Landscape Photography - Using Lee Little Stopper for Long Exposure
Вставка
- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
- The forecast was clouding with rain showers. This meant the light during the day was going to be dispersed, which is perfect conditions for long exposures in the middle of the day. So I thought I’d take a drive out to Noble Falls, near Gidgegannup along the Toodyay Road.
The trip out was great and conditions were fantastic when I arrive, but that’s when the weather started to deteriorate. I managed to get out for a quick explore before the sky opened and the rain bucketed down. Although the showers were heavy, they didn’t last long, so there was plenty of the opportunity to look around and find an interesting composition. Even though it has rained last in the year the rivers around Perth are starting to dry up. The was still water running through the falls but much less than on previous occasions when I’ve been to this location.
Eventually the clouds parted and the rain stopped. My first composition was on the south side of the bank with a series of small waterfalls creating a leading line guiding the viewers eye from the right to the middle of the scene. I attached the Lee landscape polariser to my nikon 17-35mm lens to cut out the glare of the wet rocks and the surface of the water. I added the Lee Little Stopper to reduce the light as it was the middle of the day. The Little Stopper reduce the light so I could increase my exposure to at least one to two seconds.
An exposure of 1-2 seconds allowed me to capture the moving water as it fell over the rocks and at the same time still maintain some detail (to avoid the milky effect).
I was interrupted a few more time by the rain, however I was successful at setting up at a few more locations before I packed up and went home to have a look at the image I had captured.
Check my previous adventures exploring waterfalls at:
Beyonderyup Falls - • Landscape Photography ...
Lesmurdie Falls - • Landscape Photography ...
Bells Rapids - • Landscape Photography ...
If you are interested in how I approach post-processing, take a look at the following videos:
Watermans Bay - • Landscape Photography ...
Perth Skyline - • Landscape Photography ...
Be inspired with other videos I've taken of seascape scenes around Perth:
Burns Beach - • Landscape Photography ...
Burns Beach - • Landscape Photography ...
North Beach - • Landscape Photography ...
Burns Beach - • Landscape Photography ...
Check out another series of videos full of tips and tricks that I recorded on location in Cape Naturalist area:
Sugarloaf Rock - • Landscape Photography ...
Wyadup - • Landscape Photography ...
Margaret River - • Landscape Photography ...
You can my other photography adventures where I explain my camera settings and filter setup while on locations in Albany:
Whalers Cove - • Landscape Photography ...
Little Beach - • Landscape Photography ...
Stirling Range - • Landscape Photography ...
Salmon Pools - • Landscape Photography ...
Elephant Rocks - • Landscape Photography ...
Two Peoples Bay - • Landscape Photography ...
Sandpitch Cliffs - • Landscape Photography ...
Read more information about my Landscape Photography at www.andrewmarr....
********* PLEASE SUBSCRIBE **********
If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my UA-cam channel | / @andrew_marr
**************************************************
Stay up to date with my latest adventures
Follow me on Instagram | / andrew_marr
Follow me on Facebook | / andrewmarrphotographer
Follow me on Twitter | / madebyandrew
Follow me on Ello | ello.co/andrew...
Follow me on Google+ | plus.google.co...
I would love to hear your feedback on the video, if you have any questions or if you found this helpful or entertaining, please let me know in the comments below.
If you think others would enjoy this content, please share the link to this video or any of my others videos.
Thank you for your support! :)
Music
TAKE THE CHANCE by Nicolai Heidlas Music / nicolai-heidlas
Creative Commons - License 4.0 - CC BY 4.0
IN YOUR ARMS by Nicolai Heidlas Music / nicolai-heidlas
Creative Commons - License 4.0 - CC BY 4.0
BASS BEAT by Nicolai Heidlas Music / nicolai-heidlas
Creative Commons - License 4.0 - CC BY 4.0
Great last picture. V dynamic. Am really enjoying your series thanks
Patience....a definite 'must' for the Landscape photographers kit.
Couldn't agree with you more...you got to get out there and stay out there! Thanks for your comment.
Another very enjoyable video - thanks for posting Andrew
My pleasure David, thanks for your comment! :)
Some beautiful shots there and it's good to see someone else who likes definition in their water. I have no idea why people want to go for the longest possible shot rather than the one slow enough to show movement but fast enough to give definition. Really like your work and the way you think out your composition and settings and can give valid reasons for both.
