I'm a twenty something male that currently lives in Melbourne, Australia. Originally from Tasmania, I moved to Melbourne in January 2011 and have since been shooting urban and seascape long exposures around Victoria. Away from photography I'm a sucker for a nice coffee, yoyo's and a good tv series.
Using welding glass to create a daytime long exposure at Cape Woolamai
Look I won’t lie, I’m a light snob and when Ricardo Da Cunha told me at 7am that we weren’t heading down to the Yarra Valley to capture some nice fog lit forrests but instead down to Phillip Island I did raise my eye brows slightly. One of the things I’ve learnt over time is that for certain scenes, there’s not much point pulling your camera out unless it’s at certain times of the day. For waterfalls I generally find they’re best when the weather is overcast and miserable while for seascapes I prefer to shoot around sunset/sunrise to capture the golden hour light and colours that unfold. So with this in mind I smiled and thought I could at least resurrect the situation with some day time long exposure shots but that didn’t quite turn out to be. More on that later.
On our way down the idea was to catch up with Andrew Sharpe who has only just recently purchased a Phase One setup. I’d not seen one in the flesh and while not tempted myself, it’s a beautiful camera and I’m envious. Personally speaking, I’m a too rough with my camera’s and also like to get a little too close to the action like the time I lost my camera to a waterfall… So the idea of walking around with a camera worth upwards of $20,000+ alone would scare me. Hell, sitting on the train with a bag of camera gear can be nerve wracking enough. But either way, it was a beautiful camera and the results it puts out are stunning.
The walk into the Pinnacles is stunning and a must visit if you’re ever down Phillip Island wayAh… The lovely muddy descent down to the Pinnacles. Always a pleasure.
I’ve been down to the Pinnacles at Cape Woolamai only the once and it’s one of my favourite places for seascape photography in the state. There’s something about walking down the beach for a km or two and finally making your way to a set of stairs then walking further before you begin to descend down into the Pinnacles. A private little bay where the waves are endless and wild. It’s one of those places that never disappoints and would be hard to take a bad photograph. A must visit for any travelling photographer who is interested in seascape photography.
We made our way down to Cape Woolamai and the sky was overcast with not much going on. I quickly learnt that I had left my B+W 110 10 stop filter at home. The filter that I thought would allow me to at least capture a couple of frames using day time long exposure effects and resurrect the trip. Bit of a dampener but I quickly remembered that I had a Hoya R72 (infrared filter also great for long exposures) and some welding glass in my camera bag. I’ve blogged about using welding glass in the past with this post about using welding glass as a DIY neutral density filter which explains what welding glass to purchase and how to remove the colour cast from your shots.
With lighting conditions quite diffused from the overhead cloud this allowed me to capture the movement of water through some short long exposures using my Cokin Z-Pro filters like the shot below which involved the use of a .9 Cokin graduated neutral density filter. Some more information on the different types of filters out there and how to use them can be read on a recently posted blog post in case you are interested in further information.
Cape Woolamai
We didn’t hang around too long and ended up making our way back to Melbourne by lunch time. Would I shoot seascapes again during the day? Probably not but it’s a good slap in the face for me to be less of a light snob and get out there in conditions that are less ideal and make the most of what you are given. As opposed to only shooting locations when the conditions align.
Although that being said I find this seems to be one of the biggest mistakes I see for beginner photographers – not shooting according to the conditions and expecting to go out in the middle of the day and walk out with nice photos. If you are starting out I’d recommend learning what conditions work best for certain conditions and shooting around this time. So if you’re keen on shooting a favourite beach, find out if it is sunset or sunrise facing and get down there at that time as opposed to the middle of the day where you will be battling strong light or dull skies. Just don’t become a light snob like me 😉
Recently I was stuck on hold with a major airline here in Australia and remember seeing a cool 3D inspired portrait that was used for a commercial advertising campaign in Melbourne. It got me tempted to have a go at trying to deconstruct the concept and put something together myself to kill the time. I must profess that I’m actually quite ordinary in Photoshop but it turns out it was a lot easier than I thought and I’d love to share how it was done even if the final image is a little gimmicky.
