Focus on Singh-Ray Filters

When Peyton Hale got his chance to go west, he headed straight for the unique geology of Death Valley

2012-01-31T12:14:00.000-05:00

Landscape photographer Peyton Hale grew up in a small community in the mountains of western North Carolina where he spent as much time as possible outdoors. "This led me to earn dual undergraduate degrees in Zoology and in Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences from North Carolina State University in 2006. During my undergraduate days, I picked up a camera while doing field research and began to teach myself photography. At first I spent much of my time shooting macro and some wildlife images, but I have found the greatest pleasure in shooting landscapes. Since then, I've longed for the chance to visit the American West.

"I have a long list of must-visit spots, but Death Valley National Park has always been a high priority for me. With my background in natural sciences, I've been very intrigued by the unique geological phenomena that occur there, from the salt formations at Badwater to the creation of sand dunes in the park.

"This past March was my first opportunity to fly out and explore this vast national park located in California and Nevada, but I only had five days to cover the major points within its 3.3 million acres. When my group of friends and I arrived we found ourselves in the midst of a late winter heat wave, with daytime temperatures creeping into the low 90’s. In addition to the unusually warm temperatures, other changes were occurring in the area. Badwater Basin was totally devoid of water, which only days before still held remnant pools. This forced us to come up with some new plans for our itinerary.

“Whenever we scouted across the Badwater Basin, we were left scratching our heads trying to figure out exactly what to do. We’d hoped for some remnant water to be able to catch reflecting images of dramatic clouds or the snow capped Telescope Peak, but that was all gone. Nowhere across the expanse we walked did we find the beginnings of salt polygons starting to take shape and elevate from the ground. Fortunately one of my friends had really done his homework and found another potential access site along the salt basin to the north that also develops polygons and tends to be less crowded than the main location.

"With a little bit of luck we stumbled across some good looking formations that had few signs of human impact and were well removed from heavy tourist traffic. This photo was taken in the late afternoon as a heavy volume of clouds began to roll in over the Panamint Range, creating some nice contrast in the skies above. I used my Singh Ray 4x6 2-stop hard-step Graduated ND filter to control the highlights in the sky while I exposed for the foreground. This was taken at 19mm with my Canon 5D Mark II at an aperture of f/16 to achieve the proper depth of field throughout the image. At the time I really hadn’t shot many images that I had pre-visualized for black and white printing, and this image was actually pulled out of my digital archives months after the trip. It was one of those images I noticed only after not looking through the galleries for a few months. Once I finished tweaking it through Photoshop CS4 and the Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2 plug-in, I was stoked with the moody feeling the final product evoked.

“After spending just over a day in the Furnace Creek area, we packed up our campsite and headed northwest to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes where the image at the top of this story was captured. After setting up camp in Stovepipe Wells we set out in the early evening to scout out the area and try to get a feel for the orientation of the light and the dunes. We were searching for a perspective other than what has been routinely captured from this area. We came across mud flats at the base of the larger dunes, broken into large, beautiful shapes and the cracks made strong leading lines. The next afternoon, we set up at the base of two dunes to get out of the direct sun and began waiting for the thick bank of clouds to the east to break up and catch the light from the sun setting behind us. Our waiting soon paid off as the clouds we were planning to shoot broke up and caught a glazing of post-sunset color -- just enough to add some pop. I used my Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer to warm up the sand and my 3-stop soft-step Graduated ND filter to suppress the sky enough to prevent any loss of detail or blown-out highlights while exposing 'to the right' to retain full detail in the cracked mud.

"The icing on the cake for me was making the long ride out to the infamous Racetrack Playa near the end of our trip. This unique area is one of those bizarre natural phenomena that really sparked my interest in understanding the processes behind the rock movements (besides aliens, Boba Fett, or the chupacabra) and the conditions needed to make it all happen.

"After the long 27-mile drive down the rudimentary dirt road we arrived at the campsite below the playa, shocked to find it heavily occupied by a large-scale camping setup from a local community college. Luckily for us their fieldtrip’s interest lay well beyond the playa and we had the area almost completely to ourselves before sunset. We took some time to check out multiple rocks to find the proper subject as some of the playa was damaged from foot traffic (while the playa was still wet) and I even found a rock that had been defaced by the signature of a tourist.

"After covering the southern third of the playa for around an hour we were able to find a select number of rocks with the proper orientation and a solid composition. The dramatic light began to unfold from the south with intense colors developing quickly. I sorted through my 2- and 3-stop ND Grads before settling on hand holding my 4x6 3-stop hard-step to subdue the intense colors of the sky and a part of the mountains while bringing out shadow details of the playa and in particular the rock that was my main focal point. Just as quickly as the bold colors unfolded before us, the exquisite display began to dull in intensity and fizzle out.

This image was taken on the first morning in the park from the wildly popular Zabriskie Point between civil twilight and sunrise. I used my 70-200mm lens with the LB Warming Polarizer to isolate this portion of the eroded hillside and warm up the scene. My focus was drawn to the primary ridge that creates a central winding line through the image, guiding the eye through the hillside.

"This trip to Death Valley was incredibly significant for me. I was able to capture some of the best images within my landscape portfolio, and it pushed me to work harder both to capture the initial image and to develop my post processing ability. Since then, I’ve been interacting in more photography education, and the use of Singh Ray filters is something I always promote to those working in landscape photography. Regardless of where I go, how light I have to pack, my set of 2-stop, 3-stop, and the 3-stop reverse ND Grads will be right there alongside my LB Warming Polarizer. I find that these filters have been some of the most important tools in my arsenal when working with shifting light and allow me to get as much of the essential imaging as possible worked out right in the camera."

Peyton will be returning for a 9 day tour of Death Valley and the Alabama Hills in February. He is also planning future workshops in the western US and in the Appalachian Mountains. You can find Peyton actively participating in the Google+ community, and learn more about his projects on his website.

Adam Barker's choice of his Best Images of 2011 tells the story of a highly successful and versatile year

2012-01-25T11:05:00.000-05:00

From his base in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, Adam Barker enjoyed a wide world of spectacular photographic challenges. We can see it in this group of images that Adam sends us as his Best of 2011, which he calls "a spectacular year on all accounts. Foot upon foot of powder skied, fish from Wyoming to the Bahamas hooked, festivals in the far corners of the earth, ancient pathways crossed -- they all contributed to what could perhaps be one of my most productive years behind the lens. Cliche as it may be, I can’t help but look back and share some of my favorite images from the past year. It's also a good time to applaud the performance of my Singh-Ray filters in every kind of light, every step of the way."

1. Jesse Hall takes a moment to ponder human flight, as he stands inside the hot air balloon from which he’ll subsequently launch himself into gravity’s liberating grasp. Park City, UT. No filtration.