Wow, what a compliment, thank you for that feedback Mark. Part of the process that I've enjoyed about making these videos is that not only am I explaining what I doing, but I need to think about, and explain, why I am setting a shot in a particular way. It great to know you recognise and appreciate that aspect, cheers mate!
Wonderful work Andrew - always enjoyable and great to hear your thoughts on your composition and settings.
Thanks Alan, appreciate you sharing your feedback mate!
So, it rains in Australia... Nice video, great shots... and lots of patience, Andrew. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, every now and then it rain here...looking at my videos though, you could mistaken think that it rains all the time. That's not the case, we have long dry spells! Thanks for your comments Joao! :)
very entertaining and informative videos Andrew . your videos are very polished as well and that makes it very easy to watch . KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK ........
Thanks very much Graham, really appreciate the feedback mate. Great to hear your enjoying the videos! :)
Great results!
Noble Falls looks like a stunning place and you photographed it beautifully:-) SUBSCRIBER
Hi Andrew, thanks for the great video you make. It's allow me to let my friends knows Perth is so beautiful. Thanks!
Nice location and great how you talk thru the process.....
Glad you like this one, thank you! :)
That was a perfect example for keeping patience which is key to this genre. Love your frame at 10:28! 1:20 could have been a potential candidate too with strong leading lines :)
A very nice video again, thanks.
Thanks very much for your comment! :)
You certainly suffered for your art to get those awesome images Andrew. I’ve been to Noble Falls many times, but always in the summer and spring when not as much flow. Will pick a better day for photography next time.
Great video. Inspiring video. Never give up!!
Thanks very much for your comment, if you hang in there you don't know what might happen! :)
Hi Andrew,shame the weather wasn't being kind to you but that's all part of photography and why we love it.Video is great,like they always are,and the info you give is very helpful .Your images you came away with are spot on,really beautiful.Cheers for taking the time to share them with us,until next time,stay safe and keep up the great work .
It's that love hate relationship Landscape Photographer's have with weather, I needed the clouds to reduce the light, so I suppose I had to put up with a little rain. Thanks mate for your kind and encourage comments Iain.
Hey Andrew!
Realy realy nice Pictures and Video.
Markus ( Germany )
Wow I'm amazed at how many waterfalls and seascapes you have around and near Perth awesome.
Alright, I think it's time you take a break Tim. From what I can tell, you've been binge watching my videos for the last couple of hours. Isn't it time for bed in NZ? :) Thanks for watching though, I really appreciate it mate!
Love your videos.....more please...explained brilliantly!
Thanks so much Brian, so glad you're enjoying the content and I appreciate your encouragement! :)
Thanks so much I thought I needed a 10 stop filter to set the shutter speed ? this has got me rethinking the whole set up .
Andrew,Great images and video!
Thanks you very much Felix! :)
I realy like your pictures. Great job out there. maby you could come back to this location and take another few pictures during golden hour? I'd love to see it! waiting for new vlog.:) see you soon!
It was just a couple of days ago that I discovered your videos. I first noticed your one on Cradle Mountain, where I was bushwalking in the 1980s; it brought back pleasant memories. I’m just getting into digital photography; & it’s quite a challenging technological struggle. I’m from Sydney, from where I can enjoy the Blue Mountains & the Royal National Park. I’m keen to work through your videos. Thanks, Andrew.
Thanks Robert, I can see you've been watching a few of my videos, and I appreciate you spending the time to go through some of my older content. Welcome to the fantastic world of digital photography, I believe you used to use film (am I wrong in assuming that?). Cradle Mountain was inccredible, there should be more video coming soon of the rest of the Tassie trip, so stay tuned for those. Hopefully, the video will be helpful in your digital photography journey, if you have any questions let me know and I'll help out where I can! :)
always informative and entertaining. thanks andrew
Thanks Sean, appreciate the comment mate, glad to know you enjoy this one!
I look forward to seeing your other Tassie videos, Andrew. My time around Cradle Mtn. was the start of the walk (5 of us) through the reserve to Lake St. Clair, with a few detours. It was about 80km. The book we found helpful was ‘Cradle Mountain National Park’ by John Siseman & John Chapman, published by Altona, 1979. It took in also the Walls of Jerusalem. There would be so much more published since then. In the 1980s it was so much less developed. I hear now there are lots of boardwalks & other facilities. When we went through the rangers were on strike so we couldn’t pay! And we didn’t have to book in. The good old days. Another great walk was the south coast from Cockle Creek to Scot’s in Lake Peddar, c. 130km. Yes, it was film (Kodachrome 64) I used in my Nikkormat. I never imagined that one day buy a Nikon D750. The old cameras were both rugged & simple. I was really at home with it & my Nikon FM. Now I’m entering a whole new world.
