Do you always get the shot you want?

More and more often I know exactly what kind of shot I want, so I go out to take photos with that in my mind. Sometimes, just like this Monday, I do not get the result I am after.
I wanted to take a photo of a ring bouy with an island in the background. You could get it at Howth harbor! Unfortunately, because of the lights, the lens I have, the distracting rocks and pier, I could not get what I had imagined. And getting "something" just wasn't satisfying me.

On the other side of the pier, you can see the Howth Lighthouse, which is a nice building with flower pots hanging on the wall outside and a bright red door. It was shortly after sunset with dark clouds in the sky and strong wind. (Gosh, it was cold!)
I set up the tripod and my camera with the ultra wide angle Sigma 10-20mm lens.

I thought it was a good opportunity to take a long exposure shot with the B+W ND1000 filter. I love this filter, my best ever! It was getting darker and darker, at ISO100 and f8 and 4 minutes of shutter speed I was still getting underexposed, way too dark photos.
I tried with an ND4 filter and higher ISO, wider aperture as well, but I just wasn't happy.

So, I decided to go for a HDR image. I took one of the same building years ago, when I only had a hybrid camera which only could shot to JPG. That HDR image was processed from 3 JPGs from the very same file.
But this time I did a better job! I set up my camera (without filters), composed the image. Then changed my camera to Continuous shooting mode and bracketing of +- 2 stops. Then I walked home with 3 RAW files in my bag. Here is the result:

I have been to this place thousand times but I never realised that there was a spot, where I could see the building from a completely different angle.
I used the Canon 18-55mm kit lens @ 24mm with an ND4 filter to get this shot. At ISO100 and f9, the sutter speed was 18 seconds, thus the blurred clouds. I converted the image to mono afterwards.

On my way home I had two thoughts on my mind.
1) It is very annoying when people walk into your photo, even though you leave room for them to bypass.
2) You might not get what you wanted, but there must be another opportunity to get something nice instead.

Long exposure shots

Sunday morning. Early morning. VERY EARLY morning. Tempted to stay in bed for another two hours, but I promised myself that I would fight my lazyness. If I want to catch the sunrise I need to get moving as Howth peninsula is one hour drive. I know a little hidden bay there...

To get down from the summit to MY bay, I need to use the wet and slippery stairs. I don't want to end up on my bum... The tripod is a bit more than 2 kgs, the camera bag with the lenses, filters and all the accessories is another 3.

Sooo, what do I want? A long exposure photo of the rocks and the blurred silky water. Luckily the sky over Ireland is ALWAYS cloudy. (Please note that this isn't entirely true, there are something like 5 days a year, when it's clear.)  That should look cool in the picture.

There are two very handy things to mention: 1) weather report 2) tidal calendar if you are to take seascape photos.
The first one is obvious, the latter isn't that much. You don't want to end up at the seafront with all your gears, and the water is hundred meters away at the beginning of the littoral zone because it's low tide. So it's better to check.

Okay, everything is in order. I choose a bigger rock and quickly mount my camera on the tripod. It's time to grab my two babies: the ultra wide angle Sigma 10-20 mm lens and the B+W ND1000 'big stopper' filter. Now, because this filter is so dark that you cannot see through it, this should be the last thing you screw on.
Talking about handy stuff. There are two more: spirit level you can put on your flash shoe and shutter release cable.

The way I take my photos is far from any scientific approach. I just
- compose my photo and make sure that my camera is level with the horizon
- make sure I use ISO speed 100, or maybe 200 if it's too dark
- dial to M ('manual') mode
- choose a medium f-number, let's say between f8 and f13
- change the shutter speed to 'BULB', so the shutter will be open as long as I keep the button pressed
- screw the ND1000 filter on.

From this point it is trial and error. Probably you could do the light metering and calculate the shutter speed. Math wasn't my strength, so trial and error will do. After couple of photo shootings (when you are an experienced photographer, yes a veteran!) you will be more or less able to predict a good starting point anyway. Let's say a minute or a minute and a half, but it really depends on the light conditions.

When I go for a shooting I always pray for a little wind so the clouds will move, not just sit in the sky. I love that effect in my photos. Or in other people's.
This photo was taken with Sigma 10-20 mm @ 10mm, ISO100, f11, 256 seconds.

See it on Flickr

The ND1000 can bring you beautiful effects, but it comes with a disadvantage as well. It's a nuisance to remove and attach the filter every time you move your camera. If you leave it on, you cannot really compose your shot.
However - and it's a handy hint - once my friend Tom used live view mode and wide aperture, so we did not have to remove the filter. Worth trying, maybe use faster ISO speed.

The next photo is taken from few meters away.
Sigma 10-20 mm @ 10mm, ISO100, f11, 142 seconds.

See it on Flickr

See the difference in shutter speed between the two photos? All the other settings are the same, but the exposure time is almost 2 minutes shorter.

Moving to the other end of the bay, I capture my fave shot of the day.
Sigma 10-20 mm @ 10mm, ISO100, f11, 152 seconds.

See it on Flickr

As you could see from my photostream on Flickr, long exposure and mono photos moved to the top of my list. Love them! One thing to be aware of: check the histogram and be careful not to have burnt-in parts.

Question of the day: do you use the mirror lock up feature? I used it once or twice, but could not really see the difference. So I turned it off.