2. Angler Al Chidester finds himself surrounded by all that is good in this world: fresh air, fall foliage…and fantastic fishing in some of western Wyoming’s most treasured water. LB Warming Polarizer

3. Fire and rain over Warm Creek Bay, Lake Powell, UT. LB Warming Polarizer, 3-stop Reverse ND Grad

4. Hazy skies make for ethereal and ancient interpretations of East Jerusalem, Israel. 2-stop Soft-Step ND Grad

5. First light envelopes Agua Canyon in a glow only Mother Nature could furnish. Bryce Canyon National Park, UT. LB Warming Polarizer, 3-stop Reverse ND Grad

6. Ralph Lauren’s Double RL Ranch shows its true colors in crisp early morning light. Dallas Divide, CO. LB Warming Polarizer, 3-stop hard step Grad ND

7. Angler Geoff Mueller admires a healthy bonefish (caught and released) in Abaco Island’s skinniest of water. No filtration

8. Calm in the chaos of Hanoi traffic, Vietnam. Vari-ND

9. Bavaria’s finest color smiles upon a lone farmer’s shed in the fields near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. LB Warming Polarizer, 4-stop Reverse ND Grad

10. Skier Drew Stoecklein can, in fact turn right. At just the right time. In just the right place. Alta Backcountry, UT. LB Warming Polarizer

11. Angler Geoff Mueller and Oliver White tense up as they ply the waters off Abaco Island for huge permit. LB Warming Polarizer

We're sure 2012 will be another great year for Adam. You can keep up with his adventures by visiting his blog or Facebook page for regular updates and tutorials, or follow him on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news. You may also want to check out Adam's instructional DVD, Completing your Outdoor Photography with Landscape Filters, also available on his website.

Thierry Hennet documents the colorful salt formations of Danakil Depression in Ethiopia's Rift Valley

2012-01-18T10:58:00.002-05:00

Swiss biologist and nature photographer Thierry Hennet picked a very special place to visit in Africa recently. "The Danakil depression in North East Ethiopia is much like California's Death Valley, just deadlier. Both places are shaped by the earth's tectonic plates drifting apart. They feature salt flats and sand dunes, their lowest points are below sea level and they are extremely hot. Because of the torrid temperatures, Danakil is best visited in winter when heat seldom exceeds the 40°C (100°F) mark. Like Death Valley, the Danakil depression hosts impressive scenes that make it a favorite destination for photographers.

"Whereas Death Valley has no permanent residents, Danakil is the home of the Afar people, who live by rudimentary herding and by trading salt cut into rectangular slabs from the salt flats by Lake Assale. The salt then travels into the Ethiopian highlands by an almost continuous procession of camel caravans. The photo above captures the choreography of this salt trading industry as precisely orchestrated beginning with the arrival of the camel caravans to the small village of Ahmedela every evening.

"At dawn, the caravans leave Ahmedala and proceed to the salt flats. The view of the endless lines of camels on the salt flats is truly mesmerizing. In this image, my 3-stop soft-step ND Grad helped darken the sky while maintaining a bright line just over the horizon, thereby providing a strong contrast with the dark silhouettes of the caravan. I kept changing between my soft-step and hard-step Graduated ND filters while on the salt flats. With the rising sun low on the horizon, these amazing filters enabled me to achieve a wide range of effects.

"On the salt extraction sites the caravans meet the local workers, the salt breakers called 'Focolo' and the salt cutters, the 'Hadalimera,' who prepare square salt plates of exactly 7 kg (15.4 pounds). These men deserve great respect as they work using rudimentary tools under the burning sun and without eye protection against the blinding light. After loading their camels with salt plates, the caravan leaders head back to the highlands to deliver their precious load.

"After this day of photography, I was quite impressed by how well the Singh-Ray Graduated ND filters helped retain the vivid colors throughout my images, as clearly seen by the radiant sunburst. However, at this point of the journey I had not yet discovered a very different application for my 3-stop hard-step ND Grad during my visit to the next landmark of Danakil.

"The drift of the tectonic plates have turned the Danakil depression into one of the most active volcanic areas on earth. The local volcano Erta Ale even features one of the few worldwide active lava lakes in its crater. The view of this lava lake at night is absolutely breathtaking, but the extreme lighting conditions make it quite a challenge to properly expose. To capture both the incandescent lava in the foreground and the night sky, I rotated my 3-stop hard-step ND Grad by 180-degrees -- upside down -- to reduce the light intensity of the lava lake as shown on the image above. The 30-second exposure at f5.6 provided a way to highlight both the incandescent walls of the crater and the burning smoke against the dark blue sky. Unfortunately, the overhanging and unstable rim of the crater made any effort to capture of the whole lava lake risky. I certainly did not want to repeat Gollum’s fall.

"Whereas Erta Ale offers an exclusive spectacle, there's another volcano in Danakil that shines with a unique natural phenomenon. The volcano Dallol is located close to the border with Eritrea, meaning that the area is only accessible under military escort. To make Dallol even more intimidating, the site was awarded the world record of the highest average annual temperature by reaching 34°C (94°F). In spite of all this apparent hostility, the unearthly view of Dallol made my visit so exciting I immediately forgot the extreme heat and the reigning strong smell of sulfur gases. The surreal colors and the fantastic shapes found in the crater of Dallol gave the impression I was on another planet. The hot springs constantly transport minerals and salt to the surface, yielding saturated yellow and orange structures surrounding green ponds of sulfuric acid.

"To emphasize the saturated colors and to minimize the light reflection on the acid pools, I used the Singh-Ray LB Neutral Polarizer throughout my stay on Dallol. The following image shows how the Polarizer revealed the sulfur veins in the acid pools, thus giving an almost organic impression to the scene. The image was taken with a 16-35mm ZA zoom lens set to its 16mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 at f/8.

"The next image was taken at Dallol using the same LB Neutral Polarizer again to underline the color saturation and the gradation of green tones found in the acid pools. This image was taken at noon under bright sunlight. The Polarizer managed to reduce the glare and reflections of the bright sunlight while maintaining the sharpness of all the details.

"Based on current predictions, the Danakil depression will be flooded by the Red Sea in a few millions years. This is definitively a good reason to pay a visit to Ethiopia before these unique landmarks become the floor of a new sea. If you do make the trip, remember to take your Singh-Ray filters!"

You can see more remarkable images from Thierry's Ethopia adventure here, along with many more images from his other travels. You can also keep up with him via his website.

Matthew Eisman got to experience Iceland as a volunteer for its Environment Agency

2012-01-13T13:36:00.001-05:00

New Yorker Matthew Eisman's photographic career is currently thriving on live music concerts and portrait work, which has appeared in publications such as The New York Times and SPIN. "Last summer, I decided to volunteer with the conservation trail teams in Iceland’s national parks through the Environment Agency of Iceland (Umhverfisstofnun). One of my photographic goals was to try capturing the grandeur of the Iceland landscape with the help of my Singh-Ray filters.

"For this venture, I challenged myself to compose all of my images in-camera with one exposure and minimal post-processing. My f-stop Tilopa BC backpack contained my Nikon D700 camera, Nikkor lenses and a set of Singh-Ray Filters. My filter kit included Singh-Ray’s LB Warming Polarizer, Gold-N-Blue, Vari-ND, plus three types of P-size ND filters: the 3-stop Solid ND filter, the 3-stop soft-step and hard-step ND Grad filters and the 3-stop Reverse ND Grad.

