Couple of experimental photos with ND Filter

[eckydrone200]

Just thought I'd stick up a couple of photos I took today with my MA with an ND16 filter attached. The first one is ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/50s. The second one iso 400, f/2.8 and 1/120s. I know there is a lot of room for improvement so grateful for any advice, tips etc. Thanks in advance.

 

[Thomas B]

Cool shots!
The sweet spot for the F stop seems to be 4 - 5.5, so I’d recommend trying to keep it in that range and keep ISO at 100 - 200. Realize you may have just been experimenting with the filter.

 

[Unknown Pilot]

I've got a question. Why?

I get the appeal for video but I don't think the Air's gimbal is stable enough to reliably do the long exposures that would make for an interesting photo.

 

[Unknown Pilot]

Cool shots!
The sweet spot for the F stop seems to be 4 - 5.5, so I’d recommend trying to keep it in that range and keep ISO at 100 - 200. Realize you may have just Bennett experimenting with the filter.

The Mavic Air has a fixed aperture, f/2.8

 

[Thomas B]

The Mavic Air has a fixed aperture, f/2.8

True... perhaps after the experiment it would be interesting to see what the MA selected and an example.

 

[eckydrone200]

Just mucked around with the first photo in Affinity Photo, managed to lighten the rock face and just fiddled with the colour of the sea. Affinity is a good app but I know zero about it so got a large learning curve ahead of me.

 

[Scottalmas]

I've got a question. Why?

I get the appeal for video but I don't think the Air's gimbal is stable enough to reliably do the long exposures that would make for an interesting photo.

I too am new to ND filters but my understanding is that, for still photos, they help reduce glare and overexposure in sunny conditions (sunglasses for your camera).

 

[Unknown Pilot]

I too am new to ND filters but my understanding is that, for still photos, they help reduce glare and overexposure in sunny conditions (sunglasses for your camera).

Unfortunately not. In the MA case they just lessen the amount of light that hits the sensor so you can have a longer exposure. On a variable aperture lens it also lets you shoot with a wider aperture thereby decreasing your depth of field.

A circular polarizer can reduce glare but it has to be adjusted manually to get the best results. I'd imagine that's a lot of guesswork with a drone.

Keep in mind that anytime you introduce another layer of glass between the subject and the sensor you run the risk of introducing flaring.

 

[Dave Maine]

ND filters do nothing to improve still picture image quality. They decrease the amount of light the camera sees, requiring a lower shutter speed, or higher ISO both of which risk more blur or more sensor noise.

 

[offtheback]

Just thought I'd stick up a couple of photos I took today with my MA with an ND16 filter attached. The first one is ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/50s. The second one iso 400, f/2.8 and 1/120s. I know there is a lot of room for improvement so grateful for any advice, tips etc. Thanks in advance.

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The only thing an ND will do on a fixed aperture is slow down the shutter speed for motion blur on water etc.You need to experiment to see what shutter speed will work withouy blurring everything from drone movement.

 

[Dale D]

Two comments- Neutral density filters are supposed to be used to increase motion blur which is more cinematically pleasing. Of course I use ND filters for stills and motion blur, to try to get silkier water shots. My goal would be to have a shutter speed slow enough (e.g.: 1/10th of a second) to blur the water and allow the other parameters to compensate- that is, shutter preferred exposure. Secondly, the Affinity software image above has too much cyan (Bluue) in the correction. All I would have done is to increase the shadow slider to bring out details in the dark unexposed rocks.

 

[eckydrone200]

Oh oh, looks like I may have a set of filters for sale! I’ll try the polariser ones first though, everyone is really just confirming my initial thoughts about them but I had to try them for myself. All part of the learning curve around drone flying I suppose. ?

 

[eckydrone200]

Two comments- Neutral density filters are supposed to be used to increase motion blur which is more cinematically pleasing. Of course I use ND filters for stills and motion blur, to try to get silkier water shots. My goal would be to have a shutter speed slow enough (e.g.: 1/10th of a second) to blur the water and allow the other parameters to compensate- that is, shutter preferred exposure. Secondly, the Affinity software image above has too much cyan (Bluue) in the correction. All I would have done is to increase the shadow slider to bring out details in the dark unexposed rocks.

Thanks for your input re the adjusted shot Dale, the adjusted one was just me experimenting as I can hardly navigate my way around Affinity at present in fact I am working through a Udemy course on it at the minute.

 

[Peter VS]

Two comments- Neutral density filters are supposed to be used to increase motion blur which is more cinematically pleasing. Of course I use ND filters for stills and motion blur, to try to get silkier water shots. My goal would be to have a shutter speed slow enough (e.g.: 1/10th of a second) to blur the water and allow the other parameters to compensate- that is, shutter preferred exposure. Secondly, the Affinity software image above has too much cyan (Bluue) in the correction. All I would have done is to increase the shadow slider to bring out details in the dark unexposed rocks.

Are these beautiful shots taken with your drone or camera? Not being able to control the aperature on my drone makes getting the correct exposure and DOF difficult.

 

[Dale D]

Are these beautiful shots taken with your drone or camera? Not being able to control the aperature on my drone makes getting the correct exposure and DOF difficult.

All four images were taken using a DSLR+ tripod and ND filters to slow the water. All images taken with prolonged shutter speeds like 1/10th of a second or 1/20th of a second. Of course this cannot be done with a moving drone, but my point in the post was th explain the longer shutter speed to give the slow water effects, The closer we can get to longer shutter speeds by narrowing the aperture, or using the lowest ISO possible the closer we get to that goal.

 

[hiflyer201]

Dale, loved your photos. They're really beautiful.
I'm wondering...when did it become so popular to blur water? I like the effect and you can even fake it with the Iphone. I'm just curious.. I like it ..I know how to do it ..but why do I want to?

 

[Dale D]

Dale, loved your photos. They're really beautiful.
I'm wondering...when did it become so popular to blur water? I like the effect and you can even fake it with the Iphone. I'm just curious.. I like it ..I know how to do it ..but why do I want to?

Because it is a beautiful effect not actually seen in a natural state.
So here are two images of the same waterfalls- which one do you like the best? click on both GodafossWaterfall-slow-water-lo res8885.jpg. and. Goðafoss waterfall-lo resDJI_0293.jpg

 

[hiflyer201]

I knew you were the one to ask that question. What can I say... the blurred water photo is truly spectacular but going back and forth I really can't say which one I like best. I do know for sure...you are king of the waterfall photos!

 

[Dale D]

Thanks for the compliment. It really is quite easy. Just use a tripod, an ND filter, and slow shutter speed (bracket- try 1/4 second, 1/2 second, 1/10th second, etc.). Then pick the one you like and also take regular exposure to freeze, rather than, slow the water. Then pick the one you want to show to people. I'd say 9 times out of 10 they will like the slow water better. This is the filter I usually use- 0.9 stop, Hoya Pro ND 8 on Amazon. The 77mm is for the size of the front of the lens. You can also buy Mavic 2 Pro filter for the same thing.

I knew you were the one to ask that question. What can I say... the blurred water photo is truly spectacular but going back and forth I really can't say which one I like best. I do know for sure...you are king of the waterfall photos!

 

[NJT]

Just thought I'd stick up a couple of photos I took today with my MA with an ND16 filter attached. The first one is ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/50s. The second one iso 400, f/2.8 and 1/120s. I know there is a lot of room for improvement so grateful for any advice, tips etc. Thanks in advance.

View attachment 95596

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You would get a good result using a polarising ND filter in this case. The reflection off the water would be cut and you would get a deep blue most likely...