Landscape and long exposure photography advice

[T1berious]

Hello!

So I'm looking at the "what next?" on my photography journey and I'm looking at doing some long exposure work.

As I understand it, you need / want a filter that can drop down 10 stops for long exposure.

So I've looked at the LEE100 system and giving that some serious thought.

Already got a tripod but I didn't want to get any new lenses right now as I figure my Sigma 18 - 50mm f2.8 would be a good starting point.

I hope some photographers here can offer some useful hints and tips.

Cheers,

T1b

[Tony1963]

Activate the shutter without touching the camera. I use a phone app, but any remote or cable is better than pressing the shutter. If you can’t, activate the shutter delay.

You only need the big stoppers if you’re after long exposures, for example to create milky effects with flowing water, strange cloud effects etc. Be aware that most ‘effects’ become boring and samey quite quickly.

[T1berious]

Tony1963 said:

Activate the shutter without touching the camera. I use a phone app, but any remote or cable is better than pressing the shutter. If you can t, activate the shutter delay.

You only need the big stoppers if you re after long exposures, for example to create milky effects with flowing water, strange cloud effects etc. Be aware that most effects become boring and samey quite quickly.

Cheers Tony,

I've got a Bluetooth remote release, so apart from the Filter, holder and lens adapter. I think I've got most of the kit I need.

Doing a trip to St Andrews in a few weeks and I'm hoping the weather holds out and I get some good long exposure shots on the beach.

I'm also going to Iceland in November so hopefully will get a chance to do some good landscape pics.

[steveatesh]

I have the Lee 10 stop Big Stopper, and the circular polariser too.

It does produce excellent results but I ve found the polariser adds a little tint so requires removing in post.

You need a damned good tripod especially if it s slightest bit windy, remove any straps from the camera before activating the shutter.

I use a remote or sometimes the 2 second timer.

I used to use the Lee App for accurate shutter speed when I had a DSLR but with my Sony Mirrorless I have found I dont need it.

Most of the time the Sony will autofocus even with the filter on the camera, but not always so I end up getting focus, put the filter on, get exposure right and take the shot.

Depending upon your camera you will need a timer of some description if you go beyond 30 seconds (bulb mode), eg a very long exposure sea scape etc.

In terms of use, they do allow for more creativity especially on dull days at the coast and shooting for black and white for example, or windy days and the clouds etc etc.

I find it more restrictive going for waterfall exposures when you need 1/4 of a second or thereabouts although it is possible with adjusting other settings on the camera - really I should get some other filters I suppose!

Enjoy.

[T1berious]

Cheers Steveatesh,

I've got a Sony 6700 but I look forward to getting the LEE 100 system this week and giving it a try when I'm up in Scotland.

I've got a travel tripod but as long as I don't use the final extensions its pretty stable. Worst comes to the worst I can use the camera bag as a weight to stabilise it.

Thanks for the tips!

Cheers,

T1b

[pistonheadforum]

You could try this type of stuff - light painting - which I thought would be great for still photography.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdTSZHdML-E

Some great ideas in this channel.

[Benzinaio]

The Lee app is handy for calculating exposures when using the 'stoppers'
Do bear in mind you will often get a very blue colour cast with anything over a minute so play around with white balance.
Most of all, experiment and enjoy.

Pin Mill by Jayson Cork, on Flickr

[Fordo]

Grab an empty sand bag from amazon, super cheap, and sling on your bag.

Once on location, fill with any rocks lying around, and hang from a hook on your tripod. (hopefully your tripod has a hook underneath).

Nice cheap and easy way to make things super sturdy

[T1berious]

Fordo said:

Grab an empty sand bag from amazon, super cheap, and sling on your bag.

Once on location, fill with any rocks lying around, and hang from a hook on your tripod. (hopefully your tripod has a hook underneath).

Nice cheap and easy way to make things super sturdy

That Sir is an excellent shout, I have a bean bag that I got for a recent trip (didn't use once...) so will use that as suggested to ensure the tripod is as sturdy as I can get it.

Cheers!

T1b

[T1berious]

Thought I'd update the thread with my first attempts at long exposure photography.

Several lessons learned that I'll share.









Lessons?

Get up earlier! I had a 4:15 start, made it up to my location but missed the most spectacular sky. Managed to catch it on the Camera phone but gutted I didn't get it as a long exposure.

Don't go where people go! 90% of people with see you with a tripod and walk around you, sadly the remainder will meander in front and ignore your request to step around you. Nice!

Stiffer tripod needed. I might be being silly but it was pretty windy in St Andrews and there were times I saw the camera being moved by the wind. First world problems.

Check your Sensor! I picked up some dirt and didn't see it until after shooting. Didn't notice until I'd got back in post. Doh! All good now but annoyed at not catching it.

Think I'm going to look at some seascape locations on the west coast that way I'm catching sunset rather than sunrise.

