The addition of a “neutral density filter” to a camera can open up some interesting possibilities. Such a filter is simply a dark glass… with the chemistry worked out such that it darkens all colors equally. The end result is that if you have a tripod,a filter and a camera capable of longer exposures, you can make some interesting shots of objects in motion.
Typically if you take a shot of, say, a sunlit stream with an exposure of a second or more long, the image will be simply wiped out and overexposed. But a filter takes care of this. You can now take a multi-second exposure in daylight without overexposing the subject. The effect on runnign water can be all kinds of artsy.
Without filter:
With filter:
Without filter:
With filter:
And another with a filter:
2 Responses to “To filter or not to filter”
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The filter shots do look nice, it “flattens” out the falling water, and the color change is cool. What was the time difference between the first two shots?
The filter shots certainly look more artistic, and make the water look a lot more “alive”.