Tutorial Neutral density filters: How do I get that blurry water effect?

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Neutral density filters: How do I get that blurry water effect? - Neutral density filters: How do I get that blurry water effect?

How do I get that misty/blurry water effect in my photos?

You need a long shutter speed. How much blur there is will depend on how long your shutter speed is and how fast your subject moves. You can get ‘misty water’ with shutter speeds of about a second and longer*. The longer the time is, the greater the effect will be.

You will need to steady your camera. A tripod is usually needed but you might be able to find a rock or something to rest on.

*very rough rule of...
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An alternative for folks - you can also use multiple exposures to achieve a similar effect. But remember to use the exposure compensation in your camera otherwise they'll be overexposed! (so what I mean by this is if you're stacking 5 exposures use 1/5 of the exposure on each if your camera allows you to do this)
 
good explanation as i'm thinking of filters and what they do

nice to know about ND ones
 
never seen any ND1000 filters...didn't know they existed!
You learn something new everyday :)
 
nice explanation as i was looking at nd filters but didnt know what i needed. I have a much better idea now
 
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Thanks for posting this. Very usefull.
 
nice thanks for the info, filled in the gaps that i didnt know. Ive done a few waterfall shots so far and im happy with them but they could be better, this should help me more.

Just a pointer, for those of you that dont have or dont want to buy ND filters without having a play first, try a CPL, i used my hoya CPl for the waterfall shots in this set - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sithornton/sets/72157624871858867/, it has the same effect as an 2 stop ND filter meaning in the right light light (ie an overcast day in a forest or under a tree) you can get a couple seconds exposure if you need it. Lets face it, no toggers bag should be without a CPL anyway so it might be worth trying that before investing in a native ND filter.

Also, ive recently bought a 10 stop ND from heliopan, 67mm threaded and multi coated schott glass on both sides, cost me £75 from teamwork photo, havent tried it yet properly but so far there is no colour cast at all (only tried it up to 8 seconds so far but if requested ill update when ive tried longer). Feels quality aswell, brass thread and quite weighty. Worth a punt if you cant find the lee big stopper in stock. Ive tried the welding glass approach and imo it blows, the colour cast is too much for my basic PS skills to handle, not great at custom WB either so preffered the proper approach :)

Cheers again for the guide :)
 
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I saw a refrence to a ND filter in discussions about a photo on another site but it went straight over my head even though I really liked the photo and wondered how it was done.

I just came across your post and what a great explination and a good reason to explore this type of filter in more depth. Thanks
 
Just bought an ND filter and your tutorial is really helpfu.
Thanks
Dave
 
Bardo said:
Fabulous! Just bought a peice of welding glass off ebay and will give this a try! I suspect that correcting white balance through Adobe Camera RAW may be easier, though...
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I've read about people using welding glass before, is it that straightforward to do and really an option?
 
Very easy to follow instructions...thanks Matt much appreciated..
 
I remember watching Solar eclipse through a welding mask as a child so I would be interested to know how many stops it alters.
 
Really useful information as I've just got some ND filters so I will be putting this to good use next weekend!
 
X100 said:
I remember watching Solar eclipse through a welding mask as a child so I would be interested to know how many stops it alters.
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I believe the people on here that use welding glass say its very similar to a 10 stop ND filter, i may be corrected by someone else on here though...
 
searching for information on filters to help with longer exposure and found this really helpful.
Can now do a little bit of research and then get myself a filter and try some of these shots.
 
Ben6 said:
I believe the people on here that use welding glass say its very similar to a 10 stop ND filter, i may be corrected by someone else on here though...
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It's... welding glass, designed to protect the wearer. Yes, it will reduce the amount of transmitted light but it will be far from optically perfect, and is bound to produce poor results.

Incidentally, excellent though this tutorial is, it's worth pointing out another very useful quality of ND filters. Use them with flash outdoors to reduce the effect of the ambient light, if the flash has enough power to overwhelm the ambient light.
 
What a cool & cheap idea. Just bought this 4¼” x 3¼” Parweld Welding Lens lens Glass Shade 10 for £1.43 delivered. Thanks for the tip.
 
What settings are best to use with a 10 stop?

Am I correct in saying that on my 7D it will only give me a shutter speed of 30 seconds at it's longest, so to get a shutter speed longer than 30 seconds I would need to use the BULB function?
 
CATALOGUEKID said:
What settings are best to use with a 10 stop?

Am I correct in saying that on my 7D it will only give me a shutter speed of 30 seconds at it's longest, so to get a shutter speed longer than 30 seconds I would need to use the BULB function?
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Yes.
 
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