Long exposure help

[Soblessed1967]

Hi all,

 

I've tried everything. Short exposures <30sec, long exposures >2min and still get a blown out image. I'm using my xt1 on Bulb mode, aperture f/11 and lower (all the way down to f/22) and I'm using a ND filter on a tripod w/ a camera remote. What else am I missing? I thought I was selecting everything correctly. Do I need something to cover my viewfinder? Any suggestions would help as I'm ready to pull my hair out. I asked this question on dpreview, but thought to come here as someone else may have the same issue. I'd upload a pic, but all they are are completely blown-out, white images. So picture that and that's what I have LOL!

 

Thanks,

Stacey

[quincy]

There are a few informations missing before anyone could help you.

 

- What ISO?

- Which ND-Filter?

 

Covering the viewfinder on a mirrorless camera is useless.

[Tikcus]

Stacey, what are you tring to achieve?

 

The only Long exposure i have done is when light painting (at night/in the dark) 

with the 35mm f/1.4, i used settings ~

 

ISO 200

F/11

Bulb mode - 20 sec + (using remote trigger)

[Soblessed1967]

There are a few informations missing before anyone could help you.- What ISO?- Which ND-Filter?Covering the viewfinder on a mirrorless camera is useless.

Thanks, Quincy!

 

ISO: 200 ( can't get any lower shooting RAW, as you know)

ND filter: 0.9 ND MRC 103M Filter.

 

Yes, i figured out pretty quickly it was pointless. The tutorials i was watching were for Canon/Nikon.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Soblessed1967]

Stacey, what are you tring to achieve?

 

The only Long exposure i have done is when light painting (at night/in the dark) 

with the 35mm f/1.4, i used settings ~

 

ISO 200

F/11

Bulb mode - 20 sec + (using remote trigger)

Thanks Tickus, I'm trying to achieve that really gorgeous, milky look with water/ fog.

 

Thanks for replying!

[JRphoto]

I've tried everything. Short exposures <30sec, long exposures >2min and still get a blown out image.

 

 

Well, then I would try shutter speed around 1 or two seconds just to see what happens.

[Soblessed1967]

Well, then I would try shutter speed around 1 or two seconds just to see what happens.

I'm using Bulb mode. I can't choose the shutter speed, canI?

[JRphoto]

I'm using Bulb mode. I can't choose the shutter speed, canI?

 

Well, not directly, but you can release the shutter button after aprox. 1 or 2 seconds, just to see if the image remains blank. Or you can set the shutter speed to "T" and use the

front command dial to set a shutter speed between 2s to 30s (in this case I would recomend 2 seconds, first).

[darknj]

If my math isn't wrong, on a broad daylight you can take the shot at ISO 200 and closed down F16, that should be around 1/60 of a sec. 3 stops down, that's around 1/8 of a sec.

 

So yeah, anything longer than 1 sec would get you a completely white shot.

[milandro]

I suppose that the judicious use of a ND filter would be beneficial if and when one intends to make a long exposure if the amount of light exceeds the possibility of the camera even when the lens is stopped down to its maximum?

[Soblessed1967]

Thnaks for all the replies!

 

So, what i'm understanding is that in daylight ( even if its cloudy), a 2 min exposure is too long. I should try 1-3seconds. Will I still be able to achieve that milky look on water?

 

I've seen tutorials of people shooting lomg exposures during the day, some for longer than 2 min, why does there image "come out"?

[milandro]

Because they reduce the amount of light entering the camera by means of a filter, either a ND ( Neutral Density) with a reduction between 8 to 10 stops or a crossing two polarizers.

 

There are other ways but it makes shooting pics a lot more problematic like mounting shots together.

 

 

Many places on line where you can learn both techniques. 

 

https://iso.500px.com/taking-long-exposure-photos-without-a-tripod-or-nd-filters/

 

https://www.slrlounge.com/long-exposure-photography-without-using-a-filter/

[JRphoto]

I should try 1-3seconds. Will I still be able to achieve that milky look on water?

 

Yes, in most cases 1-3 seconds are enough for water.

[Soblessed1967]

Because they reduce the amount of light entering the camera by means of a filter, either a ND ( Neutral Density) with a reduction between 8 to 10 stops or a crossing two polarizers.

