Etceterra Photo tours

Shooting with filters

Aleksandr Kukrinov:

“The development of contemporary photography is flowing by leaps and bounds, so any photographer, whether amateur or professional, strives to present their works more quality, interesting and artistic. The use of different filters (there are many available now) certainly help with this task. There is plenty of information about filters functions and quality on the web.

As for me, in landscape photography, in addition to protective filters, I most often use dimming ND filters, about which I will tell. ND filters are used in order to achieve effects that give artistic and extraordinary touch to the photos through the increase of the exposure time.

Smoothing the white-water, showing clouds travel or turning the movement of vehicles in the evening city into spectacular tracers. ND filters are different in density that allows you to use the necessary exposure depending on the situation.

1. As in this case we talk about long exposures, do not forget a tripod and a cable release (for exposures longer than 30 seconds). Also, remember that the darkest filters permit the light through very slightly, and in some cases, you will not be able to focus with them, so it is better to focus first, switch the camera to manual focus mode, and then gently screw on the filter.

ND 1000 filter, in this case, the clouds moved slowly, so showing their movement took 75 seconds.
Diaphragm: f/16
Exposure: 75
ISO: 100
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

2. If you set the task to shoot the movement of clouds more artistically, then, in my opinion, pictures taken at dusk or dawn, where the clouds palette is richer, are more attractive.

3. The direction of clouds motion is also important. It is better if the clouds move on you, then you can get perspective diagonals striking for the basic object of the scene that makes an undeniable composition advantage.

Filter ND 1000.
Diaphragm: f/14
Exposure: 120
ISO: 100
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

4. Long exposure hampers the shooting of landscapes with trees, grass and everything that moves from the wind, unless, of course, there is a task to blur such objects on purpose. Therefore, for these themes, it is better to select relatively calm weather.

Filter ND 64.
Diaphragm: f/20
Exposure: 120
ISO: 100
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

5. If you go on holiday to the seaside, shooting the waves crashing on the coastal rocks will be the interesting pastime. You can beneficially combine the effect of water smoothing and scattering clouds and the water turns into a gentle cloud, wrapping the rocks.

Filter ND 1000.
Diaphragm: f/18
Exposure: 300
ISO: 100
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

6. You can experiment with the model in the frame. Naturally, no one would be able to stand completely still for a few minutes, therefore it is better to build a snapshot so that the model took a bit place in the frame and was not turned with the face to the lens, as the blur on the face will look not very good. And the fluttering hair, in contrast, may give artistic touch.

Filter ND 1000.
Diaphragm: f/16
Exposure: 180
ISO: 100 Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

7. We all hate traffic jams, but shooting in the evening city, you may get an interesting effect, when cars moving and stopping, sometimes show up among tracers, evoking even some philosophical thoughts…)

Filter ND 64.
Diaphragm: f/14 Exposure: 60
ISO: 100
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

8. As far as the suitable time for shooting is impermanent while the exposure time is long, you need to calculate the exposure required for shooting with a particular filter in certain conditions. To do this, you need to multiply the exposure obtained without filter by the coefficient of filter absorption. For example, 1/4 s without filter, for ND 1000 it is 250 s.

Exposure: 1/50
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

Exposure: 1/4
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

Exposure: 1/2
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

Exposure: 1
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

Exposure: 8
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

Exposure: 25
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

Do not think that the longer exposure, the more interesting the snapshot will be, try different, experiment, you can often find where least expect!” Creative ways to use the filters are truly endless, but it is very difficult to get reliable information on this topic and thus make the right choice of the filter. To use them, you only need to have the camera with a lens having threaded joint for blend and photo filters.