Friday, July 9, 2010

One filter at a time ~ B+W ND106


Oh, the B+W ND106, 6 stops, my new most favorite filter! The reason why I jumped forward to get this filter was because the 10 stop was giving me TOO long of exposures and the 3 stop was not giving me enough length of exposures. I NEEDED something in the middle! Something that gave me a couple or a few seconds, not half a minute! I have learned in photography, that if you photograph the waves at the ocean for 4 to 6 seconds, they look like they are moving! But if you slap on the 10 stop, the water goes from waves to misty. Which is a great effect, but MAN, so is the moving waves! I love them both, but I NEED to be able to do both. Thus, the B+W ND106 holds a special place in my heart.

WHat else do I do with it? On my last post, I shared that the Tiffen ND8, 3 stop, is very stackable to add just a bit of extra ND. One of my favorite combos is the Tiffen ND8 with the B+W ND106 to make a total of 9 stops. Believe it or not, there is a difference between 9 and 10 stops. It really is amazing the gaps at this point of the scale. However, the hidden reason why I often prefer the 9 stops with stacking vs. the 10 stops of the ND110. The post processing! I can, under non bright conditions, get a 30 second exposure with the two lighter filters stacked, but they are great together and do not give off a warm hue like the B+W ND110! So, if I want an easer time working with the post processing, I would rather stack the two lighter filters then to use one dark one. Lazy? Not really, just know my limits by the end of the day! :)

The image above is a 4 second exposure, thanks to the B+W ND106. A perfect length of time to gather in the movement of the water over the rocks. The evening at this point was very overcast and I could have pushed the exposure even longer if I wanted to, but I knew that I wanted to keep the 4 to 5 second range for this and I was right! Turned out exactly the way I wanted it to! :)

No comments:

Post a Comment