 

There are other ways but it makes shooting pics a lot more problematic.

 

 

Many places on line where you can learn both techniques. 

 

https://iso.500px.com/taking-long-exposure-photos-without-a-tripod-or-nd-filters/

 

https://www.slrlounge.com/long-exposure-photography-without-using-a-filter/

 

So, the filter I'm using isnt strong enough?

[Soblessed1967]

Yes, in most cases 1-3 seconds are enough for water.

Ok, great. I'l try again.

[milandro]

So, the filter I'm using isnt strong enough?

 

 

According what you are telling us, no, it isn’t! At least it isn’t in the situation which you are shooting.

 

Have you tried to shoot next to sundown?

 

3 sec should be plenty, if the water moves fast, you want to get an even longer shot for slow flowing water.

 

 

are you sure it isn’t one of those variable filters and you are using it in a position that doesn’t reduce the amount of light?

 

Some of those filters are strange because they produce and interference pattern appearing as a “ cross” in the EVF or on the LCD.

 

have you ever watched this kind of tutorials?

 

@https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpr1SNFS6Cc

 

@https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHArQyx0bF8

 

@https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r7ugA9krG0

[darknj]

1 to 3 sec should be ok but if you really want that silky smooth, you will need at least a 10 stop filter. If you do plan on getting one of them, please do consider your needs. 10 stops ND filters are expensive for a very good reasons, the color shifts from low quality filters can be very annoying to fix.

 

On the scales of easily fixing in post production, blue is about the easiest to fix, green is getting annoying and if you see purple, then you are in very deep trouble. The more uniform the color shift the easier it is too.

 

A good filter is about 160$ for a 10 stop from Lee, Singh-Ray, or any well known brands for ND filters.

 

Again, do make sure you really want to do long exposure as part of your photography, not just something to try out. For fun, do it on night time and just make long exposure on a street with cars that passes by on regular basis.

 

An example of what I did on the city a bit before new-year over a bridge, ISO 200, 25 sec @F16, no filters, there wasn't a need for that since it was fully dark:

 

[quincy]

ISO: 200 ( can't get any lower shooting RAW, as you know)

ND filter: 0.9 ND MRC 103M Filter.

So, what i'm understanding is that in daylight ( even if its cloudy), a 2 min exposure is too long. I should try 1-3seconds. Will I still be able to achieve that milky look on water?

 

I've seen tutorials of people shooting lomg exposures during the day, some for longer than 2 min, why does there image "come out"?

Mh, okay. I fear I must repeat what darknj already wrote, hope he is not angry about that:

 

Your ND 0.9 is not nearly strong enough for what you are up to. It only reduces the light 3 stops. As darknj already said, even 1-3 seconds is too long. For what you want, you need a ND 3.0, often also called "ND1000", probably even combined with your ND 0.9.

 

Or you can stack multiple images you took with photoshop, for the total time of exposure you want. That means, if you take the images at 1/10th of a second with your ND 0.9 on, you can make 30 images for a total of 3 seconds of exposure.

 

/edit: I was too slow, most of this has already been written. However, if you decide to buy a new ND filter, I can recommend the NiSi ND1000. No color cast, no problems, slim frame.

[milandro]

that would be the more complex method I was referring above...

[quincy]

Yes, sorry. I should not post in topics that are this active. I'm just too damn slow.

[darknj]

Mh, okay. I fear I must repeat what darknj already wrote, hope he is not angry about that:

[...]

 

Not at all :]

 

Yes, sorry. I should not post in topics that are this active. I'm just too damn slow.

 

Active here ? You should really look at milandro's posting speed, sometimes I get the impression he lives inside the forum

[milandro]

believe it or not I do other things too    ( have you seen my test on the lens turbo by the way) 

[darknj]

believe it or not I do other things too    ( have you seen my test on the lens turbo by the way) 

 

I find it rather hard to believe sometimes, you seems to be in every thread or close to

 

But yes I have seen your lens turbo test, I was still looking at the pictures to see differences and smaller details. Provided that everything goes well, tomorrow or Tuesday I will have my Helios too ^^