The " It's not valid" thread

**Zone** · 30-11-2008, 10:04 PM

I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has participated in the competitions this year, lets face it, it's you who make it what it is

You know what this thread is for

markbingo · 02-09-2010, 8:07 AM

I'll kick things off this month with another shot that I took on my holiday to Crete (no, my wife is not naked in this one

)

I took this hand held (as I didnt have my tripod with me that day), and after a few attempts managed to get it how I wanted, with the people moving either side of the focal point in the distance.

1 second exposure at f4.5

RobDickinson · 02-09-2010, 8:34 AM

Hah random long exposure shots from last week...

markbingo · 02-09-2010, 9:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobDickinson

Love this one. So silky.

nikonuser11 · 02-09-2010, 9:49 AM

yes very nice

Maybe worth one of you experienced togs in long exposures letting us newbies know what ND filter to get? ie must it be an ND10? would a 6 do? shoot in RAW? etc etc any tried and tested tips before we spend wasted hours in trial and error with a zillion fuzzy black shots

for example an ND10 during the day but would you use any at night?

RobDickinson · 02-09-2010, 9:58 AM

Only the top shot was daylight and had filters used from those.

1 - CPL + ND4 and ND8

2 - about 5min I think, no filters?

3 - 30min

tontoshorse · 02-09-2010, 10:05 AM

As Rob points out and as a reminder to everyone that you don't always need filters to get long exposures, so don't think you'll have to miss out if you haven't got any.

Here's one from donkeys ago, room in darkness, exposure abot 30 secs, draw figures, rear curtain flash.

a night in by (reason), on Flickr

oneeye · 02-09-2010, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markbingo

I'll kick things off this month with another shot that I took on my holiday to Crete (no, my wife is not naked in this one

)

I took this hand held (as I didnt have my tripod with me that day), and after a few attempts managed to get it how I wanted, with the people moving either side of the focal point in the distance.

1 second exposure at f4.5

Nice Job, Although I think two people in the frame makes it a tad busy ( imo ).

oneeye · 02-09-2010, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tontoshorse

As Rob points out and as a reminder to everyone that you don't always need filters to get long exposures, so don't think you'll have to miss out if you haven't got any.

Here's one from donkeys ago, room in darkness, exposure abot 30 secs, draw figures, rear curtain flash.

a night in by (reason), on Flickr

Fab, I love that one.

oneeye · 02-09-2010, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobDickinson

Hah random long exposure shots from last week...

Nice set, I think the last one is a tad to dark.

oneeye · 02-09-2010, 11:06 AM

Gutted to get back from my weekend away, after getting to work with my nd filter, to this months theme... Oh well.

This some of what I did...
#1

#2

#3

kBm · 02-09-2010, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markbingo

I'll kick things off this month with another shot that I took on my holiday to Crete (no, my wife is not naked in this one

)

What?! Move along people, nothing to see here...

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobDickinson

Excellent stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneeye

Gutted to get back from my weekend away, after getting to work with my nd filter, to this months theme... Oh well.

This some of what I did...
#1

Did someone enter the shot during exposure? Looks like a blured person to the right of centre?

Looks like this month is going to be tough (again!)

kBm · 02-09-2010, 11:15 AM

I've not got many long exposures, have this one though took at Le Mans in 2007 on my old trusty Nikon D50.

Garf · 02-09-2010, 11:35 AM

Got a 10 stop a while back and have been getting interested in LE stuff, so might have a go at this months comp..

A few from me...

Broken by GarySmith70, on Flickr

No Climbing by GarySmith70, on Flickr

Outpost by GarySmith70, on Flickr

oneeye · 02-09-2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garf

Got a 10 stop a while back and have been getting interested in LE stuff, so might have a go at this months comp..

A few from me...

Broken by GarySmith70, on Flickr

No Climbing by GarySmith70, on Flickr

Outpost by GarySmith70, on Flickr

Nice.. Love the first one.

oneeye · 02-09-2010, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherokee1111

yes very nice

Maybe worth one of you experienced togs in long exposures letting us newbies know what ND filter to get? ie must it be an ND10? would a 6 do? shoot in RAW? etc etc any tried and tested tips before we spend wasted hours in trial and error with a zillion fuzzy black shots

for example an ND10 during the day but would you use any at night?

My shots were an nd4, but have just ordered an nd8. Basically the lighter the ambient light the darker the filter you need to slow things down, Also try not stopping down to far or you start to lose sharpness.
If you look at my three images the 2nd (@f/16) is sharper than the other 2(@f/22).
I also shot in raw as I found the whitae balance needed changing somtimes.
Thake alook at my exifs and time of day taken to get a staring point, i used an nd4.

oneeye · 02-09-2010, 1:37 PM

Another..

Went for the milky shot, But again to achieve with the filter I had to stop down to f/22 ( Loss of sharpness ), But to be honest it was blowing some.

nikonuser11 · 02-09-2010, 2:10 PM

is that and nd4 again?

markbingo · 02-09-2010, 2:34 PM

Its worth noting (for those without the ND filters) that simply going to shoot at night goes a long way to creating some nice long exposures.
My shot above was achieved hand held, with no filters at all.

