The following blog post contains a photograph from our weekend break in Cornwall, but I kept it seperate as I wanted to share this fantastic new piece of kit with you and demonstrate it's use. It's a screw in neutral density filter that will reduce the amount of light hitting the sensor by 10 stops. In short, this means something that would usually be around a 1/15th second exposure is now a 1 minute exposure.
This gives you the ability to create long exposure photographs in all sorts of conditions. A little fiddly to use at first, once the glass is screwed onto your lens the viewfinder is pitch black. Framing and focusing is done beforehand, then locked off. If your going to invest in one, I highly recommend the 'LongTime' iPhone app which is free and will help you calculate your new exposure times. The filter is constructed of brass and then annodised, which prevents binding to the lens.
A characteristic of long exposures using heavy neutral density glass is colour casts. I've used this a number of times now, and am very impressed with the minimal warm colour cast given to a photograph. Looking at a few samples in Adobe Camera Raw, sometimes I even prefer the look it can give.
I'll leave you with one of the first photographs i've taken using this filter, Fistral Beach in Newquay on an overcast afternoon. For more information, click the image below:
