I’m out and about for a few days; shooting on my own home patch of Wessex, in a variety
of conditions and locations using my LEE100 filter system. First up is a dawn start at
Portland Bill.
Here we are at Portland Bill at dawn. There’s this beautiful twilight filtering through
the scene. There’s a wonderful balance of cool blue light between the top and bottom
of the scene. I’m anxious to make the most of it before I loose the reflections of the
lighthouse in the water.
Looking at the scene, I think I’m going to need a 0.6 neutral density grad filter
(2 stops), to balance out the top and bottom of the frame. I’m thinking a medium grad,
so let’s put the holder on now. Looking at the angle of the headland, I’m going
to need to angle the grad slightly and then lock the filter holder. It’s really useful
being able to do that.
I tend to prefer to position the grad looking through the eyepiece, but some people prefer
to use live view. I’m now just going to fine tune the angle of the grad slightly.
I’m really pleased with this picture; I love the green in the foreground and the balance
of the light. The grad has balanced the exposure between the sky and the water perfectly and
you can’t see the grad line at all.
It’s early evening at Pulpit Rock on the Isle of Portland. There’s a wonderful clarity
to the evening light that is getting steadily warmer and more enticing as the sun dips to
the west. Waves are crashing onto the rocks below and to cap it all there’s drama in
the sky above.
Here’s the scene with no filtration, but it’s just the start. What I’d like to
do is slow down the exposure, hold back the sky and saturate the colours. My first decision
is which filter am I going to need to prolong the exposure? When shooting seascapes like
this, I like to retain energy and texture in the surface of the water, but at the same
time record some motion blur. A shutter speed of around one second will be about right and
on this occasion a 1.2 ProGlass IRND filter (4 stop) will be the one to use.
That’s worked well, but the next thing to address is the detail in the sky. I want the
sky to have drama and mood, so I think a 0.6 ND soft grad filter (2 stops) will help me
hold back the exposure of the sky. I’m using a soft ND grad, because I don’t want the
effect of the graduation to be seen on the top of Pulpit Rock. The next thing to address
is the colour saturation; a polariser will really help me with that. One of the big advantages
of the LEE100 system is how easy it is to attach the polariser.
Here’s the final picture and it’s an image I’m really pleased with. The angle of the
lighting is just right, with the side lighting revealing all the texture in the scene. I
love the movement on the water and there’s interest in the sky.
I’m on Corton Denham Beacon, looking towards the ancient hill fort of Cadbury Castle. It’s
a beautiful evening and I really like the dappled light down in the valley. I’ve framed
up a picture using a tight composition with a long lens, but I think I’m also going
to need a polariser. I’ve just done a shot without, so I’m now going to put the polariser
on and you’ll see the difference. The effect of the polariser will be to really saturate
the green. So, I lock the holder on and then rotate the polariser. When I get the angle
right it really deepens the greens, saturates the colour and cuts down the haze. What beautiful
light, and what a radical difference the polariser has made.
What a successful couple of days. I’ve been lucky with the weather and had some great
lighting conditions. I have to say, I’ve been really impressed with the flexibility
of the LEE100 system. I can tell it’s been designed by photographers. It’s so easy
to use, quick and adaptable and an essential tool for landscape photography.