"The waterfall images above were made in the vast Þórsmörk area in the Stakkholtsgjá canyon. Þórsmörk is only accessible by specially equipped all-terrain vehicles and the region is very popular among hikers. Mountains, glaciers and fast-moving waters encircle it in all directions. Singh-Ray’s Gold-N-Blue brought this waterfall to life. The only difference between the two exposures was a slight turn of the Gold-N-Blue Polarizer, and I was able to produce two vastly different, but equally dramatic results.

"These next three images were made at the famous Jökulsárlón iceberg lagoon in the southeast near Skaftafell National Park. Jökulsárlón is an abstract photographer’s dreamscape. No two frames are ever the same. It’s one of the most rewarding and challenging locations that I’ve ever photographed. I spent one week near the lagoon waiting for the ideal shooting conditions. My first three days were washed out by rain, but weather finally cleared on the fourth evening and I made this image.

"These next two images were both made the next night at the iceberg lagoon. My goal was to simulate impressionistic brushstrokes with the ebb and flow of the waves. The Gold-N-Blue Polarizer plus the 3-stop Solid ND Filter was the perfect combination.

"The final image below was made at the majestic Dynjandi waterfall in Iceland’s West Fjords. It’s a great example of an image that would not have been possible without help from my Singh-Ray Filters. Using Singh-Ray’s Vari-ND plus the 3-stop Solid ND Filter, I dialed in a six-second exposure in bright afternoon sunlight!

"I gained a lot of valuable photography experience during my adventures in Iceland. The two most important lessons -- familiarizing myself with using filters and learning to be patient when composing my shots. I’d strongly recommend volunteering if you’d like to spend quality time in some of Iceland’s most beautiful areas and experience it in way that most tourists never will."

You can view more of Matthew's photographic work at his website, or check out his music photography website. You'll also find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Wherever Andrew McLachlan and his camera travel in Canada's Ontario Province, he's on the job

2012-01-10T12:04:00.000-05:00

When Canadian nature photographer Andrew McLachlan recently published his first e-book, A Photographer’s Guide to the Ontario Landscape, he was quick to point out "the success of many of my images is based on using Singh-Ray filters. As I have traveled extensively throughout the province, I find my thin-mount LB Warming Polarizer to be indispensable. The same can be said for my Graduated and Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filters.

"When I am not on the road photographing, I can usually be found relaxing at our family’s cottage on Horseshoe Lake near the town of Parry Sound. There is no better way to end the day than sitting on the cottage dock, with a cup of tea in one hand, and a Singh-Ray 2-stop, soft-step ND Grad in the other, and that’s exactly how I captured the dramatic sunrise image above that became the cover shot for my ebook.

"I began my career as freelance photographer/writer back in the days of film and my years of traveling throughout Ontario have now resulted in a diverse collection of landscapes, wildlife and agricultural images which have allowed me to service a variety of clients with a large selection of quality images. I've included five more images with this story that are representative of my landscape work -- and my reliance on Singh-Ray Filters -- but visitors to my website can also find many more photos, ranging from macro to telephoto, artistic to abstract, and documentary.

"I can still recall this visit to my beloved Tiny Marsh Provincial Wildlife Area near the town of Elmvale. I often arrive at Tiny Marsh to shoot sunrise imagery over the wetlands. On one particular morning, many years ago, when I was shooting film, a wonderful cloud formation was hanging above the marsh. I knew as soon as the sun began to illuminate the cloud it was going to be an impressive sunrise. I immediately reached for my Singh-Ray 2-stop, soft-step Graduated ND filter to accurately record this wonderful wetland sunrise.

"On another trip to Ontario’s boreal forest near Englehart, my thin-mount, Warming Polarizer provided the final piece of the puzzle for capturing this vision of Kap-Kig-Iwan, aboriginal for ‘the high falls.' The rocks below the falls at this location are thought to be some of the oldest rocks on Earth. Using the Warming Polarizer created lush greens and warmed the exposed bedrock wonderfully, while cutting down the glare that was present on this overcast day.

"While co-leading a winter workshop in Ontario’s Muskoka region, I discussed how essential Graduated Neutral Density filters are to landscape photography. And since some of the participants did not own such filters, I demonstrated how much they could improve their images by allowing the participant to try them and see for themselves, on their LCD screens, the results of shooting with and without the ND Grads in place. In the accompanying photograph of the Black River in winter, captured during this workshop, the bright, over-cast sky was balanced with a 2-stop, soft-step ND Grad.

"Although I have traveled throughout much of Ontario’s vast and varied terrain, I find Algonquin and Lake Superior Provincial Parks to be my favored locations. The scenery in these parks is some of the best in the province. On one such excursion to Algonquin Provincial Park, I found my thin-mount, LB Warming Polarizer and 2-stop, soft-step ND Grad to be critical in capturing an impressive sunset at Grand Lake. I was using my Nikon 12-24mm lens, and thanks to my thin-mount LB Warming Polarizer, I was able to use these two filters without encountering any vignetting.

"During my recent trip to Lake Superior Provincial Park, I awoke on the first morning to a bitter cold wind and a sky full of rather nasty storm clouds. I was hoping for conditions that were a little more favorable, but I always make a habit of getting up and getting out there regardless of the current weather, especially on windy days when things can change in a hurry. One of my favorite spots in the park is at Old Woman Bay. The sandy beach at this location has many sun-bleached logs strewn about, presumably by extremely rough conditions on the lake during stormy weather, something that Lake Superior is noted for. I found an old tree stump at the water’s edge that I knew would make a nice foreground element, so I sat down on the beach with my 12-24mm lens and framed this scene. Why did I sit down? I wanted a low perspective that would let me keep the tree stump from rising above the horizon line and merge with the sky, Secondly, it was incredibly windy and it is much easier to keep everything steady (camera and tripod) when you assume a lower profile. I used my LB Warming Polarizer to reduce some of the glare from the water and make the clouds a touch more dramatic. I also used my 2-stop soft-step Singh-Ray ND Grad to darken the sky. As I was playing around with various shutter speeds to get the desired amount of blur on the incoming waves, the sun began rising behind me and lit up a section of the clouds adding the final ingredient to this scene."

To learn more about Andrew's new ebook, A Photographer’s Guide to the Ontario Landscape and see more of his images, visit his website, and take a look at his blog.

Adventure sports photographer Tom Bol's filters have been an essential part of his success

2012-01-03T12:01:00.003-05:00

It would be hard to find a photographer with more story-telling enthusiasm than Tom Bol. It shows up in everything he writes, in all his workshop sessions, and -- most importantly -- in every image he produces. It's surprising to learn that Tom has just now published his first book after 25 years of documenting adventures in every part of the world. What did not surprise us is that Tom's book is truly instructional on every page. Adventure Sports Photography; Creating Dramatic Images in Wild Places is basically a storybook that will keep you thinking and planning forward. "Writing the book took over a year, and I had to shoot a number of new images to illustrate techniques in the book. I spent many hours at the computer in the wee hours of the morning writing down my thoughts into cohesive, instructional chapters. These are things I expected to be happening in writing a book.

