ND filters are one of the most common and useful accessories any landscape photographer can have in their bag. If you are new to the genre, you might be wondering how and when they are used. This great video will give you an introduction to ND filters along with some demonstrations of their usage.
Coming to you from fototripper, this excellent video will show you how ND filters are used in landscape photography. If you have not seen them before, neutral density (ND) filters are simply filters that are made to reduce the amount of light entering the lens. This allows you to create effects like smoothing moving water to create silky flows. Taken to extremes, they can be used to create some highly abstract images by eliminating any sort of texture that is created by movement. ND filters come in different powers that can extend your exposure by fractions of a second all the way up to multiple minutes depending on the effect you are going for. Check out the video above for the full rundown.
And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out the "Photographing the World" tutorial series with Elia Locardi.
Oh what a great video to send to people that might not have seen any of Gavin's videos before. Oh boy. People should check out the the first Stalker video. Otherwise, half of this video will not make any sense. It is like someone starting to watch Game of Thrones by starting in the middle of season 4 or something. Confusion will abound.
I'm looking into purchasing a Lee filter system for landscapes. I am thinking like anND and some graduated filters. I would appreciate input from people that have used those and if they would recommend them. Or if you know a better system
These days I would avoid any resin filter, get glass ones, IR coated preferably. Depending on your budget and what you want take a look at the Wine Country Camera system. You can fit filters from other manufactures on the filter vaults. Also Breakthrough Photography makes good filters. Singh Ray are exceptional. I honestly find the Lee filters the worst performing of the bunch, though their new holder is OK.
Thanks, I'm glad I asked. I'm gonna look into those other options.
Any opinions on NiSi?
I've heard favorable comments about them, I don't have first hand experience with them. Maybe someone else will chime in.
For ND filters the premium option is Schott glass. But resin filters from LEE, HiTec, and even Cokin are made from Optical grade resin same as you eyeglass lenses, they are less prone to breaking,
but are more prone to scratches. So care must be taken either way. What to look for in either is if the filter is coated or infuse in the glass or resin at the time of manufacturing. Like anything else, you get what you pay for, and if possible avoidance of cheap filters is always good. Never fails to amaze me that after some people spend $$$ on a good lens to put a cut rate filter on the front of it. Unless done for effect. As far as brand, I think you will be safe with any of the reputable names. I would not worry too much about IR coated because there is an IR filter in front of the capture sensor in camera. Unless it has been removed.
I'm a fan of B+W glass (German Co.).
Seems like German and Japanese glass is pretty nice
I recently bought one of the NiSi kits on sale. While I haven't had much time with it just yet, I'm very impressed with the quality of the glass so far. Optically amazing, no color cast, and the 'enhanced landscape' CPL is also very good. The V6 holder is excellent too, feels secure, solid and well made.
They seem to be a good balance of quality and price based on my reading. One thing for sure is based on these comments Im not gonna waste any money on Lee. Seems like there are plenty of options
Exactly! Resin filters get scratched up after a while. So, get MRC glass. I'm waiting on the PolarPro Summit kit! Can't wait to try it!
Careful with WC filter holder. Look at this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2rtLZANNh8
and the rest in the series to give you ideas about various holders.
I know of photographers that use grad filters (Tom Heaton) and those that do not (Nick Page) and they just bracket the image and blend in Photoshop. So if you feel comfortable in Photoshop, you could do it that way. If you want to have everything in a single image, then you might want grad filters to allow you do that. It depends on your process.
I've done some HDR type work in post, but I am interested in trying daytime long exposures and there is something satisfying about getting the image as close as possible to finished in camera.
Definitely do not buy $5.00 variable ND filters, learned my lesson... Or you can, but do not use them on the lowest, or highest, setting at least; best to just avoid them completely. haha.
https://tinyurl.com/t5zpjj3
Yea, I've spent alot on my lenses and camera body. It would be foolish to cap off the lense with some cheapo filter.
I use a B+W 10 stop filter and it works great for B+W. However it has a color cast that I find hard to fix. What I do now is a custom white balance with an Expodisk https://www.expodisc.com/. Takes 99% of the cast away. If I were starting over I would get one without a cast; https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/10-Stop-Neutral-Density-Filt...
Shooting LE is a lot of fun, These photos are from my first tries.
Nice images!
Thanks!
Wow. The second one looks like a smooth watercolor painting. Impressive LE.
Thanks. I was going for a very minimalist look. Thinking about getting a large canvas print of this for our living room.
I also think that ND filters can be the most over used and improperly used filters out there. Even eclipsing the permanent polarizer that I have seen. Yes you digital shooters have to use ND's especially the grads more than us film burners because of the tendencies of the digital capture sensor in blowing out highlights, and that's ok it's what you have to do. Nothing more, nothing less. But what I am getting at is that not every waterfall, or fast moving stream or rapids have to be cottoned. Sure it conveys movement, sure it looks good and is a crowd pleaser hanging at festivals and what not. But there are also times when stop action, or a stark "blown" sky can be equally captivating. Not every technically correct and perfectly balanced image is winner, and not every image that contains "errors" is bad. I would offer to sometimes embrace "errors" in exposures in some images. You might be surprised.
I know what you mean. Really don't need to see another LE waterfall again.
I have a LE waterfall shot... after years of griping they were silly. I still like to stop waterfalls in a blink of time, though.
What I really want to do with my ND is make people disappear. Trip planned to NYC in the spring... experiment in planning stages. :)
Usually I when I do LE urban where the desire to not have people in the image I shoot using my view camera LF 4X5 (Omega 1 rail ) black and white negative at a rate of ASA 6-25 tops. I shoot film only and to be honest with the smaller aperture of f 64-125 of LF lenses and a slow ASA setting its pretty easy on large format. The film that is most readily available is Ilford Pan F 50. I have had success in pulling it to ASA 25. 1 stop. There are other slower films (ASA 6 -ASA 25) available from SVEMA (Ukraine), and ORWO(Germany), that has reintroduced its ASA 6 wonder. My exposure time is usually around 4-8 minutes dependent on light conditions, repercosity failure adjustments, filter factor adj if I am using a filter. You are going to have to use a handheld light meter for this. I take multiple spot readings at Zone III, Zone V, and Zone VII or VIII to calculate a correct exposure. Even then I still take bracketed shots. I don't know if digital is able to get to an extremely low ASA as film can and what if any adjustments for digital you might need. But I do know you are going to have to slow your exposure way down. If you want you can message me and I will go into more detail on how its done on film, Maybe it would help maybe not. Like I said I am a dinosaur, I do not even own a digital camera.