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.
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 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.
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.
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