"But a few other things also happened that I didn’t expect. As I started reviewing 25 years worth of images, my career and even my life became clearer. I thought I knew what made me tick as a photographer, but I had never looked at my entire career at once, only a few years at a time. I mentally relived my introduction to photography and later my deep appreciation of the environment. I reminisced about distant expeditions and old climbing partners. I remembered what it felt like at 23,000 feet in the Himalayas trying to compose a mountaineering shot while gasping for air.

"But along with remembering these career-defining moments, I also recognized what camera equipment has been crucial to my success. I didn’t leave the house without my 17-35mm and 70-200mm. I always had a speedlight with me. And I never left on a shoot without my Singh-Ray Graduated ND, LB ColorCombo Polarizer and Vari-ND filters. These filters were integral in creating a number of my best images.

"Photographing kayaking, both whitewater and sea kayaking, without a Vari-ND close at hand is like shooting a canoeist without a paddle. I won’t need this filter on every shot, but it will allow me to create an image every whitewater portfolio should have. I can shoot the river with a nice motion blur in the middle of the day using this filter, which would be impossible to achieve without slowing my shutter way down and using the Vari-ND. I now look at all moving water, both ocean shores and rivers, imagining what the Vari-ND would do for the scene. I see scenes differently since using this filter.

"I’ve used a polarizing filter since I was in journalism school 30 years ago, and I still use one on almost every shoot. I use the LB ColorCombo Polarizer now; it provides the perfect blend of contrast and saturated color for my landscape shots. It is fun to see a photo workshop participant’s reaction when they see how this filter transforms a scene. I was recently in the Tetons teaching a photo workshop, and this filter brought the clouds to life. Every student wanted to borrow the filter to capture the dramatic clouds.

"The third filter I always have is the 4x6-inch Graduated ND 2-stop soft-step filter. This filter helps me conceptualize a shot in the field, and balance extra-bright skies and snow. Sure, I could try to do this effect later in the computer, but using this Graduated ND filter in the field helps me capture what I envision. I capture the critical elements and tonalities in the camera right at that moment.

"My book is loaded with tips and techniques that should help any outdoor photographer. Everything from developing your creativity and style to using advanced high-speed-sync flash is covered. I discuss a variety of techniques to capture many different types of adventure sports -- from simple hiking shots to stitching frames together of a skier jumping off a cliff. I wanted other photographers to learn by my mistakes, and know what gear is needed to create the images in this book.

"After the revelations I realized while writing this book, I’m not sure how 2012 is going to change my creative vision. Since I was in the office writing so much this year, I decided to make up for it in 2012. I’m now headed to numerous national parks, Alaska, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Italy, Ireland, India and Peru teaching workshops this year." You can keep up with Tom's globetrotting and register for his workshops by visiting his website and blog. And be sure to follow Tom on Facebook and Twitter, too.

To convey total peace and solitude, Floris van Breugal calms the sea and sky with his Vari-ND

2011-12-30T12:24:00.000-05:00

Born and raised in the Bay area of California, award-winning fine art nature photographer Floris van Breugal is now based out of the Pacific Northwest in Seattle, Washington, where he is also a full-time graduate student studying insect flight dynamics. He sends this dramatic reminder that filters work best when we bring them with us.

"Since nature photography is never, ever, predictable, I have learned to never leave home without my Singh-Ray Polarizer and Vari-ND filters. Even in the age of digital blending and fine tuning in post processing, these filters offer something you simply cannot accomplish on the computer. This past weekend, while out backpacking on the rugged coast of Washington's Olympic National Park, I was glad I brought them with me. The sunrise was incredibly beautiful - not that over saturated kind of red and pink, but a perfect mix of color and atmosphere. I couldn't have hoped for better conditions to photograph my new favorite tree, a lonely conifer sitting atop an imposing sea stack.

"After reviewing one of my test images, I realized there was too much commotion in the scene to give the feeling of quiet and peaceful solitude that I wanted to accompany that tree. That's when I reached into my bag and pulled out my Singh-Ray Vari-ND. Now I would be able to smooth out the wave action and cloud movement to achieve the atmosphere I wanted. With a fixed neutral density filter, it's impossible to choose exactly the length of the exposure you want, and invariably you end up with something too long or too short. With the Vari-ND, I was able to dial in just enough density to yield a 20-second exposure, which was long enough to smooth out the cloud and wave movement, but short enough to give some structure in the clouds."

To see more of Floris' nature photography and follow his trails through the Pacific Northwest, you'll want to visit his website and blog, and check out his Flickr galleries, too.

Ernesto Santos offers a few lessons he's learned about using ND Grads to create winners

2011-12-23T11:28:00.000-05:00

While working on his expanding catalog of travel and landscape images recently, Texas photographer Ernesto Santos noticed the makings of another fine blog story. "It occurred to me how many of my best efforts (those images that have earned me some income from time to time) would not have been possible without the use of my Singh-Ray Graduated Neutral Density Filters. Sure, there may be other ways to 'get the shot in the tin,' but as I reflect on the images in this article it becomes clear that even with a lot of work at the computer or the use of technology that frankly was not even around when these images were taken, they still would not have met the high standards I try to maintain.

"So I thought I would discuss how these four 'veteran' images confirm the importance of getting each shot right in the camera. Even though these photographs were taken some years ago with a Nikon D100 and D200 they still hold up to large scale printing. That's because the image file is of the highest integrity thanks to the Singh-Ray ND Grads, which allowed me to keep the exposure values within the limited dynamic range of these early digital SLRs.

"At the time I captured this image of the majestic Sierra Del Carmen in Mexico as seen from Big Bend National Park, I was racing to the park's Rio Grande Village campgrounds to stake my claim on my favorite campsite. As I approached the north entrance to the park, I knew I would make it to the campgrounds just before dark; and setting up a tent camp in the dark is no fun, my friends. While on the park road I noticed that the sierra over my left shoulder started to light up and within minutes it was ablaze as you see here. I pulled the car over, grabbed my Nikon D100 and tripod and scrambled around trying to find an area of the desert floor with some interesting flora, I knew I only had only a few minutes as I had seen this spectacle before on a prior trip and had missed it then. When I finally set up the camera, I took a test shot and saw that the mountain range was being over-exposed. Because I had metered the camera to lift the shadowy desert foreground out of the quarter tones, the sierra was washing out. I remember how the exposure range of this scene really surprised me back then. I immediately went for my packet of ND Grads and hand held a 3-stop hard-step over the orange band of limestone and granite layers. I only got three shots bracketing my exposures before the show was over.