A few years ago now I put together a video tutorial on YouTube on how to create a double exposure in Photoshop. At the time a few photographers were taking beautiful double exposures, achieving a similar effect to that seen in film and were doing it in camera on digital bodies. Most of these people were using the Canon 5D Mark III or other bodies which come with the ability to create double exposures in camera.
Blending these two images to create a double exposure effect in Photoshop
As I own the Canon 5D Mark II and the multiple exposure feature isn’t included, I was slightly disappointed and wanted to try achieve a similar effect in Photoshop. In the end I came up with a method of achieving the result. I must admit, it is messy and probably not the best way to achieve the end result. As some comments in the video indicate, there are better ways of doing it oh and apparently Phlearn is 10x better for tutorials. Harsh but true. Aaron Nace is amazing and I do recommend you look up his Photoshop and photography tutorials. They’re mind blowing and he’s really leading the field when it comes to tutorials in this area. YouTube comments are pretty amusing for the most part though. It really brings the best and worst out in people.
I’ve been meaning to put up a post on my blog about the tutorial and also link to the content I used for the tutorial in case anyone wants to have a play themselves with my ugly mug and a picture of Melbourne, Australia. It only took me 2 years… Sorry! Never too late right?
Resources for the Tutorial
For this tutorial I will be using two images which I’ve uploaded for you so you can follow the tutorial video with the exact images. Download the city backdrop image used for the background (1.99 MB) Download the self portrait image used for the foreground image (1.91 MB)
I’m going to let the video (and my poor audio) do the talking for a moment as I demonstrate how I blend the two images together. I’d suggest watching the tutorial first then attempt it yourself. For this tutorial, I was using Photoshop CS5 however you should have no issues doing it in previous or current versions.
As you can see in the video it’s actually really easy hey? The only frustrating part I find is feathering around the image to remove the background. As a commenter on the video said, it really is like playing minesweeper and can be a game of luck but you can make life easier for yourself by decreasing the tolerance and checking the contiguous box as others later mentioned. I do have some good news though, it is a frustrating tool the first time you play with it and does become more natural and easier to use over time.
Hope this tutorial was of use and if you have any questions be sure to get in touch as I’m always happy to help 🙂
One of my favourite photos made by possible by using various neutral density filters
Neutral density filters are a favourite tool of my photography tool set and admittedly most of my shots have been taken using at least one. I must be honest, neutral density filters were the turning point for my photography. I actually found it quite frustrating as I wasn’t getting the images how I wanted them in camera until I started playing around with graduated neutral density filters. Once I got hooked on these I started taking other aspects of my photography more seriously, learning about composition and how exposure affects your image. This lead me on a path of exploring the use of neutral density filters from graduated types, strong neutral density filters and even playing around with welding glass.
For this reason I wanted to put together a simple guide on how to use ND filters, explaining the different types out there and why they are a great to have in your camera bag while also looking at when they are needed/are good and how they are generally used by photographers. But neutral density filters do have their shortcomings which I’ll also explore in this article. You never know perhaps you might get hooked on them too? 😉
What are Neutral Density Filters
Before we get started though let’s look at what a neutral density filter is and what purpose it actually serves. A neutral density filter reduces the amount of light coming in to your camera. This is great for photographers who want a longer exposure time or a larger aperture which may not be possible due to lighting conditions at the scene. The light entering the camera is reduced by the darkness of the filter used. When we look at different neutral density filters we look at how many stops of light they block out. By this it means how many f-stops the filter blocks. In English the higher amount of F-stops the neutral density filter blocks out, the darker the filter will be and the longer the exposure time required to get the correct exposure time. Simple enough right?
