Cost-effective forced long exposure methods?

[PaulWog]

I'm interested in doing some long exposures that require something to stop down my light intake.

I'm wondering what sort of filter (or universal adapter to put a filter overtop of any lens) might make sense? Does narrowing my aperture to something like f22 and bringing my ISO to 100 work for long exposures at all in a lot of cases? Or is it really important to get additional equipment in order to do something like this. I suppose in bright daylight I'd need to, but how often would I really *NEED* additional gear beyond my lens and camera (and tripod)?

 

[D-B-J]

Neutral density filters. They make all different types, at all different price ranges. I really wish I had one sometimes.

Jake

 

[JTPhotography]

Yep, neutral density filters. Here is one of mine, a 30 second exposure taken in the middle of a sunny day.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/general-gallery/341295-11-stops.html

 

[Derrel]

Here you go. B+W 77mm 3.0 ND 110 Filter 65-1066177 B&H Photo Video

It's the new selective color.

 

[pgriz]

I have a ND10 filter. Uses so far:

- Show clouds moving at sunset,
- "creaming" the water
- Smoothing the waves
- Getting rid of people in a public square
- letting lots of light streaks (planes, cars, etc.) while still keeping the background looking darkish
- blurring moving foliage/leaves/branches in the wind
- making wind turbine propellers look like aircraft engine propellers (semi-transparent circles)

Next experiment, using a slow shutter and wide aperture to get partial images of people walking... I have an idea in my head of how I think it will look, but now need to find the time and place to try this.

 

[bratkinson]

Next experiment, using a slow shutter and wide aperture to get partial images of people walking... I have an idea in my head of how I think it will look, but now need to find the time and place to try this.

It's hard to believe it was 36 years ago last week, but I and some co-workers were in Los Angeles on a project and decided to spend a day at Disneyland. At dusk, after the sun was down but the sky still lit, we happened to be at the front of the Magic Kingdom Castle. So I set my trusty Canon EF with FD 35-70 f2.8-3.5 lens on a metal trash can and took several 'long' exposures, bracketting 2-3 stops each way, just for insurance. The best one of them had the Magic Kingdom Castle perfectly lit up, with good twilight sky, and a 'set' of white tennis shoes across the bottom of the frame. Quite obviously, the shutter was open, perhaps 5-6 seconds. Long enough for someone to walk from right to left across the picture, but only his feet were stationary long enough to 'register' on the Kodachrome 64...all 10 shoe images. I still remember that shot quite clearly. Unfortunately, I loaned the entire Kodak Carosel tray of Disneyland slides to one of the co-workers perhaps 5-6 years later, and never saw it again.