Improving Your Photography Using ND Filters

Once you’ve gotten the hang of “Manual” (M) mode on your dSLR and gotten bored of shooting monotonous and uninteresting sunset pictures which formerly made you feel like a pro, it is time to invest in an ND Filter.

Neutral Density. It’s basically a sophisticated equivalent of shooting through a pair of sunglasses. It reduces light intensity by a few stops – depending on which grade of Filter you use – allowing you to increase your exposure time.

I bought the Omax ND-8 filter which is easily available on Flipkart.com

Long exposures work best when your subject is moving, but not moving too fast – ideally a water body or clouds; or even both together. Once you’ve found your subject, set up your dSLR on a tripod and screw on your ND filter. Using a remote-trigger to commence the exposure is recommended.

This was my first attempt. Not bad, but a longer exposure was required. If your image is over-exposed, wait for the sun to sink lower.

Sankey Tank, Bangalore, India

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Filter: ND-8

Shutter speed: 12 seconds (This kind of long-exposure in daylight is very difficult to pull off. Kudos, ND-8.)

Aperture: f/22 (Your f-stop should be at the highest value possible to minimize on light entering the camera.)

ISO: 100

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Play around with your composition and expose for longer.

Sankey Tank, Bangalore, India

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Filter: ND-8

Shutter speed: 30 seconds

Aperture: f/22

ISO: 100

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The following image was shot about 15 minutes after the previous one and edited using Lightroom 5. Notice in the previous images there was some sensor dust visible. That was edited out and some contrast was added to obtain this:

Sankey Tank, Bangalore, India

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Filter: ND-8

Shutter speed: 120 seconds (2 minutes)

Aperture: f/22

ISO: 100

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Of course, there will be times when – despite your perfect composition, impeccable settings and best efforts – your subject will refuse to move enough.

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Filter: ND-8

Shutter speed: 300 seconds (5 minutes)

Aperture: f/22

ISO: 100

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Don’t get frustrated. Keep trying until you’re satisfied with your shot.

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Filter: ND-8

Shutter speed: 420 seconds (7 minutes)

Aperture: f/22

ISO: 100

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Don’t use an ND-Filter on a cloudless evening. You’ll end up with a blank sky and you’ll have missed out on potential star-trails due to the reduction in light-stops. Scroll down THIS POST to learn how to shoot star-trails.

Waterfalls are perfect ND-Filter territory. So much so that it is now a cliche to shoot a waterfall through an ND-Filter.

Lake Natron, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Filter: ND-8

Shutter speed: 75 seconds

Aperture: f/22

ISO: 100

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Unfortunately, the above waterfall was shielded by towering rock-formations from the setting sun. So the image looks a tad dull. I used Lightroom to change the colour temperature in the following image.

Lake Natron, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Filter: ND-8

Shutter speed: 75 seconds

Aperture: f/22

ISO: 100

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Neutral Density. Remember the name.

Wildlife Photography – Do’s And Don’ts

An African safari is the pinnacle for any wildlife photography enthusiast. They’re usually referred to as “a trip of a lifetime”. I’ve been on two in the past two years. (Thanks, Dad!)

Anyway, here are a few tips to help you get the shots you so desperately want.

Requirements: 

1. dSLR camera (Optional, but recommended)

2. A wide-angle zoom lens – a standard 18-55mm works perfectly.

3. A versatile telephoto lens – ideally a 70-300mm or higher.

4. A secondary camera – preferably a high-end point-and-shoot with a versatile fixed-lens, because switching lenses can be a real pain in the midst of all that dust.

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Make a start. The following shot was my first ever shot of wildlife. I honestly had no clue what I was doing. Trust your instincts – they’re usually right.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 55mm

Shutter speed: 1/250

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Pictures of the “Big Five” will always arouse a decent amount of interest from your viewers, but don’t don’t miss out on interesting behaviour of other animals.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 55mm

Shutter speed: 1/250

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

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Maasai Mara, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 55mm

Shutter speed: 1/100

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 400

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Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 125mm

Shutter speed: 1/500

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Take diverse images.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 35mm

Shutter speed: 1/250

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 250mm

Shutter speed: 1/320

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Compose your shot. Nice the group of zebra grazing in the background, between the branches – subtle, but awesome.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 200mm

Shutter speed: 1/500

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Maasai Mara, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 55mm

Shutter speed: 1/320

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

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Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 250mm

Shutter speed: 1/125

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 200

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Don’t be afraid to push your telephoto lens to its limits.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 300mm

Shutter speed: 1/250

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 300mm

Shutter speed: 1/500

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 300mm

Shutter speed: 1/800

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 200

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Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 300mm

Shutter speed: 1/500

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 200

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Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 300mm

Shutter speed: 1/800

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Then again, zoom out for some perspective.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 70mm

Shutter speed: 1/800

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Take advantage of the “Golden Hour” light.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 150mm

Shutter speed: 1/250

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 400

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Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 200mm

Shutter speed: 1/500

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 200

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STAY ALERT! Don’t miss any of the action.

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 125mm

Shutter speed: 1/500

Aperture: f/7.1

ISO: 100

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Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 250mm

Shutter speed: 1/1250

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 400

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Place your subject off-centre.

