How To Use A Nd Filter

WHAT IS A NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTER?

A neutral density filter (ND filter) is simply a filter that's cuts the amount of light that enters your camera's lens. They are almost commonly used in landscape photography when a photographer wants to create a longer exposures than what would normally be possible using simply the camera's internal settings. In this commodity you lot will learn how to use a neutral density filter and how to calculate long exposures.

Imagine that y'all want to crate a 30 second exposure in bright sunlight. Even with the camera set up to ISO 100 with an aperture of f/22 the shutter speed will still exist relatively fast. The only way to go a longer exposure in this state of affairs is to place a neutral density filter in front of the lens.

TYPES OF NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS.

In that location are 3 types of ND filters. Solid ND, graduated ND, and variable ND. Graduated filters are useful when yous only want to darken a portion of the image such equally when the heaven is brighter than the foreground. While these filters tin be quite useful, a whole commodity could exist written about their awarding so I volition salvage that for a hereafter postal service.

Solid and variable ND filters darken the entire prototype which allows the photographer to mistiness anything that is moving. I highly recommend purchasing solid ND filters over variable ND filters since variable filter are oftentimes more problem than what their worth. A variable filter allows you to change the density of the filter simply by turning it. Sound too skilful to be true? That's considering it is. You volition spend a picayune more coin purchasing multiple solid ND filters simply the quality of a solid neutral density filter volition exist much higher than a variable filter. Variable ND filters will ofttimes cause artifacts on wide bending lenses and have thick frames which can crusade pretty terrible vignetting even without stacking filters.

SQUARE VS. Round ND FILTERS

When choosing a solid ND filter you can either choose a screw on filter or invest in a filter holder system. If y'all're new to neutral density filters, you may want to start off with a screw on filter or two. In fact, I dear my round ND filters by Breakthrough Photography due to their natural color, ease of setup and low profile. A filter organisation can have a bit longer to setup and when the lighting is good I desire to become the shot, not wrestle with my gear. Foursquare filters too have more surface area which means more than area for moisture to collect when shooting near the body of water, waterfalls, or in the rain. With that existence said, good filter systems do have their advantages. They permit photographers to stack solid and graduated ND filters with little to no vignetting. Again, I prefer Quantum Photography.

WHEN TO Utilize A NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTER.

Mural photographers use ND filters when they desire to create silky smooth h2o. This effect works wonderfully on waterfalls, creeks, lakes and oceans. Long exposures tin also be used to create dreamy streaks in a cloudy sky and can even be used to remove moving objects from a scene. If your shutter is long enough and the objects are moving fast enough, they will not fifty-fifty show up in the shot!

Portrait photographers will sometimes use depression density ND filters when working with flashes. Since portrait photographers generally like to utilise a very shallow depth of field (open aperture), information technology may not be desirable to stop down the exposure using the aperture and if the ISO is already maxed out the next best choice is to use a one or two stop neutral density filter.

HOW MANY STOPS SHOULD A NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTER Be?

ND filters come in a wide variety of densities that are described in stops. A low-cal ND filter may but be one or ii stops which is perfect for portrait photographers using a flash while a very dense ND might be 15 or xx stops. Then how many stops should a ND filter be? That depends on the amount of light that you lot're working with and the desired results that you lot're going afterward.

For most practical mural uses, three, half-dozen and 10 terminate filters are the nigh common. 3 finish filters are dandy for when you demand to button the exposure just a little longer. I find iii finish filters to be really useful on the far edges of solar day when the light is already quite low merely the at that place's still likewise much low-cal to create the length of exposure I'm looking for.

Six stop filters are perhaps the well-nigh flexible of the solid ND filters since they are dark only not welding glass dark. Virtually mod cameras volition nonetheless be able to focus through a half dozen stop ND filter in decent lighting weather condition without a problem. If I were to pick but ane neutral density filter to carry with me, information technology would be a six stop filter.

Ten stop ND filters are very dark and are capable of achieving 30 second to two infinitesimal exposures in the middle of the solar day. These filters are useful for completely blurring moving h2o and so information technology looks like a soft haze. Ten and fifteen stop filters are also very good for removing moving objects from an epitome equally if they were never there in the first place.

CALCULATING LONG EXPOSURES

When working with dense filters such equally ten stop NDs it may be necessary to calculate the exposure manually considering the lite meter may not be able to give a proper reading through the night drinking glass. Luckily, computing long exposures is not every bit hard as it may seem. Whatsoever time the shutter speed is doubled or halved you lot adjust the exposure of the image by one terminate. Similarly, the exposure is adjusted by one stop any time you double or halve the ISO.

