by chphoto | Aug 1, 2014 |
After visiting Willow Falls the other day, I drove north to Osceola, Wisconsin to photograph this waterfall near the St. Croix River. This is another very fun waterfall to visit, however it did involve going down several hundred stairs and then back up again. There were many people visiting this spot and several people were even playing in the waterfall. By using a long exposure time I was able to eliminate them from the image because they never held still long enough to become part of the image. There were a few small kids which were playing in the water that showed up as small blurs, but the spot healing brush in Photoshop took care of that easily enough. ISO 100 – f/11.0 – 20.0s – 31mm – Tripod – Single Exposure Canon EOS 5D MkII Body and Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L Lens with Circular Polarizer and 6 stop ND filter. Photographed in Osceola, Wisconsin on 8-1-2014 at 5:00...
by chphoto | Jul 28, 2014 |
The upper portion of Vermillion Falls in Hastings, Minnesota. Taking long exposure photographs with a very dark Neutral Density filter (6 or 10 stop) can create some issues because it messes with the exposure metering system in your camera. It becomes easier for light to enter the camera through the viewfinder than through the lens. Sometimes I use an exposure calculator app on my phone where I can tell it an exposure setting without an ND filter and then calculate the proper exposure settings to account for the 6 or 10 stop ND filter. I have found that unless the viewfinder is completely covered it will dramatically impact the result of the image. I have been using a piece of black electrical tape which I place over the viewfinder after I have composed and focused. I take a test shot with no ND filter on and then use that for the baseline in my exposure calculator. I prefer to shoot with my camera in Aperture Priority mode and most of the time I can get it to work correctly with these ND filters, but only if the viewfinder is completely covered. The effect of the ND filters on the exposure calculation can actually be observed by noting the exposure reading once, while looking through the viewfinder, second by moving away from the camera leaving the view finder uncovered and third with a cover completely blocking the viewfinder. Most of the time (during daylight) you would see three different exposure readings. Only by putting a cover on the viewfinder can the proper exposure be calculated (as close as possible by...
by chphoto | Jul 26, 2014 |
The Lift Bridge in Stillwater, Minnesota photographed with a long exposure. There was a gondola out for an evening cruise decorated with red lights which created an interesting shape while it moved through the scene. ISO 200 – f/11.0 – 30s – 17mm – Tripod – Single Exposure Canon EOS 5D MkII Body and Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L Lens. Photographed in Stillwater, Minnesota on 7-26-2014 at 10:00...
by chphoto | Jul 18, 2014 |
Downtown St. Paul, Minnesota at night reflected on the Mississippi River. Photographed from Harriet Island. Photographed well after the sun was down, it was dark enough to make long exposures with little need for ND filters. The long exposure helps to smooth out and intensify the lights reflecting on the water as well as to smooth the surface of the water. You can also notice that the clouds moved during the exposure, resulting in a streaking appearance. ISO 50 – f/11.0 – 60s – 28mm – Tripod – Single Exposure Canon EOS 5D MkII Body and Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L Lens with circular polarizer. Photographed in St Paul, Minnesota on 7-18-2014 at 9:00...
by chphoto | Jul 18, 2014 |
Downtown St. Paul, Minnesota reflected on the Mississippi River. Photographed from Harriet Island. Photographed well after the sun was down, it was dark enough to make long exposures with little need for any filters. The long exposure helps to intensify the lights reflecting on the water as well as to smooth the surface of the water, removing waves and debris. When making long exposures it is often convenient to shoot at the lowest possible ISO and maximum aperture (f/22) to achieve the slowest of all possible shutter speeds. However attention needs to be paid to the diffraction effect caused by the narrow aperture setting. Every camera body has a diffraction limit, effected by the aperture setting of the lens, a point at which the image begins to degrade when the aperture is set near the maximum setting. Most camera and lens combinations are optimal at around f/8 to f/11 aperture setting. The star effect on the lights is created through exploiting aperture diffraction which among other things causes the bright lights to appear as stars. This same scene photographed at f/8 only moments before this shot did not have any stars at all, the lights all appeared to be round (and boring). ISO 100 – f/16.0 – 120s – 40mm – Tripod – Single Exposure Canon EOS 5D MkII Body and Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L Lens with circular polarizer. Photographed in St Paul, Minnesota on 7-18-2014 at 9:30...
by chphoto | Jul 3, 2014 |
The clouds were providing a very ominous background to the city skyline yesterday until the sun went down and then turned into quite a spectacular display of colors. I used a 2 Stop Graduated ND filter to balance the sky and a 3 Stop ND filter and allowing me to get an exposure time of 25 seconds. The long exposure time creates the smooth texture on the water which also helps to illustrate the movement of the river. Single Exposure – ISO 50 – f/22 – 25.0s – 28mm Canon EOS 5D MkII Body and Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 Lens. Photographed in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 7-3-2014 at 8:00...
by chphoto | Jul 1, 2014 |
I stopped by the Ford Lock and Dam right after another storm moved through the area, hoping to use the dramatic clouds as the backdrop for the rushing waterfall. I noticed that the locks were both closed, I have not been to this dam recently, but I was surprised to see them both closed. The photo of the St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam I posted from yesterday shows the lock open with water rushing through it. I eventually wondered to St. Anthony again tonight and noticed that the lock was closed as well. This is a good sign for anyone effected by the recent flooding because it means that the river is returning to its normal volume. 3 Shot HDR with exposure times of 0.8s, 0.2s, 3.2s – ISO 50 – f/22 – 17mm Canon EOS 5D MkII Body and Canon EF 17-40 f/4L Lens + 2 stop ND filter. Photographed in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 7-1-2014 at 4:00...
by chphoto | Jun 27, 2014 |
Looking towards Minneapolis and the Third Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River at sunset. I started shooting long exposures of some of these scenes and I really liked the effect which it created on the water by smoothing out the waves and making the reflections very bright. It occurred to me that If i was to use Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) to make one image as normal, one image -2 EV to expose for the clouds and bright sky and one image at +2 EV to expose for the details of the buildings that they could all be merged together to create one image impossible to capture with normal methods. The name for this technique is called HDR or High Dynamic Range because it creates a much larger range of brighness than normal range between the dark shadows and bright sunlight. The +2 stops over exposed version has little detail in the sky but because it was a 6.0 second shot it has the beautifully smooth water reflecting the sunset. The -2 stops under exposed version has excellent detail in the sky and clouds but the bridge and buildings look like a silhouette they are so dark. Most DSLR cameras have an AEB feature (it could have a different name) which when switched on will make your camera shoot in groups of usually 3 photos (sometimes 5 or 7) but i think three is plenty. By using a tripod and shooting groups of three photos in rapid succession I was able to capture the exact same scene exposing once for the sky, once for the shadows and once for...
by chphoto | Feb 15, 2014 |
Trying to capture the feeling of a blizzard is difficult. I attempted to take a longer exposure, using a very slow shutter speed. I used a special super low ISO of 50 and a shutter speed of 1/50s to capture the cool snow streaks in the background. Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon EF 300mm F/4.0L IS USM Lens 300mm – 1/50s – f/8.0 – ISO...