Neutral density filters come in all shapes and sizes from screw on types (more common) to rectangle glass which is mounted to the camera lens through an adapter. Below shows my setup which I normally shoot with which consists of a .9 Cokin Z-Pro graduated neutral density filter, filter holder, lens adapter to fold the filter holder and a B+W 110 10 stop neutral density filter. Good fun screwing it all on when shooting in freezing conditions 😉
An example of a solid neutral density filter (Filter in picture – B+W 110 ND)
Sold neutral density filters are your more common neutral density filter on the market. These come in various strength levels ranging from blocking out 2 stops of light up incrementally up to filters that block 10 stops of light. The 2 stop filter is quite useful for shooting waterfalls when you’re not quite getting the exposure time you need or when shooting portraits in harsh sunlight and you wish to capture at a higher aperture which may not be possible due to the harsh light. While the 10 stop neutral density filter is a lot more specialised and will allow you to capture exposure times beyond a minute which can drastically transform a scene. If this is something that interests you, give my article about capturing daytime long exposures a read which goes into more detail about the use of strong neutral density filters.
If you’re looking to get started with a solid neutral density filter I would personally recommend a 4 stop neutral density filter like this Hoya filter as this is a good middle ground without being too weak or too strong.
One word of advice though, avoid screw on graduated neutral density filters and screw on filters that allow you to change the strength of the neutral density filter. A few friends have purchased these and have had awful results from them and said how inconsistent they are. Perhaps others have had good experiences with them but from most people I’ve spoken to, they regret the purchase and ended up purchasing either a proper solid neutral density filter or a graduated neutral density filter kit.
Graduated Neutral Density Filters
Graduated neutral density filters are where it all started for me when I started experimenting with ND filters. The purpose of a graduated neutral density filter is to gradually darken part of the image depending on the position of the filter. This results in a gradual shift in darkness from solid to clear and allows you to position the filter based on where you want the graduation to occur. A common use for the filter is when capturing landscape photography where shooting a scene that is not evenly lit as the sky will be bright from the sunrise/sunset and the land quite dark. By using the graduated neutral density filter this will allow you to under expose the sky (avoiding highlights and slightly darkening the sky to create some mood) which results in a more even exposure.
Graduated neutral filters come in various graduations or step types. The type I refer to in this article are your typical soft edge graduated neutral density filter where the top half of the filter is a solid dark and gradually loses its darkness to become clear. The setup I use is the Cokin Z-Pro kit which is ok however has issues of a purple colour cast when multiple filters are stacked. For this reason I prefer to recommend the Lee setup which doesn’t have the same colour cast issues which the Cokin setup can be prone to (however easily corrected in post processing). Another style is a hard edge neutral density filter where half the filter is solidly dark and the rest is clear. Another but less popular style is the reverse graduated neutral density filter. This is popular for sunset photographs where the sun is sitting around the horizon. I’ve not used these personally as they’re quite expensive and feel their usage is limited and doesn’t justify the cost (see this Hitech reverse graduated neutral density filter which doesn’t come cheap) but I’m sure are no doubt handy to have in the kit if you can afford one.
An example of graduated neutral density filters (Filters in photo – Cokin Z-Pro graduated neutral density filter, lens adapter and filter holder)
While not limited to various types of graduation, these filters also come in various colours which allow the photographer to add colour to their scene. Generally grey (neutral) filters are what photographers use but others have been known to experiment with the blue, yellow and sepia colour filters. These work just like the normal graduated filters do with the colour being strong at the top and gradually becoming clear at the bottom. I’d recommend against these as they do not provide an accurate colour representation of the screen and if you really must the effect is quite easily achieved in Lightroom using the graduated filter as part of that.
How to use graduated neutral density filters
As technology advances and processing techniques become more defined, some would argue that a graduated neutral density filter isn’t as required as much as it once was and actually create more issues than their worth by degrading image quality and unwanted darkening parts of your scene. I’d argue they still very much have their place in your photography kit but admit they aren’t suitable for every shooting situation.