Having said that.... I have just bought myself a "Glass filter welding lens shade" for £2.50 and a crappy 67mm uvfilter from ebay to combine together and have a play with during the daylight hours

nikonuser11 · 02-09-2010, 2:44 PM

thought about that Mark, but cant be bothered faffing about with green welding glass blu-tacked onto a cheap filter- sounds fun if you have the time but my pics will be smash'n'grab style with family in tow so just bought a Hoya ND8 (only 3 stops) but its a start

oneeye · 02-09-2010, 3:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherokee1111

is that and nd4 again?

Yes, thas was the nd4.

oneeye · 02-09-2010, 3:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherokee1111

thought about that Mark, but cant be bothered faffing about with green welding glass blu-tacked onto a cheap filter- sounds fun if you have the time but my pics will be smash'n'grab style with family in tow so just bought a Hoya ND8 (only 3 stops) but its a start

ND8 will be fine, you should be able to do plenty with that.
And mark is quite correct you dont have to have nd filters, you can do allot just with the dark night, Also worth noting you can reduce a stop or so with a circular poloriser, or even both.

Garf · 02-09-2010, 5:51 PM

Some great shots in here - couldn't see most of them earlier, as they were blocked through work !

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherokee1111

yes very nice

Maybe worth one of you experienced togs in long exposures letting us newbies know what ND filter to get? ie must it be an ND10? would a 6 do? shoot in RAW? etc etc any tried and tested tips before we spend wasted hours in trial and error with a zillion fuzzy black shots

for example an ND10 during the day but would you use any at night?

Some tips in this thread.

RobDickinson · 02-09-2010, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneeye

Nice set, I think the last one is a tad to dark.

Me too, thats pushed a bit in post to, 30min for that wasnt long enough but I had to be elsewhere, may have tried a bit of fill flash for the foreground but its hard to balance that with long esposures.

Probably better to do it in multiple shorter shots and layer.

oneeye · 03-09-2010, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobDickinson

Me too, thats pushed a bit in post to, 30min for that wasnt long enough but I had to be elsewhere, may have tried a bit of fill flash for the foreground but its hard to balance that with long esposures.

Probably better to do it in multiple shorter shots and layer.

I haven't got as far as 30 min exposures, By the time the camera has processed it an hour has gone, thats a long time to devote to one frame, Think i may work up to those slowly.
Not sure on the fill flash, But have seen long exposures with the foreground painted in with a flash light, But again a bit hit and miss.

oneeye · 03-09-2010, 1:00 PM

Big Thanks to Markbingo and Garf..Mark for choosing this very interesting theme, and Garf for the tips and thread links, But above all I have been struggling to find a topic for my A level photography course ( which among other things also has to be accompanied with a 2000 word essay ).

I think this topic will fit very nicely, I was looking down the line of " Street trash/ Urban debit ", but much prefer long exposure.

markbingo · 03-09-2010, 2:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneeye

Big Thanks to Markbingo and Garf..Mark for choosing this very interesting theme, and Garf for the tips and thread links, But above all I have been struggling to find a topic for my A level photography course ( which among other things also has to be accompanied with a 2000 word essay ).

I think this topic will fit very nicely, I was looking down the line of " Street trash/ Urban debit ", but much prefer long exposure.

Fantastic!

Best of luck with those 2000 words

Strobe · 05-09-2010, 1:12 PM

Some great non-valids here, I think we are going to get some cracking entries this month. (Wishes hadn't entered so early now!

)

bl0ckev · 05-09-2010, 3:56 PM

So I am still attempting to know what the hell everything does on the camera. Having a slow shutter speed means you need a higher aperture? When I sample few pics out of window the pictures are just bright and barely visible. Would I need a filter for day time? Struggling and never seem to have time to read up on everything :P

mucca_D · 05-09-2010, 6:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bl0ckev

So I am still attempting to know what the hell everything does on the camera. Having a slow shutter speed means you need a higher aperture? When I sample few pics out of window the pictures are just bright and barely visible. Would I need a filter for day time? Struggling and never seem to have time to read up on everything :P

Now you may think you would be mad to flick to manual if your learning, however, there is no better way to learn, even more so for this months comp

When you set your camera to manual, the meter in the view finder will constantly move around as you change the settings.

So, what is it doing? It's telling you what the picture will look like if you press the shutter at that point. Either under over or what it thinks is correctly exposed.

How can his help, well maybe try this.

Take a shot using your fav setting av tv or auto etc

Then switch to manual and dial in the same settings.

Now let's say the settings were 1/320 @ f5.6

Now start turning the shutter speed down, as you do this the meter will go up showing that your now over exposing the shot.

Now move the aperture the other way, (close the whole down) as you do this the meter. Will start to come to exposed correctly.

Or in other words, for every stop you go one way on shutter you need to go a stop the other way on your aperture.

Things to remember, the meter will provide feed back depending on what you have it set to, evaluate or spot etc.

Going past f16 will give a softer image, but conversely many LE shots work well nice and soft so do not fret to much.

Have fun
Doug