articles/Landscape/timepass-page2

Time Passes By - part 2 of 1 2 3 4

by Paul Gallagher Published 01/08/2012

Failed Long Exposure

Things changed as I was intending to head to Wester Ross and Kintyre in Scotland and concentrate on my colour digital photography as opposed to my monochrome large-format film photography. As I packed all of the kit I made a decision to try this filter out fully, and focus my work on long exposures.

I must point out that this stage that you do not need a 10-stop neutral density filter to obtain long exposures and obtain smooth water. This is often a misconception carried by many who try to get their hands on these filters which is difficult in its own right as the demand seems to outstrip supply. If you head out in the evening or on an overcast day then fitting a 2- or 3-stop neutral density filter, or a combination of both, will get you that effect already! Try it out! It is for this reason alone that I often did not feel the need to fit a 10-stop filter to any of my cameras.

The difference with a 10-stop neutral density filter is it will give you exposures long enough to 'streak' clouds in the sky and give a true long exposure effect. If you look at the image First Coast, Wester Ross you will see that using the combination of 2- and 3-stop neutral density filters has rendered the water as a smooth mist surrounding the giant boulder in the foreground. You will also notice that the clouds in the sky have full definition and are almost rendered still with full structure. Similarly, with the image Sunset and Storm, Wester Ross, the same technique was used with lesser effect to deliberately streak the retreating foam as the wave broke and washed across the sand. For this image I used a single 2-stop neutral density filter as I did not need any more for the image to work.

First Coast, Wester Ross

When it comes to considering using a 10-stop filter then you must understand that the image still requires a degree of underlying structure and 'composition' as the filter cannot do this for you! Whilst running workshops I have seen many people just sticking the filters onto the front of the camera whenever water appears in the landscape in the hope that the filter will magic-up a cracker for them. It will not! The use of this filter requires visualisation. I am not going all arty on you when I mention this, but it is a fact that you need to understand what the accumulation of time during a long exposure will do to the image and estimate what it will look like also. It is just as important to consider several other factors when using these filters, such as wind and the movement of clouds, the swell and movement of waves and tides, and more importantly if you are working at the tail end of the day, how much the light will fade during your long exposure as you will have to compensate for this. The image Kilbrannan Sound shows what I saw when I arrived in the early evening. When I stood there it was still and silent and I could see very little movement in either the clouds or the sea. But I then waited to gain an understanding of which direction the cloud was moving and I noticed it was moving slightly to the right and away from me which would create a 'sweeping effect' during a very long exposure. I then fitted my Big Stopper and calculated the exposure which was to be eight minutes. Then I waited and the resulting image is what you see in the image titled Long Exposure Kilbrannan Sound which was a winner for me. Although both images are entirely different, I feel they both work in their own right because they have a simple composition, with a limited colour palette, which is exactly what I visualised in both. It is important that if an image looks awful using a 'normal' exposure then please don't expect it to blow your socks off just because you have smooth water and clouds. It still needs to be a picture in the first place.

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