Generally I will use a graduated neutral density filter to partially darken part of the sky but it can be quite difficult when an object is in part of the sky (i.e. a cliff face that takes part of the sky). For these situations I won’t use my neutral density filter as it will result in the cliff face gradually darkened which looks unnatural and degrades the quality of your final image. Lightroom and other photography editing applications now allow you to overlay a graduated neutral density filter within software and is a great way to experiment with graduated neutral density filters without making the costly outlay of purchasing some.
However I still think that physical graduated neutral density filters do have a place in the photographers kit even with the rise of software programs like Lightroom becoming increasingly capable. This is due to the physical filter darkening the brighter regions of the sky in camera which will result in a longer exposure time. However if you attempt to do the same with a digital graduation filter in post processing this can create noise around the area. One could get around this issue by taking multiple exposures and using layer blending in Photoshop to selectively blend them in. I’ve written about this in a previous blog post which provides more information about layer masking areas from multiple exposures. One might argue that this is the way heading forward for landscape photography as it allows greater control over the final image and avoids any image degradation that may occur from placing a filter in front of the lens. But for the moment I’m happy using my graduated neutral density filters as they work for me.
If you do decide to purchase graduated neutral density filters, I’d strongly recommend the Lee filter setup. I personally shoot with the Cokin Z-Pro graduated neutral density filter kit however they have a slight colour purple colour cast which can result in a hint of purple being added to your image when you use more than one Cokin filter. The Lee filters don’t have this issue and provide a true graduated neutral density filter without any colour cast issues.
For most shots I will use a intervalometer to manually set the exposure time which is especially useful for shooting long exposures beyond 30 seconds.
When (and when not) to use neutral density filters
Neutral density filters can be used for many different circumstances which can include:
Blurring objects of a scene. Some popular things photographers like to blur include capturing the movement of clouds or the smoothing of water. But don’t limit yourself to this. I like to watch a scene and watch for gradual movement that occurs over the space of a few seconds and ponder how it may appear in a long exposure. An example of this is a shot I took at the Huon Valley, Tasmania of a moving jetty to create an interesting effect
Balancing a bright sky against a dark land/foreground. By using a graduated neutral density filter on the sky, this will allow you to darken the sky to balance it against the dark land
Adding some mood to the sky can instantly lift your photo in camera without the need for any burning in Photoshop when you return home
Allowing you to use an aperture that may not be possible due to bright lighting conditions therefore allowing you to capture a shallower depth of field
Blurring of people in a busy scene like this brilliant photo captured by Tom Carter in Tokyo of a busy intersection
The list is endless and neutral density filters allow for a lot of creative expression. I’ve compiled a list of long exposure photography ideas in an earlier post which might give you some ideas how you can use ND filters around your area
When to not use neutral density filters
Avoid using neutral density filters when:
Mountain tops or other objects overlap part of the sky. For this photo taken at Cape Schanck I did not use a graduated neutral density filter as the cliff face took such a major part of the sky. If I was to of used a graduated neutral density filter on the shot I would of lost considerable dynamic range on the cliff and also the shot would of appeared unnatural
Shooting waterfalls where you can get a long enough exposure without the use of filters. Obtaining the smooth water effect when shooting waterfalls only requires a 2-3 second exposure which is quite easily achievable if shooting in overcast conditions. If you introduce a neutral density filter this will drastically increase your exposure time, getting your silky smooth water effect however will blur the surrounding foliage of the waterfall
Looking at how filters can affect your photo
My Canon 5D Mark II with a graduated neutral density filter and B+W 110 solid neutral density filter attached
All this talk about solid and graduated neutral density filters is best explained by using some sample photos I took especially for this post to demonstrate how filters come into play. The setup consisted of a Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40, intervalometer, Cokin Z-Pro graduated neutral density filters, 10 stop B+W 110 filter and a tripod (setup shot in case you’re curious).