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 300mm

Shutter speed: 1/320

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 400

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Keep your Aperture and ISO constant, if possible; fiddle around with your shutter speed. And, of course, practise. I probably should’ve listened to my 9th grade Math teacher when she insisted, but PRACTISE!

Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 70-300mm

Focal length: 300mm

Shutter speed: 1/250

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 200

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Landscape Photography – Tricks Of The Trade

Heads-up: No matter how much you read up on the sights you expect to see at a location you’re travelling to, Mother Nature will always surprise you. So, STAY ALERT! 

On a sunny day, a good place to start is at 1/320, f/8 and ISO 100. A few variations may be required depending on cloud cover and light intensity.

Make a start. You’ll probably end up with an image like this. It’s decent, but there’s something missing.

Lake Nakuru, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Fujifilm HS30EXR

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/250

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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In the previous image, there’s a reference point missing – that is, something in the foreground to give the image some depth. Find a reference point – a tree, for example – and shoot again.

Lake Nakuru, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Fujifilm HS30EXR

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/250

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Get creative with your reference points in the foreground.

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/500

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

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Compose your shot. Look for interesting ways to position your subjects. Timing is everything. The tree isn’t going anywhere, but the ostrich is lightning quick and can vanish in a flash.

Maasai Mara, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 35mm

Shutter speed: 1/320 seconds

Aperture: f/11

ISO: 100

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Maasai Mara, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 55mm

Shutter speed: 1/250 seconds

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

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Sometimes you have nothing to work with. Literally. Use that to your advantage. Remember, your subject doesn’t always have to occupy the centre of your frame.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/500 seconds

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

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Make peace with the fact that you can’t shoot everything to perfection. I swear, the following image looked so much better in real life.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/1600 seconds (Using a faster shutter speed helps when you’re in a moving vehicle.)

Aperture: f/4

ISO: 100

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Just as you’re done cursing your camera for failing to capture your dream sunset, it pulls off something like this, leaving you in awe.

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Don’t be afraid to slow down your shutter speed. A tripod and a remote-trigger is required for this kind of a star-trail shot. Set manual focus to infinity and let the camera do the rest.

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 35mm

Shutter speed: 1200 seconds (20 minutes)

Aperture: f/3.5

ISO: 100 (Keep your ISO as low as possible to reduce noise.)

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Converting to b/w during post-production makes for an interesting image.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 35mm

Shutter speed: 600 seconds (10 minutes)

Aperture: f/3.5

ISO: 100

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Use the Rule of Thirds. Place your subject at the intersection of the Thirds.

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/500

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

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Maasai Mara, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/125

Aperture: f/4

ISO: 400 (Notice a spike in the ISO due to an increase in cloud cover. This led to slight over-exposure.)

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Experiment.

Lake Natron, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/250

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 200

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Place your subject off-centre. This gives you some perspective.

Lake Natron, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/125

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Use natural objects to lead your viewer’s eyes onto your subject.

Lake Natron, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/200

Aperture: f/4.5

ISO: 100

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Take advantage of the Golden Hour – the hour either side of sunrise/sunset.

Khao Lak, Thailand

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/500

Aperture: f/10

ISO: 100

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Experiment with your subject-placement.

Lake Natron, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/640

Aperture: f/5

ISO: 200

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Lake Natron, Tanzania

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/500

Aperture: f/5

ISO: 200

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Most importantly, enjoy yourself.

Maasai Mara, Kenya

EXIF Details:

Camera: Fujifilm HS30EXR

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 1/320

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

Fireworks Photography – Tips And Tricks

Back-story: I’d gone with the family for a vacation in Goa during Christmas week, 2013. We were told that a fireworks display would take place to welcome the New Year. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to shoot fireworks. Fortunately, I’d carried my tripod along. And thanks to some intermittent Wi-Fi, I managed get a basic idea of what to do. Some frustration and some trial-and-error methods later, I pulled off some pretty decent shots.

Requirements:

1. dSLR camera (“Manual” mode required)

2. Sturdy tripod

3. Remote-trigger (Optional, but recommended)

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Set your camera up on the tripod. Attach the remote-trigger and take a test shot just to make sure your framing is spot-on. A 3-second exposure will do.

 

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 35mm (Cropped post-production)

Shutter speed: 3 seconds

Aperture: f/11

ISO: 100

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Now attempt a longer exposure. Over-exposing isn’t much of a concern in a beach-scenario because you are most likely in near-pitch darkness.

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 35mm (Cropped post-production)

Shutter speed: 30 seconds

Aperture: f/11

ISO: 100

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Try altering your – or rather your tripod’s – stance. Changing directions makes for some interesting shots. Using a wider focal length gives a different perspective. The following image was shot with a 6-second exposure to avoid over-exposing the lights in the foreground.

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 6 seconds

Aperture: f/11

ISO: 100

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A longer exposure can lead to a cooler looking image, but over-exposure rears its ugly head. It can be minimised post-production, of course.

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 15 seconds

Aperture: f/11

ISO: 100

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People generally tend to stand pretty still while gazing up at fireworks in the sky. So, don’t be afraid to keep them in your frame.

EXIF Details:

Camera: Canon 500D

Lens: 18-55mm

Focal length: 18mm

Shutter speed: 30 seconds

Aperture: f/11

ISO: 100