Above
Cuban cyclist
keeping the camera
steady and shooting
at 1/15 sec caused
the cyclist to blur
as he passed by
1
Choose
your
location The
coast is ideal for
long-exposure
images as you always have motion in the
sea. Also, it’s easy to find static elements
such as rocks, jetties and groynes to
contrast with the movement of the sea.2
Set up and
test set up
your camera and
tripod, carefully
compose the
scene and align an nD grad if necessary.
set the focus to manual, then take a test
shot to check the exposure before fitting
your nD filter.3
Calculate
exposure
calculate the
exposure using an
app or exposure
chart, then insert the nD filter into the slot
nearest the lens. set the camera to Bulb and
trip the shutter with a remote release.5
Download
and process
Download the
RAW files, select
the images you
want and process them initially in lightroom
or Photoshop. select the sky and make it
more dramatic using levels or curves.4
Check and
retake
check the image.
if it’s under or
overexposed,
adjust the exposure and retake. if it looks
Ok, stop the lens down one stop and take
another shot, doubling the exposure.6
Convert
to black &
white convert
the colour image
to black & white.
You can do it in Photoshop or lightroom, or
use an app such as silver efex Pro. enlarge
and check for sensor blemishes.Motion studies
Create beautiful, long-exposure images with the help of a 10-stop ND filter
Dunstanburgh drama
These before and
after images show the
difference a long exposure
and careful editing can
make to a scenelove it or hate it, there’s no denying that the use
of an ‘extreme’ nD filter – such as the lee Filters
ProGlass range – to enable long exposures can
produce some pretty stunning images. Those
images are also immediately elevated into the
‘fine art’ category simply because they take
the humble black and white photograph to a
different level. never tried it? Well, what are you
waiting for?from 1/15 sec, if your subject is moving
relatively slowly, to 1/250 sec for a speeding
car. And don’t worry if your moving subject
ends up blurred too – this adds to the effect.
A third option is to keep the camera still
when shooting a moving subject, so it blurs
while the background is sharp. Try it on things
like a passing car, and vary the shutter speed
from 1/125 sec down to 1/2 sec to set the blur.
Crowds of people moving around in markets,
on busy streets or spilling off trains also suits
this treatment, and you can usually get away
with using exposures of several seconds.cAPTuRe cReATive BlAck & WhiTe