Substitute for a ND filter (Long exposures)

[owen]

I was experimenting with a technique tonight because I faced a tough shooting situation where the sky was a fair bit brighter than the land.

You can use a dark coloured or black card (business card or cut out from cardboard) and say for instance the exposure time is 10 seconds, hover the card over the top half of the image for 5 or so seconds to reduce the exposure of the sky.

I did it with this image and although the sky is blown in the left area, the top half was noticeably darker.

[stubbsy]

Neat trick Owen . Thanks for sharing. Obviously this was what you did in that other wonderful shot you posted tonight.

[mudder]

Good idea mate, spose you could frame where the card needs to be prior to tripping the shutter too...

Hmmm, seems like that cow's multiplied too

[avkomp]

thanks for the neat trick.

hadnt tried that before.

looks like you have it under control though.

Steve

[radar]

thanks for the tip Owen,

Hmmm, seems like that cow's multiplied too

More likely in the process of ...  BTW, good to see you finally got your camera back.

André

[owen]

Actually this was taken earlier than the other image, by the time i took the other one it was dark enough not to need to do this.

Those cows... I was their best mate by the end of the night I had spent that much time there

[ABG]

Great idea Owen. Never even thought about something as simple as that. Thanks for sharing. Nice image too, btw

[owen]

I might add be careful not to bump the camera or rest the card on the camera, it may not seem like much if you touch it but it will affect the sharpness of the image.

[birddog114]

Owen,
Nice trick and tip!

[huynhie]

Great idea Owen.

[losfp]

I like it! Good idea, owen, I'll have to give it a go next time I'm struggling with those damn bright skies...

[Yi-P]

Has anyone tried to cut a piece of the car window tint (grey coloured ones) and put/stick it right in front of their lenses??

[gstark]

Has anyone tried to cut a piece of the car window tint (grey coloured ones) and put/stick it right in front of their lenses??

Optically, that could cause problems.

Good suggestion Owen, bu why bother with a piece of black ... whatever. You'll actally find that your hand, close to the lens but unilluminated, should be able to do a similar job.

[xorl]

Another option would be to use a tripod and take 2 images. It's fairly simple to combine both photos in an image editor. This will let you handle extreme contrast - it doesn't even need to be a long exposure. Using the bracketing feature + remote will allow you to automate this without risking bumping the camera.

[owen]

http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=12141