Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Brighter Than the Sun

My new camera accessory came in the mail today...a neutral density filter.  WHAT IS THAT?!?!  Well, a ND filter is a filter that reduces and modifies the intensity of light coming into the lens. The purpose of a ND filter is to allow the photographer to do things like:

  • Enable slow shutter speeds to record movement in subjects such as waterfalls, clouds, cars, etc. (this is how you get the silky waterfall or the smokey-looking waves in the ocean)
  • To decrease depth of field by allowing wider apertures to be used, which helps separate subjects from their background (which is extremely hard to do in broad daylight)

Anyway, today's photos will demonstrate the second bullet. These pictures were taken around 6pm while it was still very sunny. There are two photos for each subject. Notice in the first photo how overexposed the shot is without the filter and in the second photo how shallow the depth of field (blurred background) is on the images with the filter on.  


ISO 100, f/2.8, shutter 1/15

ISO 100, f/2.8, shutter 1/15 with ND filter

ISO 100, f/3, shutter 1/20

ISO 100, f/3, shutter 1/20 with ND filter

ISO 100, f/3, shutter 1/8

ISO 100, f/3, shutter 1/8 with ND filter
This ND filter is pretty darn neat.  I think I'm going to have a lot of fun experimenting with this new accessory! 
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8 comments:

  1. ErickJuly 31, 2012 at 2:33 PM

    Cool, good explanation of ND filter.

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    1. Photo FashionistaJuly 31, 2012 at 10:38 PM

      Thanks...just trying to spread the knowledge and love for photography. :)

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJuly 31, 2012 at 7:03 PM

    U r turning into a pro! Looking forward to future photos.

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    1. Photo FashionistaJuly 31, 2012 at 10:35 PM

      LOL...far from it, but I'm so happy that I'm actually understanding all this stuff and am able to demonstrate it. It's very interesting to me!

      Delete
  3. celiaJuly 31, 2012 at 8:09 PM

    Wow, these are good examples with the comparisons and the ISO, f/stop, shutter speed and ND info. Yikes now I need not want a ND filter.

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    1. Photo FashionistaJuly 31, 2012 at 10:36 PM

      Thanks. I can't wait to try this filter shooting a waterfall or during a sunset!

      Delete
  4. SWJuly 31, 2012 at 9:26 PM

    i wanna get one of those for full moon shoot!!! can't decide which lens I need to get it for..

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    1. Photo FashionistaJuly 31, 2012 at 10:32 PM

      Reese and I talked about it AFTER we both ordered ours and concluded that we should've considered the following things before we bought ours. 1) what time of day will you be using the filter for, 2) how fast is the lens you plan to use it on. If you plan to use it on a f/1.4 lens during broad daylight, then you need a higher numbered ND filter, which is basically darker. In the shots, I used a 0.9 ND filter on a f/2.8 lens. I don't think I could capture smokey-looking waves during the sun's peak with this filter.

      Delete

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