How do you keep you camera dry? It seems that moisture could easily damage all the electrical makeup of the digital cameras. Do they last as long as the old Nikons?
Anyway, I look forward to your further videos.
Wow, thanks for sharing your story Robert, that was fascinating. I'd have a fair amount of confidence in the weather sealing of the D750, they made improvements over the D610 and used a carbon fibre facing so it has weather sealing similar to the D810. I put my D800 through some fair wet conditions and it never skipped a beat. the electronics are well protected.
I walked the overlander track with mates around 10 years ago, it was an incredible experience, I wish I had brought my camera but I was saving on weight.
I agree the film days were simple and they built cameras that lasted decades and beyond, I still shoot film with a Nikon F3 when I get the chance. All the best mate!
This video just goes to show how much patience you need for this type of photography. Did you ever think you might have to pack up and go home? Very well done for sticking around and getting some lovely images. Your patience paid off mate 👍
Cheers Paul, it was hard to capture in the video but if you look back you may notice that water was generally clear (or dark). When it rained, it was so heavy that the soil around the river, including from the carpark started to wash into the river. That's why the water in the final images were brown (almost orange). I think at one point the rain hitting the car almost drowned out (no pun intended) the audio, So yeah, it may have cross my mind...but I was determined to capture a shot, cheer bud!
great work
Andrew I sure wish I could shoot with you.. I use a Canon 5D mrk4 but I don't think that would stop you.. Again you do such a great job.. I live in the USA but someday I just might come to you.. Take care my friend..
bonjour de la France ( Marseille ) superbe vidéo un grand merci..
Bonjour Alex, c'est mon plaisir. Content que vous appréciez la vidéo, merci!
Nice job again Andrew! Could you tell us in your next videos something about the focusing technique you use? Thank you
Nice one Andrew, very positive in bad weather :)
Thank you Andy, great thing about rain here...it never rains for long! :)
nothing like a challenge when you are trying to get a shot LOL
Hi Andrew - just found your videos & subscribed. Really like the way you explain how you set up & take your shots. I'm still learning all aspects of landscape photography. You must live near me as you tend to go to all the places I go to. Love Noble Falls & especially Bells Rapids. So much material there. It would be great if we could meet up at some stage to compare notes & I can learn bits from you, if you're up for that. Best wishes, Steve
Another great video Andrew! I like how you show the rain delays and other obstacles to creating a great photograph in your videos. Have a good day! One last thing...what software do you use for your video editing? Thanks.
I spent a couple of days on The Isle of Skye in North West Scotland, cloud cover was constant up until the time I left but I did manage to get one good set of photos of a very full waterfall. Not really much to add, I just like the synchronicity of it, I guess it's just November weather!
Now that's a place I'd like to visit, a very different landscape to Australia. Cloud cover will always give you some mood! Thanks for sharing. November weather here can be all over the place...two days ago it was 37 degrees!
Shows it's worth waiting out the weather sometimes, some lovely images. Not that I know anything, but have you considered an L bracket, I love mine since I got one.
Thanks very much, the rain wasn't great but the cloud was moody...perfect conditions! I'm looking at ordering an L bracket, I've heard they're pretty awesome!
Another great video Andrew! any info you can pass onto me to get the correct polarizer that will screw on to the front of the filter holder. I have a CPL but seems I would need one that has some grip on it to be able to turn it easily...
Thanks for sharing. What are some instances when you would use a big stopper instead? Thank you.
Andew I noticed your eyepiece cover? is that after market? And if si where to get one. I enjoy your content and learning a lot. Cheers
In Darwin we don’t have a lot of clouds so could you recommend what to do in this instance please love your videos
Hi Andrew. Nice vid. I am curious to know what tripod is that you are using please? I am looking for a new 1 that i can do low ground images aswell as all the rest. Cheers.
