first shots with ND

chrismoore

Hi, went out to try new ND filter yesterday. It's the Singh Ray VAR-ND so it doesn't tell you just how many stops but the dial was about halfway so I'm guessing about 4. Here's the result. C-C appreciated. Have a great day.



here is a sister shot:

Erbeman

Those are great!

Miner

Both very nice!

redleash

Very nice color and comp. Here are some nitpicky comments: The water in #1 might be a tad too soft for me, as it loses some of the feel of falling water. I also see some dark spots in the water--probably just debris in the water but if you could clone them out it might help. I like the foreground in this one a lot.

As for #2, I like it a lot, especially the ice on the branch. The branch adds just enough color to make the shot more alive. On my screen, I see a couple artifacts in #2. A bright yellow one right in the center of the shot, and a couple light bluish ones in the center of the big rock on the left. Again, I really like the foreground of this one--the spray of the water is perfect, IMO.

Hope this helps. I think the shots overall are really good!

Lauren

chrismoore

Thanks for the critique Lauren. The spots on the waterfall are sensor dust and I noticed them when I got home and viewed the image on my larger computer screen as opposed to my laptop. I'll clone them out. Don't know where the yellow came from but I'll take care of that as well. For those who haven't tried it, I really like the VAR-ND filter from Singh Ray. Although a bit pricey, you can quickly adjust the stops by rotating the ring. I agree that the falls may be a bit soft. Takes a bit of practice setting the shutter speed just right when the filter is in use, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. Again, thanks for the critique, it's always nice to hear a different perspective.
--Chris

leaforte

#2 has great depth, and does a nice job pulling me in.

redleash

Chris-
I'll be interested in hearing more about your experiences with the ND filter. I bought one early on, not realizing that it was not what I needed--it's not a split ND, just a cheap ND that I've left in the box! But I have so much to learn right now that I'm going to wait a while before trying to learn to use an ND filter. I'll see if I can learn vicariously through others' efforts!

Cheers,
Lauren

a110p0

Hey Chris,
I've been curious about the vari-nd filter. I've been holding back
because it's quite pricey.

What time of day did you shoot your images?

Looks like a pretty cool filter.

Alvin

shniks

#1 is awesome...



Cheers,

dlplumer

That is a very cool filter, and yes it is expensive. Great shots

chrismoore

Thanks for the feedback. Here is one more shot from that day.



I would definitely recommend the VAR ND for those who are looking for an ND filter. Whether it is actually worth the money is difficult to say, but it is convenient in that it is very easy to dial up or down additional stops if you want a different result while shooting. For example, with the photo above, I took a couple shots at the minimum density with 1-2 second exposure, but wanted a softer look with the water, so I dialed the filter down and slowed the shutter to 15 seconds to compensate and get the soft look I wanted. This is my first ND filter so I don't have any other experience, but I learned quickly that you really have to use manual settings and look at the image in the viewfinder and histogram; the camera doesn't do a good job of calculating exposure time with the filter on. It sure beats having to put on a different filter each time you want an extra stop or two (especially when I was standing in that freezing cold water), so in that sense it could potentially replace a group of ND filters that are not variable. The photo above was around 8 stops (the VAR ND filter is labeled as a scale, you never know exactly how many stops you are using but just a rough guess based on where the dial was). These were taken around 1pm.
Lauren you will probably notice the sensor dust on this photo as well-- again, I noticed after the fact

fjf511

Great shots!

manda

Great work

redleash

Ah yes, the dreaded sensor dust! I had a photog friend clean my sensor for me and he got it spotless. Now, just 2 weeks later, I have spots in different places than before--obviously, new dust. Guess that comes from living in an area of extreme drought . . .

Dust or not, still some nice shots. The water in this last one looks like I could reach out and touch it and it would feel like velvet.