For example, if I take a photograph at ISO 200, for one second I tin get the exact same exposure by lowering the ISO to 100 and increasing the exposure time to ii seconds while leaving the aperture where is was. In this example I took abroad one stop in the ISO simply I also added a stop by doubling the exposure time so the shot is finer the aforementioned exposure.

Calculating aperture requires a lot more math than anyone in their right listen is ever going to do in the field. Luckily, it is still very easy to calculate the aperture'southward effect on exposure because we know that all modern cameras operate in 1/3 and 1/2 stop increments. Nearly cameras will arrange exposure in 1/3 increments by default but many tin can be programed to shoot in 1/ii stop increments too.

Check your camera's carte du jour to see if you're shooting in ane/3 or 1/2 stop increments. Hint: If you lot take never changed the increment settings in your camera, you're probably shooting in 1/3 stop increments. If your camera is set to 1/three cease increments, adjusting the discontinuity punch by three clicks will adjust the exposure by one full stop. If y'all photographic camera is prepare to one/2 stop increments every ii clicks will adjust the exposure past 1 end.

Private Landscape Photography Workshops — Private Mural Photography Workshops

REAL Earth 10 STOP ND EXAMPLE

Now let'southward look at a real world situation using a ten finish ND filter. As mentioned in a higher place, your low-cal meter might not be able to calculate the proper exposure due to the large amount of light that is being cut past the filter. For this reason is is best to set your camera's mode to transmission. If there is a lot of light you might be able to meter through the filter but if y'all're shooting on the edge of mean solar day you lot may have to calculate the exposure manually.

And so let's walk through how to shoot with a x cease ND filter in low lite. Beginning we'll take a shot without the ND filter. For this example let's assume that our settings without a filter are ISO 100, f/16, 1 second.

After adding the x terminate filter we have to find a way to add ten stops of lite to our exposure. Nosotros can do this by adjusting the aperture, shutter speed, ISO or a combination of the iii which is oft the route that I end upwards taking. If we're calculation a ten stop filter, nosotros're probably going after a very long exposure so we'll get-go off past adjusting our shutter speed.

Passing Day Over the Bay — 5 1/ii minute long exposure

Think that we were shooting at one second before we added the filter. To add 1 terminate of light we'll adapt the exposure from ane second to two seconds. Now we but have 9 more than stops to get! We tin can double the time once again to iv seconds and so double that to viii seconds which leaves u.s. with seven more stops to go. Our exposure is still relatively brusque then let's double information technology again to sixteen and then to 30 seconds. We're one-half way there! (I know I shaved off two seconds but I'g going to presume that most people reading this are like me and not math wizards. It'south best to keep things as uncomplicated as possible when in the field.)

At this point nosotros need to switch our camera to bulb mode in oder to achieve an exposure over thirty seconds. Make sure to pay attention to the aperture settings when switching from manual to bulb mode. The aperture is often fix independently between transmission and seedling modes. Subsequently making sure our aperture value remained at f16 we can program in our exposure using an intervalometer timer.

NOTE: If you do non have an intervalometer, you lot can use a regular cable release and picket the stopwatch on your phone. Furthermore, many new cameras accept builtin intervalometers.

Allow'south continue to double our exposure to ane infinitesimal, then to two minutes and finally to 4 minutes. We have gained 8 stops of exposure but nosotros still accept 2 more to go. We could keep to double our exposure simply we'd stop upwardly at 16 minutes!!! Rather than shoot for 16 minutes, let'south add a stop by increasing the ISO grade 100 to 200. Finally, let'southward add our last stop by opening up the discontinuity from f/sixteen to f/11.

APPS FOR CALCULATING EXPOSURES

If the higher up case has your head spinning, don't worry. There's are many dissimilar apps that can be used to help y'all calculate the proper exposure. LE Reckoner is a complimentary app that will calculate long exposures and even comes with a built in timer in case y'all practice not have an intervalometer. PhotoPills is a paid app that has a long exposure computer amongst many other photography planning tools. Information technology's a fantastic app and I highly recommend it for any landscape photographer.

DEALING WITH LONG EXPOSURE Racket

Long exposure times equate to added noise even at depression ISO settings. As long as your exposure does non exceeded v minutes, you should have relatively low amounts of noise. Noise is created when the sensor heats up during a long exposure. If it'due south cold outside, you may be able to go away with longer exposures before noticing much noise. Full frame cameras will handle ultra long exposures better than crop sensor cameras. While shooting for longer than five minutes tin can add noise to a shot, sometimes the results can be worth the added noise. Experiment with different exposure times and come across how they upshot the image. If needed, you can utilize some racket reduction during post.