Hi Andrew, really like your videos. I'm no expert, just getting into landscape photography but I was told to expose to the right without blowing out the highlights but at 7.58 in your video, your histogram is over to the left hand side. Is this something you prefer? Just trying to get any tips possible. Paul.
Hey Andrew, great video as always. I really enjoy watching. Do you have any opinions on mirrorless cameras?
Hi Alex, thanks mate! I love mirrorless cameras, I think they are the future. Personally I love what Fuji are doing! I have an X-E1 and contemplating a new X-T2!
Andrew, I meant to mention that the two of us who did the south coast walk were lucky enough to see a pair of the endangered Orange-bellied Parrots. They are in the heath coastal areas. So keep your eyes open; they are much more endangered than when we saw them.
That was a lucky, it must have been amazing! I'll look at when I'm around that area!
Another good video Andrew. I notice you present your image with a white border in your video cropped to your liking. How do you add that white border? I assume when you process your image, you make a jpeg with the white border and insert that into the video.
Thanks Steve, for the video I generally see if I can crop for a 16x9 ratio, but some images just don't look good at that ratio so I crop to best suit the image. The give the final image a little lift, I add the white border as well as a slight shadow. I do most of my editing in Lightroom and then I'll take the image into Photoshop, reduce the image the appropriate size and duplicate the image layer. On the bottom layer I increase the canvas, with a white background, 50 pixels in all directions. I then add a show effect to the top layer. Finally I save a copy as a jpg (to use in the video) and then save the original as a tiff so I can access it again if I need in Lightroom. Hope that helps!
Man I don't know what I am bugged by more, my envy that you are in Australia with lots of water around to shoot, or that you are wearing a T-Shirt outside because it is becoming Summer for you and it is snowing here in Utah? :D Great video as always, Andrew. Your shot where you had the falls reflecting in the polarizer was really cool! -Aaron
Thanks Aaron, I'd do anything for a little bit of snow. Sadly, it has never snowed in Perth in my life time and I'm guessing it never will. It's the long hot summers I struggle with. Not only do I not like the heat, but there are less opportunities for the style of landscape photography I like shooting. I saw the reflection in the polariser and thought the same thing, cheers mate!
Yeah, completely cool reflection. Good point about the grass being greener on the other side...I suppose I should be glad I get four seasons here. But I do love summer and might love it there. At least until it wore me out. 😄 Thanks for the reply, Andrew!
You must have been glad to have been close to your car. Wouldnt have been fun to be caught out in them showers. Liked the perspective you were shooting and certainly making me think a lot more about composition
Having bought a Lee Polariser and Big Stopper recently, would you recommend going going for a Little Stopper next or ND Grads
Thanks Scotty, it doesn't rain often here so when it does and actually quite enjoy it despite it making the photography challenging. Your next filter will really depending on what you shoot and the challenge your trying to over come. If you tend to shoot scene that have uneven light go for an ND filter, hard if you shoot scenes with a flat horizon, soft for scenes with uneven horizons. On the other hand is you find yourself wanting to reduce the light across the entire scene (because you're shooting during the day), grab to Little Stopper. I usually need to reduce the light in the sky, so I'll often need a soft or hard ND Grad filter, I start at around 0.6. In Australia the landscapes are usually flat so the hard edge gets used more. In Iceland and the UK, I was using the soft grad more often. Hope that helps! :)
Thanks Andrew and appreciate the advice. Little Stopper next look to pick up the others thereafter
Good stuff again! Love that last shot! Would love to know your rationale when choosing between f/8 and f/11 - why f/10 here instead of f/11? Was it just shutter speed control - or was there depth of field considerations?
Thank you Alan, the way I approach aperture is to initially consider the depth of field, that's important because I want everything in focus but generally I'll have a range in mind. In that shot I didn't have anything very close to the camera (with in a few feet), so I could have got away with f8. So my range will be something like f8 to f11 (I could go higher but if I can avoid it I will). With that dealt with, next comes the shutter speed, I know I wanted something around 2 seconds, so I dial that in. I check my histogram, see if I'm clipping any highlights and then adjust accordingly. If I need to decrease the light coming in I have two main options, speed the shutter time or decrease aperture (there are more but these are the main two). In the end I weight up the priority, I wanted to keep the shutter speed at 2 seconds so I adjusted the f-stop from 11 to 10. After experimenting a little I may have wanted to increase the exposure (slow the shutter down) so in turn I'd widen the aperture to compensate. Hope this helps mate. I've attempting to explain my approach around this in a previous video but it came out a little convoluted, after explaining it here I might give it another go, thanks for your question!
