Exposure blending
1
USEFILTERSIF REQUIREDIf there’stoomuchcontrastbetweenthesky
andtheforeground,you’llneedtouseanNDgradtobalancethe
exposure.Takea lightreadingfromtheskyin aperture-prioritymode
andthenoneof theforeground– theexposuredifferencein stopswill
bethestrengthof thefilteryouneed.Next,manuallyfocus one-third
of the distance into the scene behind the foreground.2
SHOOTA STANDARDEXPOSUREKeepthecamerasettoaperture-
prioritywithanf/stopof aroundf/11andISO100.Applyexposure
compensationasneededandmakea mentalnoteof theshutterspeed
thecameraselects.Forourshotit was1/4sec;it’sthisshutterspeed
thatwe’llneedtocalculatethelongexposuretimefora BigStopper
filter.Takea shotsoyouhaveonewitha standardexposure.3
SETUP FORLONGEXPOSURETurnthemodedialonthecamerato
manualandsetthesameapertureasyouusedin step2. Rotatethe
shutterspeeddialtoBulb,thenremoveyourNDgradandinserta Big
StopperbeforereplacingtheNDgrad.You’llneeda remotereleaseto
keeptheshutteropenwhileshootingin Bulbmode,so connect it to
the camera ready for shooting your long exposure.4
CALCULATEEXPOSURETIMEDownloadtheLEEStopperExposure
GuideorNiSiFiltersappandselecttheappropriatefilterstrength.
Dialin theshutterspeedyoumadea mentalnoteof.Ourshutterspeed
forthestandardexposurewas1/4sec,sotheNiSiFiltersappcalculated
thatexposuretimewitha ten-stopNDwouldbefourminutes 16
seconds. You’re now ready to shoot your long exposure.5
CAPTUREA LONGEXPOSUREStartthetimerbypressingtheappbutton
whilepressingtheshutterremoteandlockingtheshutteropen.
Witha remoterelease,theshutteris lockedbymovingthebuttonupor
down.Witha wirelessremote,yousimplyhavetopressandholdthe
shutterbuttondownfora coupleof secondstoengageBulbmode.
When the timer ends, release the shutter to stop the exposure.40 DigitalSLR PhotographyJanuar y 2020
B
IGSTOPPERS,EXTREMENDs,ten-stopNDs– callthemwhat
youwill,havehada hugeimpactonlandscape,seascapeand
cityscapephotography.Theabilitytoshootlongexposuresin the
regionof 30secondsonbright,sunnydaysorminuteslongonduller
dayshasbeena creativegame-changerforphotographers.
Theselongexposureshavetheabilitytolengthenexposuretosuch
extremesthatcloudscanbecomestreaksof blur,wateris renderedas
anetherealblurwhilecrowdedstreetscaneffectivelybeemptiedby
theiruse.In fact,thesetypesof filtershavespawneda neweraof
minimalistphotographythat’sunachievableanyotherway.
There’snodoubtthattheresultsof shootingwiththesefilterscanbe
amazing,buttherearetimeswhenelementsin a scenelookbetterwith
a ‘standard’exposure,whileotherslookbetterafterusinga long
exposure.Generallyspeaking,photographerskeepthesetwotypesof
exposuresseparate– youeithershootoneortheother.Butthereis a
wayyoucantakeelementsfromeachandblendthemin Photoshop.
Thismaysoundlikephotographicblasphemy,butthere’snothing
wrongwithrealisinga creativevision.It’salsomucheasierthanit looks
toshootandeditthem– youdon’thavetobeanPhotoshopexpert.
In ourexample,you’llseethattheskyis froma standardexposure
thatshowsthetextureyou’dexpecttoseeonanovercastday,while
thewaterin thereservoiris silkysmoothasa resultof a four-minute
exposure.In thestandardshotthewaterwastoochoppyandin the
long exposure the sky was too blurred – time to get the best of both.