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enabling you to use a slower shutter sp

without ending up with overexposed s

ND filters are available in a range of str

or densities, which are measured in sto

Each stop halves the amount of light, a

darker the filter, the stronger the effect

instance, your D-SLR suggested a shu

speed of 1/80 sec for a scene, attachin

3-stop ND filter would enable you to re

the shutter speed to 1/10 sec.

How slow can you go?Most of the time you wont have to mak

these calculations yourself, as the cam

will automatically compensate for the

in front of the lens. Simply switch to Ap

Priority (Av) mode, dial in your chosen

aperture, and your camera will set the

Love them or loathe them, long-

exposure landscape shots are here

to stay, and judging by the amount

slow-motion seascapes in particular

t are emailed to us each week, its clear

t many of you love creating them as

uch as we do. Whether its milk-smooth

as or cloud-smeared skies, leaving your

meras shutter open for anything from

veral seconds to a couple of minutes,

d allowing the world to pass by in a blur,an addictive technique with potentially

esome results.

The time of day has a big impact

the look of your pictures, not just in

ms of the quality of the light but also

quantity, and shooting at dawn or dusk

ar the coast enables you to capture

s of colour and detail in the soft light

ile using long exposures to blur the

ovement of waves. Youll need to use

w ISOs and fairly narrow apertures in

der to get shutter speeds that are slow

ough to soften the motion of waves and

clouds. However, if conditions are too bright

this may not be possible without the use of

a neutral density, or ND, filter. Not to be

confused with an ND grad (although one of

those can be useful too more on that later),

a standard ND filter is simply a piece of dark

grey glass or resin thats placed in front of the

lens to restrict the amount of light entering it,

The ultra-slow exposures madepossible by strong ND filtersan make the wildest water

ook as calm as a millpond

earn how to use slowhutter speeds and anD filter to smooth out

water and blur skiesn coastal scenes

Shoot long-exposure seascapeForexposures

than30secondsBulb(B)mo

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STEPBYSTEP

Take a readingSelect Av mode, and dial

in a narrow aperture of

between f/16 and f/22. Take an

exposure reading without the

filter fitted and note the shutter

speed (1/8 sec in this case).

Heres how to calculate the exposure required with a strong filter in front of the lens

How to use a 10-stop ND filter

hutter speed accordingly. However, your

OS is limited to a maximum shutter speed

f 30 seconds in this mode, and very strong

ND filters, such as the inky-black Lee Big

topper, block so much light that exposure

mes may need to be much longer. The

olution here is to switch to Bulb mode. In

his mode you control how long the shutter

tays open, using either a programmable or

ockable remote release. Thankfully, gone

re the days when you needed to scrawl out

calculations on the inside of a 35mm film box;

there are a range of smartphone apps on the

market that will do all this for you (see below)

and even count down the exposure too.

Calming the watersThe ultra-slow shutter speeds made possible

by strong ND filters can make the wildest

windswept water look as calm as a millpond,

and its for this reason that theyre especially

effective when used at the coast, adding a

mysterious quality to pictures taken eve

the middle of the day look for rocks, p

jetties to contrast with a smooth sea or

When youre shooting long-exposure

images you need a solid support to keep

camera steady, and this is particularly tr

when shooting seascapes. It can be very

windy in exposed coastal locations, and

need a sturdy tripod in order to keep you

pictures sharp. You may even need to ad

further stability by hanging a heavy bag

Add the filterWere using the Lee Big

Stopper 10-stop ND filter,

but a circular screw-in ND filter

works just as well. If using a

square filter, make sure its fitted

correctly so no light can leak in.

Do the mathUsing a smartphone app or

chart, work out the shutter

speed required with the filter in

place. Using the NDTimer app,

we dial in 1/8 sec and enter the

filter strength (10 stops).

Time the shotAs a shutter speed of 2

mins 8 secs is required

this case, we need to select B

mode and use a lockable rem

release to keep the shutter op

for the duration of the exposu

In this before and after example, you

can see how a fairly dull scene can take

on a more mysterious quality with the

addition of a neutral density filter.

Although the unfiltered shot is perfectly

acceptable, the overcast, early morning

light leaves it lacking a little oomph.

The ND filter extends the exposurefrom 1/8 sec to more than two minutes,

smoothing out the waves and creating

an effect akin to a sheet of ice. As well

as looking very cool, this creates

contrast that helps to separate the

rocks from the water. The filtered shot

also shows the typical side-effects of

using a strong ND: a colour cast (cool

in this case), and slight vignetting on

the wide-angle lens used here; both of

these effects can be fixed in software.

