A couple of days ago I bought myself an ND400 neutral density filter. I have wanted to buy it for a long time but for some reason, I didn't. Recently we had several days with heavy thunderstorms around Estonia and this is where I decided to finally buy it, to make these long exposure shots during the daytime.
Of course, the ND filter is also great for getting a silky smooth water effect on the sea. Yesterday I tried it out for the first time.
When I arrived at the coast, to my surprise the seawater was totally calm. I was a little disappointed because I was not going to get the effect I wanted. Still, at the same time, I loved it because I haven't seen a calmness like this since last year's summer.
With minimal wave activity, I managed to get some test shots with this filter and I already loved the result.
Time was around 23.00 and it was bright outside. This ND400 filter is so dark that you have to frame and focus before attaching the filter. The shot above is 40 seconds long with f12 aperture and 100 ISO.
Same settings on the next photo.
I'm so pleased with the filter. Now I'm able to get some awesome long exposure shots in daylight!!
The next shot is taken with lens maxed on 105mm, and f13 which means I had to long up my shutter speed, and its 1.30 minutes long.
The next one with the same setting but the sea was much brighter on the spot.
I'm amazed how still the birds were all that 1 and a half minutes.
Anyway, I'm happy with my filter and looking forward to much more testing.