"One of the problems with the old D100 was that it had a very narrow exposure range. Shadows tended to get noisy when I tried to pull them out in post processing, and I always had to make sure I didn’t blow out the highlights. In this example, I must point out that the Sierra Del Carmen is made of sandwiched layers of dark Cretaceous rock and lighter colored Glen Rose limestone. To get both tones within the dynamic range of the camera in this situation was a challenge. The ND Grad filter was a deciding factor in making this a successful exposure.

"On another trip to Big Bend National Park, I wanted to capture a different perspective of the Santa Elena Canyon, a popular photo attraction in the park. So I moved away from the main overlook where you get the classic head-on shot of the 1,500-foot-high gaping canyon which has been parted by the Rio Grande River. Instead I drove down to a boat slip area used frequently by rafting outfitters. It was still very early in the morning and, while the sun was bathing the canyon walls with warm tones, much of the Rio Grande River was still in deep blue shadow. This posed a problem for me as I was determined to get the wonderful reflection of the canyon walls in the water.

"A test exposure, shown below, shows how the brightness of the canyon walls was just starting to clip (exceed the camera's dynamic range causing lost highlight detail) when I lowered the shutter speed enough to expose for the reflection. My solution was to use my 2-stop hard-step ND Grad placed a little differently than the conventional way. By paying close attention to my test shot results and reviewing the histogram carefully, I determined the correct placement of the filter.

"This illustration shows how I placed my 2-stop hard-step ND Grad filter to not only hold back the sky but to also bring down the exposure of the cliffs. This worked to great effect on the final image which can be seen at the beginning of this example.

"Here is another image from Big Bend that I will never forget. It was January 2007 when a huge ice storm hit west Texas and dumped snow and ice everywhere in a 300 mile radius. I was hoping for some snow in the Chihuahua Desert but this turned out to be ridiculous! I spent three days in the small town of Study Butte, TX (pronounced "Stoody"; I know it's a Texas thing) marooned and ice-bound waiting for the thaw since all the roads were officially closed. When I took this shot temperatures were in the teens -- the wind was blowing at over 30 mph, and the storm was just starting to roll in! By using my 3-stop soft-step ND Grad, I captured the frigid effect of this polar front with the icy blue sky and clouds overtaking the ridge in the background.

"Here is a good illustration of how you can use ND Grads in different combinations and configurations to great benefit. In this photo of Schwabacher’s Landing in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming, I felt it was important to expose the pine trees so that as much of the detail could be recorded as possible. The dilemma I faced was how to do this while keeping the reflections in the beaver pond looking natural, which is always darker than the subject being reflected. The solution I came up with was to place a 3-stop hard-step ND Grad in the usual manner to hold back the sky and snowy peaks and then place an inverted 2-stop hard-step to hold back the reflections in the beaver pond. This allowed me to meter for the pine trees and even bump that up a ½ stop. This combination worked perfectly as you can see in the final image at the top of this story.

"I hope these illustrations reveal how versatile Singh-Ray ND Grads can be. You don’t always have to use them in the traditional sense, such as to help control a very bright sky. They can also be used to tame brightly lit subjects in the foreground and used in "stacked" combinations to create a balanced and natural looking image. When I pull out my ND Grads, I very often use them in stacked combinations at different angles. They can save the day and give your images the best quality your camera can produce."

Ernesto is currently on his way to the Texas panhandle to photograph the Palo Duro Canyon. As he hit the road the weather forecast included a good dusting of snow. "I think one of the most spectacular scenes you can ever encounter in the American West is when the scrub and desert prairie are sprinkled with snow. It really makes the desert plants and red rock stand out."

Ernesto also recently commented on how his beloved Texas is still suffering through the serious drought. "I recently spent an afternoon at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge which is near my home and I was just devastated by the conditions at the refuge. Many of the ponds and lakes which are critical habitat for the migratory birds of the Central Flyway are dried up and the usually green and lush tropical hardwood forests are gray and devoid of life. And most disheartening, I saw a few old-growth stands, some of which are the last remaining in the Rio Grande Valley, dotted with dead trees that are hundreds of years old and have been around since the Spanish landed on the Gulf coast."

You will want to check out Ernesto's website at esartprints.com where he is now offering professional fine art print services to fellow photographers, the same process he uses on his own fine art prints.

When Adam Barker talks about filters in his workshops, he knows he'll soon hear the word... "FINALLY!"

2011-12-16T12:26:00.000-05:00

"Finally!" That's the word outdoor photographer Adam Barker likes to hear when he's conducting his workshops. "I've run out of fingers and toes to count how many times I heard this exclamation at my recent workshop at the Telluride Photo Festival. Those students expressing such joy and satisfaction have 'finally' seen their first successful landscape image -- successful because it looks just the way they saw the scene with their own eyes.

"I have been shooting with Graduated ND filters now for more than ten years, and I can recall the exact moment I realized the great potential of such a useful filter. It hit me like a ton of bricks -- this was the secret weapon I'd been searching for. Raise your hand if you've been intensely frustrated at times, unable to accurately capture that five-star, once in a lifetime landscape image. Raise your hand if you've ever forlornly had to write out the statement 'this doesn’t quite do the place justice' in reference to one of your images from a particularly magical place and moment, and finally, raise your hand if you've just about given up on photographing landscapes because you raised your hand for the above two statements! OK -- put that hand down, and pick up your saving grace -- the Singh-Ray Graduated Neutral Density filter.

"From my experience, there is no better way to get accurate, bold, vivid and complete images at the time of capture than with a properly used ND Grad filter. What's the secret? It's simply this: even our most modern cameras simply cannot 'see' the same way our eyes see. Our camera's sensor does not record anything close to the full 'dynamic range' of the human eye, meaning it can only capture so much difference between the darkest and brightest parts of an image. This means we must control or moderate the light entering the camera into a more narrow range of tones which the camera will be able to 'see' as it should.

"The colorful view of Dallas Divide, CO we see above was captured with my 3-stop hard step Graduated ND filter and the LB Warming Polarizer -- a combination that I use regularly for landscapes. The Polarizer saturates the color in the sky and the ND Grad balances the high exposure levels of the bright sky in the background with the important -- but less brightly lit -- areas in the foreground.

"This photo of Bavarian Bovines was taken recently near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany using my 3-stop Reverse ND Grad to balance the very bright, dramatic skies. It also helped me balance the image composition as well.

"Every aspiring photographer knows there are 'modern' alternatives to Graduated ND filters like HDR and digital blending, but I’ve had countless students at my workshops remark on how much more natural and representative an image looks when they capture it with the ND Grad filter. To boot, they can now leave each shoot knowing that, with one frame, they nailed it. They're not wondering if multiple frames will align, and when they get home, they will have no creative questions as to how the scene actually appeared at the time of capture.

"Much of my success across numerous genres of photography can be accredited to an understanding of how and when to use these important filters. This farmer's shed in the Bavarian Alps in Germany was captured with a 4-stop Reverse ND Grad and my LB Warming Polarizer. The latter was used to accentuate the colorful sunset clouds and remove sheen from the shed and colorful shingles. The ND Grad allowed me to slightly overexpose the foreground and give some extra pop to the green grass.

"From scenic landscape classics, to 'active lifestyle' keepers, to commercial destination work, I trust these filters to help me capture more natural, complete, and visually satisfying images. This mountain bike sunrise was captured in Deer Valley, Utah using my 4-stop Reverse ND Grad to balance the intense sunlight bursting forth from the horizon. The filtration of the sunlight was absolutely essential to the success and natural look of this image -- not to mention the dramatic backlight in the foreground. Without the ND Grad, this image simply could not have happened, but by using the right filter I was able to add another success to my stock file."

Adam suggests those new to using filters explore the many stories about ND Grads instantly available on this Singh-Ray blog. You may also want to check out Adam's instructional DVD, Completing your Outdoor Photography with Landscape Filters, or visit his blog or Facebook page for regular updates and tutorials, or follow him on Twitter.

Disguised as a wandering landscape photographer, Steve Kossack captures New York City

2011-12-09T11:32:00.000-05:00

"I was raised in Los Angeles," says veteran outdoor photographer Steve Kossack. "It was a big sprawling city even in those days. One block looked like the next. I don't have any photography to speak of from those days because I always felt that nature was elsewhere. I've never looked back and, through my photographic travels and workshops, I've been treated to some of the most beautiful and scenic locations imaginable. The National and State parks throughout the American West are my home and photographic focus.

"Nevertheless, I recently had reason to visit New York City -- arguably the greatest city in the world. This visit was my third, and it was just totally exciting and fun! Dragging my photo gear through this metropolis was a first. To my surprise, my appearance wearing a beat-up shooting vest and carrying my trusty tripod, and photo backpack was hardly noticed by anyone. Nothing seems out of place in the Big Apple! People were moving in all directions at top speed and the towers of the city provided a glowing backdrop. I was a kid in the candy store!

"Early in my visit, I was reminded once again that the basics of outdoor photography are applicable anywhere. Composition is critical and good exposure almost as important. I also found that my filters would play the same essential role here as in our national parks.

"I approached the skyline sunrise (above) feeling the familiar impulse to eliminate the clutter and find the patterns and shapes that would add clarity -- just as I would for any of my western landscape compositions. As I watched this early morning sunrise with a full moon setting from the Brooklyn Promenade, I felt as though we had the entire city to ourselves! Quiet and somewhat cold at 38 degrees, the harbor was still and the moonset pristine. Feeling the history of this place prompted me to set the tall ships in the foreground. With the moon falling quickly, I knew a fast shutter speed was necessary. I chose the longest lens I could fit into my backpack: a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS with a 1.4 extender. In a situation like this, the filter factor of the Singh-Ray ColorCombo -- with its built-in polarizer -- would require a slower exposure that would have rendered the moon as an oval blur. Fortunately, I was able to use my Singh-Ray Color Intensifier with its minimal filter factor (about half an f-stop) to achieve a faster shutter speed and make this sharper image possible. While the Color Intensifier enhanced the natural color of the reflected light, my 4-stop soft-step ND Grad kept the craters in the moon clearly visible.

"This view of Grand Central Station reflects the influence of seeing so many impressive black and white photographs of the old Penn Central Station. Tragically, that 'cathedral' was torn down in favor of today's Madison Square Garden sports arena. For residents of the city, Grand Central Station is their post office and the terminal is their transportation hub. In choosing a vantage point for this image, I wanted to show the 'hum" of the people in this grand and ever-changing environment. After deciding to use my Canon 24mm f/3.5 Tilt/Shift lens to bring symmetry to both the frame and straighten the structural lines vertically, I settled on a slower shutter speed that would render some of the faster moving travelers as ghostly blurs. This was accomplished by using the Singh-Ray ColorCombo. In this case there was no light to be polarized, but the additional filter factor gave me the slower shutter speed I wanted and warmed the light at the same time. Balancing the wide difference in exposure levels was a challenge. The windows near the ceiling read almost seven stops brighter than the shadow areas. A 4-stop hard-step ND Grad held the exposure from the top lights to the top of the image. All that was left was to wait and choose the traffic pattern I wanted for the image.

"Properly exposing this waterfront image was another challenge. The motion implied by the boat was needed to lead the eye toward the primary focal point which is the reflected light on the building windows. I began by finding a shutter speed quick enough to freeze the moving boat and then choose f/11 as an aperture small enough to assure good overall depth of field with the Tilt/Shift lens. To achieve the right combination of 1/500 at f/11, I grudgingly selected an ISO setting of 800. Next was the selection of the Singh-Ray ColorCombo to both increase the color saturation and, more importantly, cut the glare. However this left the water a deep shadow. This was corrected by increasing the exposure 1 2/3 stops and inserting a 4-stop hard-step ND Grad all the way down to the waterline. Now, looking at the image with everything aglow and the exposure levels more evenly balanced across the entire frame, it looks like an easy shot.

"A 'must see' tourist attraction, the Empire State Building allows a good view of almost everywhere. With no tripods allowed, my inclination was to leave the photo gear in the vehicle. After a few moments' thought, that idea was dismissed for many reasons, and I figured I was just going to carry it as one might through an airport. Actually, the security both here and at the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island is the same as it was at the airport! In the end I was glad I had it. Wherever I went, I found myself hand holding my image stabilized 70-200 while standing shoulder-to-shoulder with about 400 of my new and closest friends! As the light faded into a great sunset, motionless images became almost impossible. This situation was the best case I could ever make for owning the Singh-Ray Color Intensifier. Any other filter would have created impossibly slow shutter speeds. With little or no filter factor to worry about, I used it for every frame until the light was gone!

"Here again it was deja vu. I've viewed hundreds of images of the Flat Iron Building done by the masters ever since the days when this beautiful structure was the tallest skyscraper in Manhattan. Since I expected the light to play a major role in this first-light situation, it was pretty much a landscape photographer's mindset from the beginning. My preconception, however, did not hold up when the light came forth, and so the creative process took over. The composition was adjusted when I discovered a lot of open space at the foot of the building across the intersection. I just could not find a location in the pre-dawn that satisfied me. Instead, I set up where the bottom of the building was obscured by hedges and trees and made a frame from the tree branches. To bring the vertical lines of the skyscraper into proper perspective I again used the 24mm Tilt/Shift. When first light did appear it became obvious that the front of the building, where light was needed most, would not materialize. I decided to use a ColorCombo to heighten the intensity of the greens and blues. The filter's polarizer helped boost the contrast just a touch in the clouds; I then 'painted' the tree leaves with my head lamp to give them more color and detail."

Now that Steve has returned to his Nevada homestead, he's preparing to lead workshops in Yosemite Valley - Feb. 15-19 and Death Valley - April 11-15. For more news and information about Steve's workshop schedule, visit his website and gallery.