The ND effect NOFILTER 10-STOPNDFIL

TER

1/8secatf/16,ISO100

130secsatf/16, ISO100

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Choosing Differentan ND filterIn addition to various strengths of

treatmentsND filter, there are also two different Long-exposure seascapes can

formats: screw-in or square slot-in. The be enhanced by a variety of

screw-in type have the advantage of creative treatments. Popular

enabling you to use a lens hood as options include converting an

normal, so you can shield the filter from image to black-and-white and

the sun and the effects of glare and cropping to a square format.

flare; the downside is that they take These are particularly effectivelonger to fit to and remove from the when used for minimalist

lens, which can be frustrating when you seascapes, in which one part of

want to try different strengths of filter. the image usually the sea or

Square filters are quicker to use once the sky dominates the frame. A standard capture using a neutral density filte

youve added the filter holder to the

lens, and they also make it easier to add

ND grads to balance the exposure in a

picture. Unless you opt for the additionalGet the best set-up

expense of a compatible lens hood for

the system youre using, though, theres Its important to take your time setting up

a dangger of light hitting the your camera for a long exposure. Keeping

fifilltteer wr hen you shoot the camera steady is a must, so make sure

totowwaards the sun. your tripods legs are on a firm base; make

good use of any ledges or holes in rocks, or

push the feet into sand or shingle.

The Big Stopper is a Take advantage of your EOSs electronic

10-stop glass filter level: hit the Info button until its displayed

for the slot-in Lee on the rear screen, then tilt the camera left

system. Circular or right until the line turns green: this will

filters are available ensure that your horizon is level. Loosely

from the likes of compose your shot, check the level, then

B+W and Hoya fine-tune the framing. If you have an older If the line is red on the electronic leve

camera body, you may need to use a it means the camera isnt level and the

hotshoe-mounted bubble level instead. horizon will slope in the frame

Finally, make use of Live View. With astrong ND filter in front of the lens it can

be hard if not impossible to make out the

image through the viewfinder.

Variable ND filters enable you to adjust

the strength of the effect by simply Live View means you can see the image Wedge your tripod firmly against any

rotating the front element clearly even with a 10-stop filter fitted available rocks to give you a solid base

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One option is to shoot in colour, then convert to mono at the processing stage

Discolouration caused by l

leaking in through the view

Fast prime lenses5hintsandtip

sfor

1 Embrace the blurPrime lenses offer very fast

maximum apertures over

their zoom counterparts,

which you can use to

capture a shallow depth offield position your subject

towards the centre of the

frame, as this will be the

sharpest area.

3 Check the focusWorking at very wide

apertures means you need

to be spot-on with your

focusing. Manually select

a single AF point foraccuracy, and make sure

that its positioned over

the key feature, such as the

closest eye in a portrait.

5Try before yCanon L series pr

are eye-wateringly

so why not hire on

You can get your h

the spectacular EFf/1.2 L II USM port

from LensesForHir

just 69 for three 2 Shoot in the darkFast primes are also a

good choice for shooting

handheld at night, or in low

light, without having to up

the cameras ISO setting to

a crazy-high level. They lack

IS though, so youll need to

use them at their widest

aperture setting.

4 Crop factorDont forget to factor in

your camera sensors crop

factor when youre choosing

a prime lens: a 24mm

wide-angle offers the

equivalent view of a

closer-to-standard 40mm

lens when used on an

APS-C body like the 700D.

rock on the hook at the end of the centre

column, if your tripod has one.

Once youve attached an ND filter to your

lens you may be surprised at how dark the

image appears in the viewfinder. This is the

time to use Live View. Prior to the arrival of

Live View youd need to compose the picture

and focus the lens before adding a strong ND

filter it would be almost impossible to make

out the image through the viewfinder with

the filter in place, and having to remove it to

make adjustments to the framing and then

reapplying it would quickly become tiresome.

Live View removes this irritation. The

bright image on the rear screen means that

you can essentially see in the dark. It might

be a noisy picture like viewing the scene

on a badly tuned TV but it enables you to

make changes to the composition with the

filter still in place. Live Views magnification

feature enables you to manually focus with

precision, too. The only drawback is that the

combination of using Live View and the long

exposure times can be a significant drain

on the cameras battery, so if youre planning

a long-exposure shoot be sure to take a

fully-charged spare with you. One final piece

of advice: be sure to clean your kit thoroughly

after youve been shooting near the sea to

remove salt spray and sand. Q

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ExposureproblemsIf you notice discoloured stre

or patches on an image taken

a long exposure its likely to b

result of light leaking into the

camera, either through a gap

an incorrectly positioned filte

(more likely) through the view

eyepiece (remember to cove

no matter how low the light le

skies look featureless and blo

and thats not the effect you

fit an graduated ND filter in a

to the solid ND. Position the d

section over the sky and the c

section over the sea or land

sure to factor this additional fi

if calculating the exposure m