Blown out seascapes

Andy77

Andy77

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andy
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been trying to take a few seascapes but when trying to slow the shutter speed all my shots get blown out, what filters do i need to stop this? Am i right in saying that you use n grad filters in different stop strenth's e.g 2,4,6,8,10,12 stops.....

Thanks.
 
I'd carry at least a two-stop ND grad, then at least you can control some of the burn-out. Either that or take two shot, one exposed for the sky, the other for the foreground and use a bit of exposure blending in PS - different take on the ND grad theme.

Tutorial on exposure masking and blending here
 
If it's the sky that is blown, then an Neutral Density Grad (half dark, half clear) will darken it, to bring the exposure in line with the rest of the image.

If the whole picture is over exposed, perhaps because you want a longer shutter speed to turn water blurred and milky looking, then you need a Neutral Density filter (dark all over).
 
How are you metering...? When you slow the shutter speed, are you decreasing the aperture too? If not, then this will be why your shots are overexposed.

If there's a lot of light, then you may not be able to use a slow enough shutter speed to get that milky seascape effect. Try using the highest ISO you can set, the smallest aperture, and see what the shutter speed is. If it is a second or so... then you may get some milky effect, but if this is not possible under the current lighting then you'll need full ND8 or ND10 stop filters to reduce the amount of light getting to the sensor.

Hope that helps.
 
theMusicMan said:
How are you metering...? When you slow the shutter speed, are you decreasing the aperture too? If not, then this will be why your shots are overexposed.

If there's a lot of light, then you may not be able to use a slow enough shutter speed to get that milky seascape effect. Try using the highest ISO you can set, the smallest aperture, and see what the shutter speed is. If it is a second or so... then you may get some milky effect, but if this is not possible under the current lighting then you'll need full ND8 or ND10 stop filters to reduce the amount of light getting to the sensor.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Just to be clear on what Music Man is saying, he means use the lowest ISO (not highest) which will naturally help to increase the shutter speed to longest duration. And smallest aperture (highest f/number).

An ND8 filter is +3 stops, and ND10 would be 3.25 stops. Filters are marked in various ways: in stops +2, +3, +4 etc, or the same filters might be in optical density of 0.6, 0.9, 1.2, or exposure factors x4, x8, x16 etc.

For really long daylight exposures, the only commonly available filters that I know of are B+W, +6 stops and +10 stops. They are quite expensive and seem to be in short supply. Hoya does a nice quality one too, called X400 for some reason, which is +9 stops but it's special order only in the UK. Screw-in filters are better than square, to prevent light leak around the edges.

When using very dark ND filters, the best way is to take a normal exposure reading without the filter, and then set the shutter speed manually with the filter on. Take a test shot and check the histogram to make final adjustments. You can meter with the filter in place if the light is bright daylight, which saves doing the mental arithmetic, but the reading will probably be skewed by light coming in through the viewfinder.

For the same reason, you should cover the viewfinder during the actual exposure as light getting in there can find its way through gaps around piggy-back mirror and this causes streaking in some models. Top end cameras have an eyepiece blind built in for this purpose, or use the little rubber cover supplied which is usually attached to the camera strap.
 
How about if i try the welding glass idea, everybody seems to have gone mad on this since the thred was started??
:thumbs:
 
Andy77 said:
How about if i try the welding glass idea, everybody seems to have gone mad on this since the thred was started??
:thumbs:
Click to expand...

You can't go far wrong at 99p or whatever it is and it will surely give you a lot of fun. It seems to work okay (with reservations and a bit of help in post processsing) as you would expect.

For very long exposures I think it would be better secured right against the front of the lens to prevent light leaks with a regular holder ruining things. Otherwise, a cool find :thumbs:
 
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