Bret Edge goes to work in Grand Teton National Park for three days of "preparation"

2011-12-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

From his home in Moab, Utah, outdoor photographer Bret Edge devotes a generous share of his time to organizing and leading workshops to many of the surrounding national and state parks. That's what took him to Grand Teton National Park in late September. "I was preparing for a three-day photography workshop. I arrived three days before the workshop to scout some areas for fall color photography, so my total time in the park was just three days. I got right into it. Each day was interrupted with dramatic thunderstorms which led me to capture this photo (above) of an approaching storm over Jenny Lake. Here we see the Tetons rising above the lake with Cascade Canyon out beyond. I used the 3-stop soft-step ND Grad to hold back the bright sky and the longer exposure made possible by the Vari-ND to smooth out ripples in the lake caused by high winds during the longer exposure. I like using my Vari-ND on windy days to smooth ripples or allow leaves or wildflowers to blur into swaths of color as they sway in the wind. It's also a good way to use the elements to my advantage rather than cursing the wind!

"Over the years I've developed a better sense for what works as a black and white image and what doesn't. Generally speaking, images with very colorful elements (wildflowers, fall colors, alpenglow) work best when presented in full color. I find that images with strong textures, interesting patterns, and/or stormy spotlighting make excellent black and white photographs. It's all about contrasts -- when I'm working with shades of gray I'm relying heavily on contrast to develop a successful image.

"Looking south from Shadow Mountain toward Snow King Mountain, I discovered this riot of fall color (above). I used my Singh-Ray thin-mount LB Polarizer at about 1/2 polarizing power to give the sky more pop. I also used a 3-stop soft-step ND Grad to balance the brightness of the sky (only pulled down slightly to around 2 stops) with the shaded foreground.

"Any time I'm using a wide angle lens to photograph a grand scenic, I'll limit how much polarization I use. This often means only using the polarizer at 1/4 power. If I'm photographing an interior forest scene or an intimate landscape that involves a creek, waterfall, leaves or any other reflective surface, I'll crank up the polarizing power to 1/2 or even full power.

"Here we see fog beginning to clear, exposing the high peaks of the Teton Range in early summer above the placid waters of Jackson Lake. I used the 3-stop soft-step ND Grad pulled part of the way down (about 2 stops) to hold back the brightness of the snow covered peaks and fog. I also used my Singh-Ray thin-mount LB Polarizer to reduce the glare reflecting off the water. When photographing in the Tetons I do not advise traveling light! Most of the landscapes are best photographed with wide angle to moderate telephoto lenses, i.e. 16mm to 100mm. In early summer and autumn, macro lenses may be handy to photograph wildflowers and intimate scenes of aspen or cottonwood leaves.

"It was a real thrill to see these crepuscular rays emerging during a stormy sunset over the Teton Range. This is a classic scene photographed from the Snake River Overlook. I used the 3-stop soft-step ND Grad to balance the exposure of the bright areas of sky with the colorful aspens in the shaded foreground.

"I really don't change the way I photograph for different markets. I create photographs knowing that I might some day need to make a large (32" x 48") fine art print for a client. Any image that prints well at 32" x 48" will also print well in an 11"x14" calendar or in a magazine. Obviously, images with lots of fine detail are going to look best as a large print where all that detail can truly be appreciated. I do a fair amount of business in stock imagery and it's always good to have both a horizontal and vertical of the same image when possible. When I can, I always try to shoot both but it doesn't always work out. Something I learned a while ago is that it never hurts to have two verticals -- one with lots of extra sky and another without it. Photo editors love it when you can give them a photo with plenty of negative space in which they can drop in text.

"Another afternoon storm swirls around the Grand Tetons above Jackson Lake in early autumn. I used the 3-stop soft-step ND Grad to hold back the brighter clouds and darken the exposed areas of sky. Here again, I feel the black & white version is the stronger image. Puffy clouds in the sky add tremendous depth to any image and when included in a black and white photograph, the stark contrast of deep black sky to bright white clouds is stunning. I do believe one needs to pay more attention to composition with black and white photography as I don't have bold colors to "hide" a lackluster composition."

Bret's main website has many more images, plus information about his upcoming workshops. He recently released his first e-book, The Essential Guide to Photographing Arches National Park. It includes tips for getting the best shots, maps of the park and trails, schedules of when the light will be optimal, and suggestions for what gear you'll need. You can keep up with Bret's adventures by following his blog or adding him on Facebook.

Reverse ND Grads help Dave Hutchison find the right balance for dramatic sunset images

2011-11-29T11:42:00.000-05:00

Although Dave Hutchison was born and raised in Ontario, Canada, he's been a resident of Vancouver Island for the past 10 years. "I became seriously interested in outdoor photography about 5 years ago and I am still discovering all the benefits of living in one of the world's most scenic areas.

"In my efforts to promote nature conservation through photography, I am also discovering the benefits of using Singh-Ray filters for optimum results whenever I'm shooting landscapes. Here are two recent examples of how the Reverse Graduated ND filter helped me capture the full range of exposure levels in a single shot by holding back the intense light of the sun at sunset. I captured the photo above at Chesterman Beach in Tofino, BC, and the image below at Florencia Bay in Ucluelet, BC. Both locations are about 5 hours drive from my home in Sidney, BC. Florencia Bay is part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

"With both the 3-stop and 4-stop 'reverse ND’s' in my camera bag at all times, I strive to get the image 'right' in camera. I handhold my graduated filters and sometimes gently move the filter during the exposure to further 'soften' the transition along the horizon. I also use the Live View option on my Nikon D700 to assist in positioning all of my ND Grads. I find that I can control the transition area better on the 3-inch EVF screen and still be able to look around the scene for other compositions. I always use a remote shutter release to help reduce any vibrations."

Dave communicates his love of nature through his fine-art images sold for homes, offices, gift shops and galleries across Canada. He also sells his art cards and prints through a national distributor. He will be offering three-day workshops in the Tofino/Ucluelet areas next spring. You can learn more about these workshops and see more images on Dave's website. You'll also find him on Facebook.

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Singh-Ray!

2011-11-23T19:00:00.000-05:00

While we are always thankful for the many customers and friends we work with every day, this is an excellent opportunity to offer a few words of appreciation and do some "Thanks Giving."

It is truly a gift to be able to help our customers improve their photography, and to work with so many creative people from around the world. It's always gratifying to see your beautiful results!

We also would like to thank all the outstanding photographers who contribute articles to this blog. We truly enjoy sharing so many remarkable images and ideas with all of you. If you have some spare time this holiday weekend, we remind you that there are hundreds of stories in our blog archive, and they still offer valuable ideas and information -- so go ahead and look through our back pages.

In order to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend with our families, our offices will be closed Thursday and Friday of this week. We will be back in the office Monday morning, and of course, our online store is always open!

Also, our offices will be closed December 24 and re-open January 2nd, so be sure to plan ahead if you have travel plans that week, or if you need to make any purchases during this calendar year for tax purposes. Please allow a few days to prepare and ship your order in advance of the holiday break.

We have lots of things in store for the new year, so be sure to stay tuned to this blog, and check the website now and again for all the latest news.

Wishing you and yours a happy, safe, and joyful Thanksgiving!