But for a first attempt I'm happy with the results. With luck over the coming months I'll get out to a few more locations.

Cheers

T1b

[GravelBen]

Any dirt on the sensor (or the lens, especially the rear element) is exacerbated by small apertures, I guess revealed by the greater depth of field.

Often dust spots are totally invisible with the lens wide open and only appear when you stop down - so unless you are previewing the shot stopped down the spot/s might not have even been visible on camera at the time.

Another catch with stopping down too far is losing sharpness to diffraction - when I first tried longer exposure shots I didn't know about that and was having to apply a truckload of sharpening to get something even tolerable, wondering if the filter was to blame etc... from memory I think I was at f/32! With a bit more knowledge now I don't stop down anywhere near that far anymore, far better results from using a darker filter and a more reasonable aperture.

[Tony1963]

Make sure your horizon is perfectly horizontal!

Even a tiny amount out of perfect can ruin a lovely photo.

[Michael_B]

T1berious said:

Stiffer tripod needed. I might be being silly but it was pretty windy in St Andrews and there were times I saw the camera being moved by the wind. First world problems.

As an old photographer friend of mine once said, ideally a tripod should have three characteristics: highly stable, easy to carry and reasonably priced.

In reality, pick any two of the above

[T1berious]

Michael_B said:

T1berious said:

Stiffer tripod needed. I might be being silly but it was pretty windy in St Andrews and there were times I saw the camera being moved by the wind. First world problems.

As an old photographer friend of mine once said, ideally a tripod should have three characteristics: highly stable, easy to carry and reasonably priced.

In reality, pick any two of the above

Lolz that sounds about right. In defense of the peak design, it is very portable and very light but its most definitely a "travel" tripod. Useful for low light, and "selfies" but I think long exposure work showed up where it falls short.

Plus the head didn't "feel" as sturdy as needed. I'll treat myself to something a bit more robust.

[Michael_B]

T1berious said:

Lolz that sounds about right. In defense of the peak design, it is very portable and very light but its most definitely a "travel" tripod. Useful for low light, and "selfies" but I think long exposure work showed up where it falls short.

Plus the head didn't "feel" as sturdy as needed. I'll treat myself to something a bit more robust.

Some time ago I acquired a Gitzo GT 2541, which weighs 1.8kg (current model is the GT 2542 about 200g lighter), for hiking trips. I purchased a Markins Q3 ballhead at the same time and see no reason to change either, now 15 years later.

[GravelBen]

I have a Manfrotto 190 which I picked up cheap second hand and have been pretty happy with, though its hook for weighting is on the side instead of underneath which can be a little awkward.

I also have a backup option for windy conditions if I'm not walking too far... I'm a land surveyor by day so generally have a big sturdy survey tripod in my vehicle, I bought a thread adapter to mount a camera ballhead onto the survey tripod. I haven't actually used it yet apart from a quick trial though!

[LightningBlue]

It’s good fun learning with a big stopper, but I started to question why would you want to blur all the details of a scene? There’s a time and a place where it works very well, I’m thinking seascapes like Neil Burnell does, but most of the time it’s nice to have some detail in the movement, and if you’re photographing waves or waterfalls shutter speeds such as 1/2 second or quicker actually work really well, giving a sense of motion but keeping some detail, and if you’re shooting in the shade (woodland waterfalls) or at dawn and dusk for seascapes you might just need a polarising filter instead.
It’s definitely worth playing with a big stopper, but I find their use is a bit limited once the novelty has worn off

[_Hoppers]

LightningBlue said:

It s good fun learning with a big stopper, but I started to question why would you want to blur all the details of a scene? There s a time and a place where it works very well, I m thinking seascapes like Neil Burnell does, but most of the time it s nice to have some detail in the movement, and if you re photographing waves or waterfalls shutter speeds such as 1/2 second or quicker actually work really well, giving a sense of motion but keeping some detail, and if you re shooting in the shade (woodland waterfalls) or at dawn and dusk for seascapes you might just need a polarising filter instead.
It s definitely worth playing with a big stopper, but I find their use is a bit limited once the novelty has worn off

I was going to mention Neil, hes a cracking photographer/digital artist. Another worthy mention is Andy Gray https://andrewsgray.photography/

[T1berious]

I've watched a few Gary Gough vids. To be honest it's a bit of experimentation on my part.

I also take regular photos while doing the long exposure stuff.

It's fun and the results, for me anyway, have been interesting.

[BrokenSkunk]

Michael_B said:

T1berious said:

Stiffer tripod needed. I might be being silly but it was pretty windy in St Andrews and there were times I saw the camera being moved by the wind. First world problems.

As an old photographer friend of mine once said, ideally a tripod should have three characteristics: highly stable, easy to carry and reasonably priced.

In reality, pick any two of the above

Or just hang a bag under a cheapie.
Yeah, it'll never be as good as a really good tripod, but you can vastly improve the stability of a cheap, light tripod by doing this.