I’ve not processed the images and for the first 3 images, the exposure time is the same and it is only when the strong 10 stop B+W solid neutral density filter is used that the exposure time changes. This is due to the B+W 10 stop filter being so dark that shooting at the same exposure time as the first 3 images would result in a black image. Instead the camera sensor needs more light to get a proper exposure which is why I had to lengthen how long the shutter remained open (in this case 1 minute).
Image 1 – Base image where no neutral density filters have been used. As you can see the exposure is quite even however the highlights (white parts of the sky) are starting to blow out (Exposure – 1/4 sec at F18)
Image 2 – One Cokin Z-Pro .9 graduated neutral density filter has been added. You can notice that it has balanced the exposure of the sky and added some very slight mood to the sky (Exposure – 1/4 sec at F18)
Image 3 – Two Cokin Z-Pro graduated neutral density filters are used (.6 and .9) which adds a lot more mood to the sky however has introduced darkness over the jetty. This is one downside to using graduated neutral density filters where there is an object overlapping part of the sky (in this case the railings for the jetty) (Exposure – 1/4 sec at F18)
Image 4 – Going nuts and using the same Cokin setup (one .6 and .9 graduated neutral density filter) and also the solid B+W 110 10 stop neutral density filter. As the 10 stop neutral density filter is being used, this darkens what the camera can see considerably (imagine looking through welding glass) which as a result requires the camera to use a long exposure to capture a correct exposure. I love using the B+W 10 stop filter as it allows you to capture long exposures during the day which blurs the clouds and water however one down side of using so many filters is the colour cast that is introduced. This is mostly from using the Cokin Z-Pro filters which have a purple colour cast to them which you can see in the sky. For this reason I’d strongly recommend the Lee filter kit which doesn’t suffer from the same colour cast issues (Exposure – 1 minute at F18)
Comparing how neutral density filters can come into play
Example photos from using neutral density filters
As mentioned at the start of this post, I won’t deny that I’m a sucker for neutral density filters and use them for a lot of my images. They’re a great tool to have in any landscape photographers tool set and well worth the investment. Below are some images that I’ve taken using a mixture of the Cokin Z-Pro graduated neutral density filters and the B+W 110 10 stop neutral density filter. Now that you’ve read about neutral density filters you should be able to identify where they have been used. In most of the shots a graduated neutral density filter has been used to darken the sky which has brightened the foreground and a stronger solid neutral density filter has been used to blur the movement of the clouds and water.
I hope this guide has been of use to you and has answered any questions you may have had about using neutral density filters. Please feel free to send me an email if you have any further questions as I’m always happy to help or alternatively if you have any feedback on what you would like to read about in future articles I’d also love to hear.
Thanks for reading,
– Alex
Photographs taken with neutral density filters referred to in this article
Related Reading
How to photograph waterfalls – This article looks at the basics of waterfall photography by discussing what conditions work best for waterfall photography, how exposure time can affect your photo, what equipment you will need for waterfall photography and more.
Neutral density reference chart – Stuck on what exposure time to use when using neutral density filters? This printable chart tells you what exposure time you will need based on the filter you are using
How to capture daytime long exposures – During the day it’s difficult for your camera to take long exposures without the need for filters or very low light conditions. This article explores what equipment you need to get started for shooting long exposures from 30 seconds to 5 minutes during the day.
Long exposure photography ideas – Stuck on ideas on how to use your ND filters? This article looks at the many uses for ND filters with some long exposure photography ideas to get you started.
Create your own 10 stop ND filter – A fun little weekend project which shows you how to create your own 10 stop neutral density filter for under $10.
The magic cloth technique – Use a cloth to create your own graduated neutral density filter during a long exposure.
My first post for 2014! Hard to believe that January is almost over. This year I wanted to share some behind the scenes before/after photos to give you an idea of how some of my photos look in camera and the process I follow to edit them. Starting the series with this photo from Cape Woolamai on a moody sunset.
