Beginner Big stopper

Poppypix

Poppypix

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I've recently acquired a lee big stopper (the se7en variety) and now also have the correct holder for it. I took it out Yesterday and found a nice little waterfall to practice on.

It took me a long time to work out settings that got the effect I was looking for, but I'm pretty sure there are things I could have done to improve the photo that I'm either not thinking of or aware of. Here is the end result photo. Any thoughts, tips, ideas are most welcome.

Waterfall 14 800.jpg
 
You managed the exposure well.
You did not achieve the Dof (assuming you wanted to) that I would like.
The moving leaves are distracting IMO.
 
For me there are a few things that can be improved

Firstly, as discussed remove the moving leaves, they detract the eye from the waterfall
Secondly, shoot with your aperture stopped down further to create a larger depth of field. Currently the foreground rock is out of focus and thus slightly distracting
Finally, I would adjust your white balance to take account of the cool colour cast that the Lee Big Stopper's produce (blue cast)

You have marked "yes" to image editing so I have done a quick and dirty fix in Snapseed for my first point. I have also removed some of the blue cast (probably room to warm it up a bit further though)

Waterfall 14 800-01.jpeg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Two issues from me.

1. The OOF rock in the foreground. IMO Foreground should be sharp.
2. the moving branch at the top of the frame is distracting. In this case, I would shoot a second shot at a fast shutter speed to capture the branch and blended the two in post. the branch does add a natural frame so I wouldn't really want to crop it out.

If you have a smartphone, LEE have an app for IOS and Android which calculates the exposure settings for their 6, 10 and 16 stop filters.
 
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alfbranch said:
You managed the exposure well.
You did not achieve the Dof (assuming you wanted to) that I would like.
The moving leaves are distracting IMO.
Click to expand...

Hi thanks for your thoughts. What does Dof mean? I don't know if I did or not without knowing. I don't know much in the way of technical terminology sorry.

I agree that the leaves are distracting, but how do I stop that?
 
NikonNewbie said:
I think the leaves at the top would be better in focus but the water looks silky which I like!
Click to expand...

I assumed the leaves looked like that due to gentle movement during the exposure time. If that is not right, would I just use an f14 say instead of an f4.5? (which I think is the setting I was on).
 
ecoleman said:
Two issues from me.

1. The OOF rock in the foreground. IMO Foreground should be sharp.
2. the moving branch at the top of the frame is distracting. In this case, I would shoot a second shot at a fast shutter speed to capture the branch and blended the two in post. the branch does add a natural frame so I wouldn't really want to crop it out.

If you have a smartphone, LEE have an app for IOS and Android which calculates the exposure settings for their 6, 10 and 16 stop filters.
Click to expand...

Thank you that is really helpful. This is the first time I've used the Lee big stopper with a holder, so I think my concentration was completely directed on the water on this occasion, but the next time I will try and take the whole composition into account. I do have an Android phone yes, so I will look that App up, it would be very useful.

What does OOF mean?
 
stupar said:
For me there are a few things that can be improved

Firstly, as discussed remove the moving leaves, they detract the eye from the waterfall
Secondly, shoot with your aperture stopped down further to create a larger depth of field. Currently the foreground rock is out of focus and thus slightly distracting
Finally, I would adjust your white balance to take account of the cool colour cast that the Lee Big Stopper's produce (blue cast)

You have marked "yes" to image editing so I have done a quick and dirty fix in Snapseed for my first point. I have also removed some of the blue cast (probably room to warm it up a bit further though)

View attachment 71628
Click to expand...

Ah I didn't even think about white balance or ISO for that matter. I was so fixated on the big stopper. So many things to remember!!!! I appreciate you doing some editing, it will help me understand a little more of what I'm trying to achieve. We all gotta start somewhere!
 
Now I just have to wait for another half decent day to get back and try again :) Thank you to everyone who contributed. It really helps. I have a habit of running with what I think I need to do and forgetting several essential things that I should also be doing.
 
Poppypix said:
Hi thanks for your thoughts. What does Dof mean? I don't know if I did or not without knowing. I don't know much in the way of technical terminology sorry.

I agree that the leaves are distracting, but how do I stop that?
Click to expand...

Dof = Depth of field

Explained here
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm

Calculated here
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Poppypix said:
I assumed the leaves looked like that due to gentle movement during the exposure time. If that is not right, would I just use an f14 say instead of an f4.5? (which I think is the setting I was on).
Click to expand...

The leaves were blurred due to the exposure time you would need to crop them out of the shot.

Poppypix said:
Now I just have to wait for another half decent day to get back and try again :) Thank you to everyone who contributed. It really helps. I have a habit of running with what I think I need to do and forgetting several essential things that I should also be doing.
Click to expand...

Keep experimenting it is how you learn and saometimes small errors are very important.

remember on a dull day you may not need a 10 stopper to blur the water I never have needed one for a waterfall IMO the exposures end up being too long.
 
Poppypix said:
Thank you that is really helpful. This is the first time I've used the Lee big stopper with a holder, so I think my concentration was completely directed on the water on this occasion, but the next time I will try and take the whole composition into account. I do have an Android phone yes, so I will look that App up, it would be very useful.

What does OOF mean?
Click to expand...

OOF = Out of focus
 
I shall have a dabble with all the shots that I took and see what I can create from them and get back here with the results. Thank you everyone for your input and help. It is much appreciated.
 
I found a photo that does not have blurred leaves. I had to change the exposure of the stone at the front which was too bright, but otherwise it's pretty much as it was on the day now. Fingers crossed it's an improvement. The leaves aren't perfect, but a lot less distracting.
waterfull revised 800.jpg
 
I've had another go and I think I have finally cracked it. I used Nikon D90 this time and had all the right bits with me.

Tollymore8.jpg

I used my big stopper with settings on bulb and exposure was 2 minutes and F10. I had the eye hole cover and an external remote. Conditions were over cast.
 
This is a totally different place. The last picture was taken at the Crumlin Waterfall and this time I was at the Tollymore Forest. I decided that I needed to focus purely on achieving the water effect that I wanted this time and I was not looking at this as a composition, so it is lacking in that area, but that was a deliberate decision on my part. I know I can do composition, so it was not in my interest to achieve that today, whereas the water effect using the big stopper I had not achieved to my satisfaction before. I am very happy with the outcome of this afternoon. I'm chuffed to bits to be honest.
 
Poppypix said:
This is a totally different place. The last picture was taken at the Crumlin Waterfall and this time I was at the Tollymore Forest. I decided that I needed to focus purely on achieving the water effect that I wanted this time and I was not looking at this as a composition, so it is lacking in that area, but that was a deliberate decision on my part. I know I can do composition, so it was not in my interest to achieve that today, whereas the water effect using the big stopper I had not achieved to my satisfaction before. I am very happy with the outcome of this afternoon. I'm chuffed to bits to be honest.
Click to expand...

Apologies!
 
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