Malaysia, Penang, Pete DeMarco, asia, clouds, jetty, photography, sunrise, tips, travel, water

Long Exposure Photography With Neutral Density (ND) Filters

I really like long exposure photography. There is a small learning curve, but when you get it, you can produce some really cool effects with your images.

This photo here is from a great spot in Malaysia called Penang. It’s the country’s second largest city but there are parts of it which make it feel like a lazy backwater. One of those spots is this fisherman’s jetty.

Neutral Density 10-Stop Filter Photography

The first thing I did was place my camera on a tripod. Then I set it up low and close the water. The closer you are to the water, the more prominent it becomes in the photo. I also liked the leading line of the jetty, and the sunken boat to balance it off. The boat also tells a story so I wanted to give that importance in the scene as well.

The next thing I did was put my camera on manual focus and set it to the proper sharpness. Once I had the right exposure settings, I screwed on my B+W 77mm 3.0 ND 110 Filter which gives a 10 stop exposure reduction. That means I can keep my shutter open for a longer period of time. For example, this photo was a 22 second exposure. That long exposure time creates a smoothing blur effect on clouds and water.

This video by Greg Benz gives some great tips on how to create long exposures. I more or less follow the same steps.

However, rather than calculate the exposure time by using his “ISO 6400 trick,” I use a free app called Lee Stopper Exposure (for iOS & Android). Another app you can try is the LongTime Exposure Calculator.

Finally, here are some cool long exposure photography ideas from DigitalRev.

EXIF 

  • Camera: Nikon D610
  • Lens: Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR Lens

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