This is a photo I took a couple of years ago now at Cape Woolamai which is situated along the stunning Phillip Island coastline. I had an idea in my head of how I wanted a photo to look of the scene which captured the stunning orange lichen rocks while using the giant rock as a backdrop with a long exposure to capture the blur of the clouds and water. To capture the image I used a Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40, B+W 110 and Cokin Z-Pro graduated neutral density filter.
The original shot came out quite flat and had its flaws that required some tinkering in Lightroom and Photoshop to get right. Here are the steps that I followed to get the image to its final state. Before you read, you might want to watch a video I prepared earlier that goes over using Curves in Photoshop 5. I apologise that it may be a bit long winded and confusing at times but feel free to send an email if you have an queries but basically the general jist of the editing went something like:
I always shoot my images with auto white balance and find towards the end of a sunset, the camera will often go for a colder lower colour temperature which results in a blue to your image. To correct this I boosted the temperature to warm the colours slightly. It was important at this stage not to increase the temperature too much as I wanted to retain the blue of the water. Normally I make most of my changes in Lightroom and that’s it but for this image I wanted to tinker quite a bit with the colours so exported to Photoshop
Once in Photoshop I had to remove the gaping gash that formed across the rock. It turned out that my graduated neutral density filter had got scratched in my bag (something had managed to dig through the case and scratch the filter – bummer). I didn’t realise I had scratched the filter until I got home so thought the whole trip had been a waste of time. Fortunately though, I was able to use the cloning tool to and slowly remove the scratch from the rock
At this stage the image was looking quite flat still so I created a Curves layer which would be the first of many curves layers used over the course of the editing process. Curves are amazing and something I’ve talked about in the past but just to quickly remind you, they allow you to make selective adjustments to the red, blue and green channels of the highlights, mid tones and shadows of an image. At this stage I’ll make a general adjustment to the overall image and then make more selective adjustments later on through the use of layer masks
For the image, I wanted to selectively bump up the highlights of the water to make them appear more brighter while darkening the clouds to make them appear moody. To do this I used a Curves layer once again but this time introduced a layer mask. By using layer masks, you can paint over areas where you only wish to make an adjustment. For example, if I’m only wishing to adjust the tones of the sky I would use a layer mask and paint over that area which then means any changes you make in Curves will only be to that specific area which you painted over. The same principal applies for when making adjustments to the water of the photo. Through using this method I’m able to selectively bump up parts of the image without blowing out the rest of the image. Following this technique I used the primary channel and increased the midtones and highlights of the water and decreased the shadows, midtones and highlights of the sky to create some mood.
When editing the sky it was important not to accidentally darken the surrounding cliff and rocks in the area. To avoid this, I used the feather tool and selected the sky using this tool. Initially when I first started using Photoshop, I was hopeless with the feather tool and it really took some practicing until I got the hang of it. So if you’re struggling, don’t give up and possibly look at some tutorials on YouTube to get a sense of how others use it. It’s a great tool but at the same time, quite painful and difficult when you’re unfamiliar with it
As the exposure of the water was now bright and the sky was dark, I had to balance the exposure of the rock area so created another layer mask to selectively adjust this area to balance it against the rest of the scene by using curves with some minor dodging and burning
Once I was happy with the exposure of the overall scene, I was once again in curves making adjustments to the different colour channels (red, green and blue). Basically the reason for this is that I wanted to play with the blue channel a bit selectively around the water to make it appear more blue and also reduce the colour cast introduced by using filters. I find using the RGB channels in Curves a great and quick way to colour correct your image to fix any issues like colour cast
Final adjustments to the image was a resize for web (800×600) and sharpened using ultra sharpen mask
I hope this makes sense and gives some insight into how the final image was reached. For me the most important thing is to go in with an idea of how you want the image to look in your head and work according to that (something that is easier said than done).
