In this video, I'll show you how to take
long exposure pictures, in the middle
of the day using a 10 stops neutral
density filter.
Hello, I'm Gavin Hoey and
you're watching AdoramaTV
brought to you by Adorama
the camera store that's got
everything for us photographers.
And today you join me in Venice.
I want to do a long exposure shot in the
middle of the day using a 10 stop,
neutral density filter.
The idea is that things that are
moving, become lovely and blurry, but the
things that are static remain sharp. Now
to do that, I think I need a shutter speed
of about 30 seconds, and I can't just
dial that into the camera and take a
shot, because if I did, well I'd end up
with a really bright overexposed picture.
You see normally we can control the
aperture, the shutter speed, and the ISO
to get our correct exposure, but there's
actually four things that make up
exposure. The fourth thing is well the
Sun, which you can't control unless you
have a neutral density filter. That's its
job, think of it as perhaps a a pair of
sunglasses for your camera, and it makes
a bit more sense. So to achieve this the
first thing you need to do is to get
your camera on a stable platform. Now
that might mean a tripod, but I'm
traveling and I don't have a tripod with
me. So I'm using my travel tripod my
little gorilla pod here. If you want to
see how I stabilize my camera without a
tripod, check out my previous video on
the Adorama Learning Center. Next thing
to do is to set the composure of your
shot. How do you want to frame it? So in
this case I've got it framed. I've got it
stable, I'm ready to go. I haven't put the
filter on notice, because there's one
more thing to do. That's to figure out
the exposure. Now there's a reason I'm
using a 10 stop neutral density, rather
than anything else, it's because the
maths on it is really simple and
straightforward. I'm looking for a magic
shutter speed of 130th of a second
without the filter. To get there, I can
adjust my ISO in my aperture. In this
case my ISO is as low as it will go -100,
and my aperture is f/16. Now with that in
place my non-filtered exposure is 1/30th
of a second with a 10 stock
neutral density filter, a
30th of a second becomes 30 seconds.
It's really easy to work out, a 50th of a
second is a minute. 1/60th of a second
is 15 seconds. Now there's some apps on
your phone which will help you figure
this out. If that gets a bit more
complicated, and you need other settings,
but remember it's really simple. 10 stop
neutral density filter, 30th of a second
equals 30 full seconds with the filter
in place. Right, so I've got my exposure
set. Next thing to do is, well not put the
filter on. One more thing to do focusing.
My Olympus will actually focus through
the filter just fine, but not every
camera will, and if that's the case with
your camera, you might want to put it
into manual focus, and pre-focus before
you actually put the filter in place.
Ok so, with everything set let's pop
the filter on. Now I'm using a Hoya 10
stop neutral density filter. It's a round
one that screws on the front. I like to
use these when I'm traveling because,
well the round metal outside means that
it has a bit of protection. You can also
get square ones, they work just as well.
Lee filters make an excellent 10 stop
neutral density filter. So now you're
ready to take your shots, but hang on a
second, you don't want to just press the
shutter, because if you do you're going to
get a little bit of camera shake, and
even though it's a long exposure that,
tiny bit of camera shake will ruin your
picture. So you're going to trigger this
remotely somehow, without touching the
camera. That might mean a remote release
cable, or an app on your phone in my case,
or if you don't have either, then pop it
into its self timer mode. I've got it on
to second self timer, so when I press the
shutter there's two seconds whilst the
camera stabilizes, and the shot starts.
You might also want to try using
something like the mirror lock function
to avoid any mirror slap, as it's called,
or if you're using a mirrorless camera
you can put it in its silent shutter
mode, to again minimize any shake in your
shots. So there's one more thing to talk
about and that's white balance, these
really dark neutral density filters will
give a color shift. They all do to some
extent or another, and that means I need
to get my white balance set, either
correctly in camera by trial-and-error,
or if you're shooting like me in RAW,
it's something that you can
fix when you go back to your computer
back home, and there you go. The Grand
Canal is free of boats, we can see a
little bit of blur which is nice, the
waters blurry, but the buildings are nice
and sharp, so what are you going do when
you're taking a shot? Well the very next
thing to do, is to take another shot
because anything could blur. This just a
slightest little bit of movement, it's
always a good idea to have a second
picture, it takes 30 seconds, but it's
time well spent.
Once you've done that, well then go and
take some more. Which is exactly what I'm
going to do right now, so let's head out
onto the streets of Venice and I'll go
take some more long exposure pictures
as well. Come with me.
I'm using a mirrorless camera, but if
you're a DSLR user remember to cover
your viewfinder on long exposure shots.
Not every camera has it, but if your
camera or lens has image stabilization,
it's probably a good idea to switch that
off on long exposure shots.
So with the weather starting to change,
and the light fading, it's a great time to
bring a halt to the shooting with a 10
stop neutral density filter. Now I'm
really glad I bought this to Venice. It's
created some very different pictures of
a truly iconic City.
Now if you've enjoyed this video, don't
forget to leave me a comment below, and
you got to see more videos from myself
and the other amazing presenters right
here on AdoramaTV! You know what you've
got to do, you've got to click on that
subscribe button.
I'm Gavin Hoey,
Thanks for watching!