I went back to Little Manly Cove the other day, a local beach in Manly with a great ocean pool. This image is the result of a one minute exposure, sufficient time to allow the fast moving clouds to streak through the sky.

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I’ve had the B+W 10 stop 3.0 ND filter for a few months now and thought I would give it a whirl on a recent trip to NZ. In retrospect I should have played with it before I left or even researched other peoples experiences, needless to say I had mixed results. Since then I’ve studied up and thought I would share some tips that may help you get better results.

First up how I use the filter. Before you even put the ND filter on follow these steps:

• put your camera on a tripod you are going to be shooting upwards of 10s so this is a must.
• compose the shot, if you are using this filter it’s likely you want to show some sort of motion blur, include clouds, water, crowds or something that moves and juxtapose this with something static.
• set focus and switch to manual, I wouldn’t rely on auto focus through the filter.*
• set the white balance if shooting jpeg (the camera has no chance once the filters on)*
• correctly expose the scene, setting the aperture and shutter speed (for the scene without the filter at this stage).*
• take a test shot and check histogram (re do previous step if unhappy).

Setting the white balance isn’t as important if shooting in RAW as it can be changed in the RAW editor. Focus and exposure can be set with the filter on if your camera has ‘live view’. Zoom in 100% to set the focus approximately 1/3rd into the image. I find with live view setting the exposure with the filter on the resulting images can come out somewhat dark. I suggest to add an extra stop (3 clicks of shutter speed) to correctly expose the image….or shoot and review the histogram.

Put the filter on!

• stop down the exposure 10 stops (for my camera this is 30 clicks of the shutter speed dial as each increment is a third of a stop – make sure you are going the correct way!).
• go for it, check histogram, correct accordingly.

At 17mm on a full frame camera you really notice lens drop off (darkened edges on the image) so be mindful of this. When you get your photos into post you are likely to have to do a lot of colour correction, first correct the white balance. Colours still look way out? You’ve either got colour cast caused by your filter (the drop in Formatt (Hi-Tech) filters are bad for this, tisk tisk not again Formatt?) or infrared contamination (images lack contrast, appears ‘muddy’).

Here is a shot taken at Craters of the Moon, Taupo, New Zealand. Straight out of the camera you can see it looks muddy and the white balance is all off:

After some colour correction in Adobe RAW we get (note the lack of contrast):

Converting to black and white and processing in Photoshop the end result is a far more contrasty shot where colour is not an issue:

IR contamination the good the bad and the ugly:

• foliage (leaves, grass etc.) come out bright, can be a good look in b&w, leaves reflect IR so they don’t burn in the sun!
• Blue sky’s appear darker, good thing
• Rocks and sand absorb IR, can look muddy and lack contrast
• the sea absorbs all IR, ok to shoot

There are a couple of options to minimise IR contamination.

• The use of an additional hot mirror filter to block IR (I’ve never tried this so can comment on its effectiveness)
• Shoot the sea to minimise IR
• Don’t shot long exposures!
• Shot long exposures as well as short ones and blend in PS

I’m pleased to announce my first knol (a unit of knowledge) titled A Photographer’s Guide to Manly. For this guide and more like it from locations around the world check out this website. It’s a great resource when researching locations for shooting, a reference I use and will be contributing to in the future.

I’m pleased to announce the release of two beautiful 2010 calendars featuring my favourite photographs of Sydney’s Northern Beaches and New Zealand’s South Island. Both calendar costs $30 each plus postage and will make an ideal Christmas or Birthday present. Our calendars are satin-coated prints on high quality art paper, A3 in size, white wire bound with a hanger.

Please click the corresponding ‘buy’ button to be redirected to RedBubble for more information, to view all the images and for secure payment. Don’t delay, order now to ensure delivery for Christmas time.

Sydney’s Northern Beaches

New Zealand’s South Island

Twelve Apostles, Australia

Welcome to LeeDuguid.com.au the newsletter!

It’s been a busy few months since my last newsletter with a couple of photo trips and my first solo exhibition.

Solo Exhibition update
Thanks to everyone who visited my first solo exhibition at RAW studios in Manly. It was a great success with hundreds of visitors over the 10 days and even a write up in the local newspaper, the Manly Daily. I’ve posted some images from the opening night here for those interested.

Exhibition GIG Gallery
As part of ‘Northern Expressions’ a Northern Beaches groups of artists I will be exhibiting two images at the Gig Gallery in Glebe. For more information please visit the Gig Gallery’s website. The opening night is on Tuesday 27th October (sorry about the late notice), please come and join me for a drink.

Canvas prints – new pricing
After printing the impressive 39 X 59 North Curl Curl canvas (1m x 1.5m) for my exhibition I’ve decided to offer this size for all my high resolution images. It really does have a massive visual impact and looks great on a feature wall. With the introduction of this product and in the lead up to Christmas I have decided to lower my canvas prices on the larger sizes. These great new prices are available immediately so purchase soon for Christmas to avoid disappointment.

Framing & Canvas Stretching
As a free service to my customers I am happy provide print framing and canvas stretching at cost. As I have close ties with local framers in the Northern Beaches this can often be at a reduced price otherwise offered. Please email or call for further information.

New Images
To keep up to date with all my new images subscribe to the RSS feed of the latest images section. Please browse to the following posts to see new images from each area.

Victoria including Great Ocean Road, Twelve Apostles, Great Otway National Park, Point Lonsdale and Melbourne city.

Sydney & Northern Beaches including Manly, Freshwater, Turimetta, and Sydney City.

Here are some of my latest images from around my neck of the woods, Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The first couple are from Turimetta, I would have to say the best spot for photography on the beaches. Visit it at the right time of year and the rocks will be covered in amazing neon green weed. The next shot is from Little Manly Cove, shot here on very stormy evening. The wind was blowing a gale and had even helped wash one of the boats about 5 metres up on to the beach. Next up is a photo of Manly Lagoon which was shot for Manly Council as part of the Manly Lagoon festival.The next two are from a trip to Freshwater Beach at sunrise. It was certainly a more memorable sunrise, glad I got up in time. Finally is a panoramic photo taken at Balls Head Reserve of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Sydney Skyline.