Andrew Marr thanks much - excellent explanation!
I really enjoy the long exposure water images you do. I especially like the seascapes which brings me to my question. The color cast on your seascapes is more grayish which I like a lot. The river images such as this one, have a brown cast which is what I've struggled with on my own images. Since the rivers tend toward brown anyway, is the brown cast inevitable? I have not found a way in Light Room to really improve it much. I'm a fair distance from the oceans so all of my long exposures have been of rivers similar to this one.
Thanks very much for your comment. The colours you get in images are interesting, I'm often looking for colour contrast in my images. So when it comes to seascapes, in cases i'll be blues/greys of the sky/waves against yellows/oranges of the sunset or sand. In locations like rivers, there's often the greens not he bush to be enhanced against the oranges and browns of the rocks and water. The point you make in an interesting one. I try and find a balance between a natural look and attempting to take out some of the casted colour that can sometimes be overwhelming an image. If you look back of the video you may notice that when I first arrived the water in the river was clear and dark, I felt this was going to go nicely against the oranges of the rocks and greens in the background. Then it rain...heavily, and the orange/red soil started to wash into the river. This meant the water turned orange. So in the end the scene just had a lot of oranges. When I edited the image I tried to enhance some of the oranges to create different tones. In the end titles, I show a close up of the falls in black and white, which is another approach to taking out the oranges. You could look at manipulating the colours in photoshop if you had the time. In the end the scene just was very orange so that came out in the image. I'd go with that and possible look at creating a contrast in tones across the image.
Hy! Great video! What kind of camera and lens did you use? Thanks!
Thanks Gabor, I typically use a Nikon D800 and either the 17-35mm, 24-70mm or even the 70-200mm. Hope that helps!
Andrew Marr Thanks! I saw your all videos! Great job!!! I use big stopper and graduated ND (0.9), I like it! All the best!
Hello Andrew. I've been enjoying your videos. I'm guessing that you are using the Lee 105mm Circular Polarizer on the front of your Lee holder. Is that right? If so, is it safe to assume you find it a worthwhile investment? I have an 82 & 77 screw on, which of course I cannot use effectively with my Lee adapter, so I have been contemplating jumping in with the $300US. Not sure I should keep the 82 & 77 if I go that direction. Do you have any thoughts to share on the topic? Thank you, Scott
Hey Scott, thanks for you comment mate, it's great to get that feedback. Sorry for my late reply. Yes, it's the Lee 105mm Landscape Circular Polarizer. I love it and I'd consider it the best investment I've made regarding accessories for my photography. I used to have screw on polarizers and I much prefer the Lee Filter system. I just have a few different screw mount and then use the same polarizer on every lens. It's gives me brilliant results and no noticeable vignetting, even at out wide (16/17mm). Hope that helps! :)
Thank you Andrew. I actually just got around to buying it last week. I'm done with screw on now. With the Lee I have the Big Stopper, and some soft edge ND grads. Now I'm torn on which other solid NDs to get. I'm thinking the 4 and 6 stop. They don't seem to make a 3 stop, can only find the 2.5 -- which I think is just not enough -- as I usually found myself stacking my..6 and .9s rounds. I'm shooting waterfalls, and seascapes mostly.
That's great news, I have the Big Stopper (10) and the Little Stopper (6) and the 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 ND Grads in both hard and soft edge. I use the hard more for seascape because of the straight horizon. Have you grabbed yourself the 105mm polariser?
Yes. I have the 105mm pol now. I have not used it but will soon.
Could you please tell me what font you are using for your signature? Thanks.
Hi Corin, thank you for noticing the signature. It's not a font, I had the signature created at Photologo.com hope that helps! :)
Thanks. I enjoy your videos.
Blimey mate, have you thought about moving to the UK for some drier weather? 😂
Haha, if someone only watched my videos, they could be forgiven for thinking that it always rains here. Truth is, we've had a very wet winter and I happen to have picked the wettest days to go out and shoot. Honestly we can go months with nothing but blue skies...a Landscape Photographer's nightmare! :) How about I just pop over to the UK for a couple of weeks!
Good idea - but only if you bring the sunny weather and not the rain!
Been out this morning in hail, snow and finger freezing temperatures.