Australian Photography – September 2019

“I find that photography offers me a freedom that

I don’t have with my cinema work. Still photography for
me is really indulgent and I tend not to think the same

way when I’m doing my cinematography,” he explains.

It's a sentiment that becomes very clear when con-
sidering that the vast majority of his work is cropped

square. Whether a formal composition leaning on ar-

chitecture photography or gloomy depiction of an early

morning seascape, Koppe’s square crop is ubiquitous
across his subject matter. “Perhaps that is some kind of

revolt or a backlash against 16:9 or the cinematic rect-

angle!” he laughs.
“I think the reason I really like square is that it exagger-

ates the graphic nature of the picture and the elements in

the frame feel stronger in a square composition.”
Another defining trait of Koppe’s still images is the

use of long exposures. Often exposing for up to four

minutes, water in Koppe’s seascapes becomes a foggy
mass enveloping the scene’s inanimate objects and

usually still skyscapes take on an animated appearance.

Having recently switched from a Canon DSLR
to Fujifilm’s flagship medium format GFX range,

Koppe achieves his long exposures at various times

of the day using an array of neutral density filters
ranging from 6 to 10 stops in reduction. Despite

hauling around the rather hefty size and weight of

the GFX body, Koppe says he likes to keep his kit

to a minimum when in the field (only carrying with
him a small selection of lenses and a tripod) and that

some of the desired mood in his pictures is achieved

in post-production rather than by using anymore fil-
ters than necessary.

“There is an element of photoshop in my images and

I’m not afraid to say that. It’s just another aspect of the
image making process. I’m not a purist from that per-

spective,” says Koppe. It doesn’t all happen in camera

but there is a conversation between how I want an image

ABOVE: Going to Evan’s. My mate Jim told me about this old silo
and I couldn’t resist when I spotted it. I took several exposures and
merged them in photoshop. Fujifilm GFX 50S. 23mm F/4 R LM WR
lens. 240s @ f10, ISO 250.

RIGHT: Glow. The elegant simplicity of the light stand combined with
the graphic nature of the road marking had instant eye catching appeal.
Fujifilm GFX 50S. 23mm F/4 R LM WR lens. 240s @ f5.6, ISO 200.

PROFILE: ALLEN KOPPE ACS

“I THINK THE REASON I REALLY LIKE SQUARE IS THAT IT EXAGGERATES

THE GRAPHIC NATURE OF THE PICTURE, AND THE ELEMENTS

IN THE FRAME FEEL STRONGER IN A SQUARE COMPOSITION.”

Creating images with extended exposure

times outside of sunrise and sunset hours

typically requires the use of Neutral Density

(ND) filters. This is not an effect that can be

reproduced in post processing alone.

Neutral density filters are usually made of

dark glass or resin, and are available in both

screw-in or square ‘drop-in’ styles.

“I generally use any combination of the

following filters depending on the light

conditions at the time of shooting,” explains

Koppe. “Naturally if it’s pretty dark I won’t

use any filters at all.”

“I like using screw on filters as I have

always struggled with light flares and

stray light with 100mm X 100mm square

filters. By using screw on filters I can use the

specific lens shade designed for each lens and

I find this makes a big difference. I love using

Breakthrough Photography’s X4 filters. From

my experience they are by far the best I’ve used

with little to no colour pollution.”

In Allen’s bag

• Breakthrough Photography
  screw on X4 6-Stop ND Filter


• Breakthrough
  Photography
  screw on X4
  10-Stop ND Filter.

NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS FOR LONG EXPOSURES