DEALING WITH CHANGING LIGHT

When shooting on the border of twenty-four hour period it's of import to recollect that the world moves faster than you retrieve. The amount of light falling on a scene can change dramatically in the matter of a few seconds, let alone a few minutes. Changing light throws i more variable in our exposure equation that tin can be very hard to predict. When shooting during sunrise, you will need to subtract a stop or two to compensate for the increment in light that will happen equally the sun continues to add light to the scene throughout the exposure. The opposite of this is true at sunset. During sunset you will accept to add a terminate or ii in order to compensate for the fading light.

ISO and aperture can sometimes exist more effective at decision-making exposure when the lite is rapidly irresolute because they practise not add or subtract any time to the exposure. Imagine that the sun is setting and your exposure is already v minutes. If you lot add a terminate of light using the shutter, your shot will and then be ten minutes long. The amount of light that disappears in those added five minutes will more than like exist greater than the stop that you added. Therefore, a better selection might be to boost the ISO or open up upwardly the aperture.

Even during the eye of the day, moving clouds can cause each long exposure shot to look quite different. It'due south a good idea to try multiple shots if in that location are a lot of clouds in the heaven. The departure a few minutes makes tin be amazing.

I volition often take a few shots without a filter if the light is looking good. This way I tin can blend the shots if the low-cal changes or at the very least I have a few solid exposures that were taken with a fast shutter.

WATCH OUT FOR UNWANTED MOVEMENT.

Pay shut attention to elements within the scene that could cause unwanted move blur. Tree branches and plants rarely stay even so for very long. Sometimes the blurry edges of plants can be an interesting look. Other times you may want the vegetation to stay still. If your exposure is just a few seconds long you lot may be able to fourth dimension your exposure then it happens when the wind is not bravado. If yous are attempting a very long exposure there might not be much you tin can practice other than comprehend the soft edges from the current of air. Photographers who take strong Photoshop skills might be able to composite an prototype using one fast shot that was taken without the ND filter and one that was taken with the ND filter. This technique tin evidence to be quite wearisome though then I volition non embrace information technology in this article.

DON'T LET LIGHT LEAKS RUIN YOUR SHOTS

Lite is a photographer's best friend but information technology can besides be our worst enemy. Lite leaks will surely ruin a good long exposure. The telltale sign of a light leak is a magenta cast that appears in only a portion of the image. It is always a good idea for DSLR shooters to comprehend the camera's eye piece particularly if the lord's day is behind the camera. If y'all fail to embrace the eyepiece, calorie-free tin can enter the photographic camera from the rear and cause a terrible color cast.

High endNikon DSLR's take a a convenient eyepiece curtain that should be used whenever performing long exposures. If your photographic camera does not have a congenital in eyepiece cover you may want to carry some gaffers record that tin be used to temporarily block light while you lot are performing a long exposure. Mirrorless shooters do not have to worry nigh rear light leaks since at that place are the view finder is electronic.

Light leaks can also occur when using filter folders. Sometime calorie-free will creep into the filter and bounciness around during the shot. For this reason, I prefer screw on filters in most cases. If you notice a light leak when using a filter arrangement, endeavour to apply gaffers tape to cease the leak.

NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS AND Colour CAST PROBLEMS

Near ND filters take at a little bit of a color bandage. Some are worse than others. Breakthrough Filters tend to exist the virtually color neutral filters that I have found and they are backed by a xx year warranty.

DARK POLARIZER FILTERS

In recent years, filter companies have started to make night PL filters. A dark PL is a combination of a neutral density filter and polarizer all in i. While nigh all in i products are terrible, dark PL filters work amazingly well! They come in various densities and remove of the demand to stack a ND and PL filter together which reduces the risk of vignetting at wider focal lengths.

Decision

Neutral Density filters are a great way to add atmosphere to a shot with moving elements. I recommend experimenting with various density filters and exposure times to gain a greater understand of how ND filters piece of work. Notice the differences in a one-half 2nd exposure and a two 2nd exposure. And then compare those results with a 30 second exposure and a 5 minute exposure. Practise gauging exposures under irresolute lighting conditions and come across if you can accurately predict the correct exposure. Watch your histogram and effort to bring it to the right side of the graph.

Happy shooting!