First attempt at Seascape...

An Exception · 10 Jun 2012 at 02:41

Loved seeing the see today, haven't seen a coastline for about 13 years.
Two things I have realised:
1) I really need some ND Filters
2) Live view is a battery killer (had to stop shooting as ran out of battery)

Something Else · 10 Jun 2012 at 03:23

last shot aside which seems to be a bit blue, they are some lovely shots right there

dannyjo22 · 10 Jun 2012 at 07:25

Nd filters? Why so you can produce long exposure shots of fluffy waves crashing on the shore

I've grown to detest that, it's the new selective colouring

I can never get on with live view in anything like daylight, I prefer to just hyper focal focus and get sharpness that way. Dof master app on my phone uses less battery because like you I was amazed how quick live view eats a battery.

julianhj · 10 Jun 2012 at 07:43

If you don't want to splash out on filters, you could get the same effect to some extent with post-processing.

Columbo · 10 Jun 2012 at 08:16

Great stuff Exception, love the processing as well.

For an ND I'd recommend a B&W ND110 10 stop. I've got one and its superb.

Jimmy1983 · 10 Jun 2012 at 09:44

ManCuBuS said:
Great stuff Exception, love the processing as well.

For an ND I'd recommend a B&W ND110 10 stop. I've got one and its superb.

How much did that set you back?

Clown · 10 Jun 2012 at 10:11

Portland Bill!

julianhj · 10 Jun 2012 at 10:23

Jimmy1983 said:
How much did that set you back?

They retail from £90-£120 depending on size.

I sold my mint 77mm version for £65 on TP a couple of months ago. They come up on there fairly regularly.

gary996 · 10 Jun 2012 at 10:26

Do you mean ND grads rather than just ND's?

theheyes · 10 Jun 2012 at 10:42

Nice shots but with that amount of cloud in the sky I can't help thinking they would have been even better later in the day when the sun was setting (not always practical I know)

An Exception · 10 Jun 2012 at 11:52

Clown said:
Portland Bill!

Yep, looked on google maps in the morning, came across PB, then decided to check it out. For the last shot, I managed to climb up the pit thing with all my camera gear. Took a few shot's, then battery ran out, Doh!

Below is where I took the shot from...

ManCuBuS said:
Great stuff Exception, love the processing as well.

For an ND I'd recommend a B&W ND110 10 stop. I've got one and its superb.

Cheers ManCuBuS, trouble is though, I need something that will fit on my 14-24.

gary996 said:
Do you mean ND grads rather than just ND's?

Mainly need just ND's to be able to slow the shutter down. ND grads could be useful, but I can do that by taking a couple of exposures and doing it in post.

dannyjo22 said:
Nd filters? Why so you can produce long exposure shots of fluffy waves crashing on the shore

I've grown to detest that, it's the new selective colouring

I can never get on with live view in anything like daylight, I prefer to just hyper focal focus and get sharpness that way. Dof master app on my phone uses less battery because like you I was amazed how quick live view eats a battery.

You maybe be right, but for now at least I think it looks kind of cool. Ultimately I'm just wanting to try new stuff.
I found Liveview was also nice to use them composing the shot, especially if the camera was really low.

theheyes said:
Nice shots but with that amount of cloud in the sky I can't help thinking they would have been even better later in the day when the sun was setting (not always practical I know)

I wanted to, but where the sun was, it was just thick solid cloud which looked pretty boring.

Jamsames said:
last shot aside which seems to be a bit blue, they are some lovely shots right there

Thanks James, the last one is more blueish because theshot was taken later in the evening at blue hour.

Columbo · 10 Jun 2012 at 14:10

Holy lot of glass on the front element Batman!!

Just had a look at the Nikon14-24 front element and that is one serious lump on the front! Hmm.......

Looks like the Lee / Cokin system maybe your only option and even that may have to be modified.

An Exception · 10 Jun 2012 at 14:24

From what I can tell Lee do a SW150 filter system, and there is another system here.

Ksanti · 10 Jun 2012 at 17:10

julianhj said:
If you don't want to splash out on filters, you could get the same effect to some extent with post-processing.

That would be editing, not processing, and you'd have to be damned good at it to get a convincing effect.

An Exception · 11 Jun 2012 at 01:17

Hmm, might try this and this.

Might try hacking about with the Cokin some more to get rid of vignetting...

An Exception · 19 Jul 2012 at 13:05

Hmm, went back yesterday armed with more batteries, however got lost due to some Olympic diversions, by the time I got there it was pitch black, and I needed my phone to be able to see camera settings. It was a little scary being out there in almost complete darkness (apart from light house), however it was pretty fun, although as I couldn't see where I was walking, I didn't want to get within drowning distance.

Also does anyone know if 'long exposure' noise reduction does anything to the raw that I can't do in post? Seems these long exposures can get quite noisy, sometimes I found they were less noisy if I upped the ISO rather than leave the shutter open.

Below is what I managed to salvage from the evening before submitting to the cold (only wearing shorts and t-shirt)...

James J · 19 Jul 2012 at 15:12

Why did you need your phone to see camera settings? Don't nikons come with an illumination button for the top LCD and back LCDs?

An Exception · 19 Jul 2012 at 15:18

There is another dial on the left that isn't backlit. It's this dial that you use for thing's like liveview, mirror lockup, single shot etc.

James J · 19 Jul 2012 at 15:30

Ahhh, the 5Ds use a button for activating live view which can be seen in the dark.

a1ex2001 · 19 Jul 2012 at 15:56

Do you have a CPL I get the feeling from your shots that you don't and for me that with an ND grad would give you a much nicer end result than the current long exposure fad.