Chaos in color and black and white

5D Mk III, 70-200 f4 L IS, f/10, 2 sec, Lee Big Stopper ND Filter

5D Mk III, 70-200 f4 L IS, f/10, 1/500 sec, no filter

Exploring different ways of exposing a scene, I find it difficult sometimes to choose what I prefer. Using an ND filter gives me options to quickly make widely different exposures and decide later on what version of the scene I prefer. The Lee ND filter selection and Lee mount greatly increase the flexibility I have when I'm on a location shoot like this one.

I prefer the long exposure black and white version here, I think it works better for this windy, salt spray, misty day, adding to the stormy feel, even though it was a beautiful day. Taken from Soberanes Point in Big Sur.

Ross

Images In Light

Lee Big/Little stopper Filter

5D Mk III, EF24-70 f/2.8, Lee Big Stopper. F/5.6 at 5 sec.

Larger Image

5D Mk III, EF24-70 f/2.8 L, Lee 0.9 GND. F/13 at 0.4 sec.

Larger Image

5D Mk III, EF24-70 f/2.8, Lee Big Stopper. F/11 at 21 sec.

Neutral density and polarizing filters are about the only filters really needed any more for landscape photography, there are a few exceptions, but currently these filters dont really have an option that can be done in camera or in post.

ND filters allow you to control the amount of light hitting your sensor, along with aperture control, you can allow the right amount of light to do exactly what you want in most lighting conditions.

This allows us to shoot in bright light and get the feeling of motion in our images, there are many uses for this; smoothing of water, motion of a running animal or person, motion in vehicle traffic, abstract images and more. I arrive at a shoot long before the golden hour, its nice to be able to start my process before the light dims enough for normal shooting and allows for far more abstract images than with out an ND filter.

Frequently I cant shoot slow enough when at an ocean front shoot, with ND filters I can shoot at 30 seconds on a bright day, allowing me to get in more shooting time as the evening progresses, I can maintain long shutter speeds or change to a different filter to speed up my shutter. Varying the aperture and the filter density allows me to select the exact speed for the effect I'm looking for.

These are the ND filters I use regularly.

Lee Big Stopper

Lee Litttle Stopper 

Lee 0.9 GND Filter

Lee 0.6 GND Filter

Lee foundation kit

Shutter speeds with Big Stopper

 

 



Ross

Images In Light