Black White Photography - UK (2019-11)

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B+W

Merzouga, Morocco

A polariser made a big difference to this scene,

deepening the blue sky and also boosting contrast

so the texture in the sand dune is more pronounced.

Canon EOS 5D MKIII with 17-40mm zoom lens,

polariser, 1/8sec at f/16, ISO 100

New York City, USA

The characteristics of using an extreme ND filter are shown by this long exposure architectural

image – the moving water in the Hudson river has turned silky smooth.

Canon EOS 5Ds with 24-70mm zoom lens, 10-stop ND, 60secs at f/22, ISO 100

In recent years, the use of more extreme
ND filters has become popular –
especially the 10-stop NDs made by
Lee Filters, Hitech, Nisi and others.
These filters are so dense you can
barely see through them and they reduce
the exposure 1000x so even in broad
daylight you may find yourself using
exposures of two or three minutes to
record the passing of time instead of
freezing it. The resulting images can
look amazing – moving water turns to
milk, drifting clouds record as delicate
streaks of tone. The effect has become
very popular among fine art black &
white photographers for landscapes,
seascapes and architecture.
In situations where 10 stops is too
much, you can use a 6 stop ND and in
brighter conditions, or when you want to
make exposures several minutes long, a
15 or 16 stop comes into its own. I own
and use all three – 6, 10 and 15 stops –
as I love the effect they create.

Although we mainly associate polarising
filters with colour photography, because
they boost colour saturation and deepen
blue sky, the effects they produce
can also be of benefit in black & white
photography. If you shoot in colour
then convert to black & white, the
enhanced sky a polariser creates will
look stronger in black & white because
the blue will convert to a darker tone

so the clouds stand out.

Polarisers also eliminate glare and

reflections, which improves clarity

and boosts contrast – again, useful

characteristics in black & white as well

as colour. There are two types of

polarising filter – linear and circular. Both

do exactly the same job, but for digital

cameras, and all autofocus cameras

whether film or digital, you need a circular

6 EXTREME ND FILTERS

7 POLARISING FILTERS

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polariser as it’s made differently to avoid

fooling the camera’s metering system and

causing exposure error.