take along with me a couple of 10 stop ND filters.
Neutral Density (ND) filters can be used to create very unique looking photos
especially when photographing running water. ND filters allow the photographer
to use slower shutter speeds for longer exposures. Some of the shots featured
in this blog post have shutter speeds of 60 plus seconds and some even as long
as 2 minutes in which time a lot of water has flowed through the scene creating
a mysterious foamy look.
To use a 10 stop ND filter, I first set my camera for a normal exposure
to capture the running water at for example 1/15 second, f10 and ISO 50. I then
use the free app LE Calculator on my iPhone to calculate what the shutter speed
should then be set to when the 10 stop ND filter is added. At these settings
the app calculated that I needed to change the shutter speed to 68 seconds. To
do this on a camera you need to select BULB mode or on a Sony camera while
using Manual mode rotate the shutter speed dial until it goes one notch further
than a 30 second exposure. I then press and lock my shutter remote until the 68
seconds have elapsed then release it and voila we have a unique long exposure
of running water.
When taking photos with long exposures like these it’s imperative that
you have your camera on a sturdy tripod and use a shutter release cable so that
camera shake is reduced a minimum. It was very windy the day these shots were
taken but they still turned out ok.
Click to enlarge the photos below. Please leave a comment and share.
Nathan Roberts trying out one of my ND filters
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