Despite all the rain, Dale Wilson and his Singh-Ray filters managed to bring home the images he wanted

2011-11-22T11:52:00.001-05:00

Veteran landscape photographer Dale Wilson has photographed his Canadian homeland from coast to coast, but he's always ready to see and learn more. "Last winter I was watching a television documentary by Canadian environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki. It was a riveting film with some incredible images of the granite geology of the eastern Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. During the first commercial break I grabbed the telephone and called my friend Ethan Meleg -- who lives and photographs on the shores of Lake Huron -- to get him tuned in; not surprisingly he already was.

"Although Ethan was not familiar with the location, he did some exploring in the area as reported on the Singh-Ray blog back in January. It took more phone calls between us before the stars eventually aligned and Ethan and I were able to take his boat, the Viewfinder, to the eastern Georgian Bay in June 2011. There are over 30,000 islands in this region of Lake Huron and it is a natural haven for boaters. On the 'inside' waterways, the size and variety of granite up-cropping provide the opportunity to kayak or canoe in relative safety with countless take-out points and shelter should the weather come up. On the 'outside' open water, however, the skipper, boat, and equipment had better be well seasoned and in good working order.

"Photographing on these islands was very similar to the Atlantic coastline I'm more familiar with. The image above was captured with my Singh-Ray thin-mount LB Warming Polarizer and 3 stops of Reverse ND Grad. I find that I shoot using the Daylight white balance preset at least 90% of the time, and then adjust to taste using a combination of filters and exposures. The warming polarizer obviously reduces the reflection from water and, at the same time, counters 'the blues' inherent with long exposures in low light.

"I've also found that a Daryl Benson Reverse ND Grad often provides the most pleasing balance with water horizons at sunset. Depending on the amount of sky I am including in the picture, I may also on occasion stack a Galen Rowell 1-stop soft-step ND Grad, positioned upside-down to feather a pleasing tonal balance leading down into the water line itself. Obviously there is no true filter recipe for all situations, as the geographical surroundings and light conditions will dictate what filters should be used. That's why I like to have a variety of ND grads in my filter pouch to be ready for anything.

"When we got to the eastern Georgian Bay, Ethan and I only had two days of exploring the islands. Then it was back to the mainland to wait out the impending weather front that was moving in some foul weather that decided to linger on the Bruce Peninsula area for a solid week. We had a few moments where the sun did shine, and we shot around Bruce Peninsula National Park before I decided to call it quits and head back to my home base on the Atlantic coastline.

"I did have one detour I wanted to make before heading east, however, and that was to supplement my stock files with some shots of wind turbines. There are few places in Canada that have more wind turbines in a concentrated geographical area than south-western Ontario.

"I arrived at a relatively long line of turbines along the Lake Huron shoreline at about 11:00 o’clock in the morning. It was raining lightly and the sky was a dull grey. I decided to concentrate on doing some industrial type of stock shooting by driving some country roads seeking a good vantage point to compress the hydro lines and towers into a really tight scene. I first started using a blue and yellow polarizing filter about 20 years ago, and knew from this experience that given cloudy skies, the Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue would add some blue cast to the grey sky, depending upon how I rotated the filter. By adjusting the exposure and watching the histogram, I zeroed in on the duotone look I was seeking.

"Then, miracle of miracles, the sun broke through as I was driving and a blue sky opened for about 15 minutes. Yes, I missed the incredible rainbow because I was in unfamiliar landscape and just didn’t find a suitable foreground in the three to five minutes of the impressive light show. So it was back to the wind turbines.

"After considering the sunny 16 rule (Exposure = 1/ISO), I translated my exposure to f22 at 1/60 of a second at ISO100. Realizing that I would have to dramatically slow that shutter speed to create the motion blur I wanted, I started rummaging around my filter case. Based on the speed the turbines were turning I guessed I needed a shutter speed of around ¼-second to achieve the desired effect. I stacked a 2-stop ND and a polarizing combination – but it still didn’t slow the shutter sufficiently. I was starting to think how I could stack some split-grads -- one upside down -- to create even more ND in front of the lens to slow the shutter speed another 2-stops.

"This is when it dawned on me... tucked away in a secondary filter case where I keep some 'specialized' filters was the Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo. This was a filter with which I had done some previous experimenting but hadn’t used in about six months. Voila, it was the perfect ticket; I now had one filter threaded on the front of the lens that provided the opportunity to decrease the exposure to the desired shutter speed with a simple turn of the ring. I got my shot, packed up and headed toward Toronto and points east but not before seriously considering the point that a photographer’s road kit has to include a full arsenal of filters. I have little doubt the Vari-N-Duo afforded me the opportunity to shoot right through high noon and still get the desired motion blur I was looking for. By the time I reached Toronto three hours later the heavens broke again and I drove through thunder and lightning storms for the next twenty hours. Now, if Singh-Ray could just develop a filter that would allow us to 'dial in' the desired weather conditions..."

In addition to his many freelance assignments, veteran outdoor photographer Dale Wilson writes a regular column for Outdoor Photography Canada Magazine. The book project he recently edited, Canada's National Parks: A Celebration, sold out almost immediately, but is now back in print. It features more than 200 color images by Canada's leading landscape photographers. To see more of Dale's photos visit his website and his Naturally Natural blog.

Jon Cornforth returns from twelve weeks in Alaska this summer with a variety of wild images

2011-11-18T11:38:00.003-05:00

When it comes to photographic adventuring, Seattle-based Jon Cornforth never seems to slow down. During the past summer, he's made four trips to Alaska for a total of twelve weeks. Enjoying the convenience and mobility of cruising the almost unlimited shorelines in his own 22-foot C-Dory, Serenity, Jon is ready for any wildlife or landscape opportunities that cross his path -- from whales and bears to wildflowers and glaciers. "I spent over 12 weeks in Alaska this past summer. While my photography is increasingly more focused on wildlife encounters, I still shoot dramatic landscape images whenever the conditions are conducive.

"One lesson that I have learned over the last decade of photographing Alaska is that the weather is almost always bad. This makes the occasional dramatic sunrise or sunset all the more special. The following images are from 3 different trips that I did around Prince William Sound, my 9-day visit to Denali National Park, and my 3 week expedition on the outer coast of Katmai National Park. I used my Canon 5D MkII with various Canon and Zeiss lenses as well as Singh-Ray filters for all these images. The resulting pictures are all single exposure RAW files that required a minimal amount of processing using Aperture 3 and Photoshop CS5.

"During my May visit to Cordova, Alaska, I was blessed with nearly a week of perfect weather. Of course, clear blue skies are never conducive to dramatic landscape images, so I kept my eye out for the occasional clouds at sunset. These mountains formed the dramatic backdrop for the prime shorebird viewing area of Hartney Bay. Since it was still early spring, they were still covered in snow almost all the way to sea level. Fortunately for my photography ambitions, high-tide corresponded with sunset which allowed the channels in Hartney Bay to fill with the incoming tide. Since there was almost no wind the night that I created this image, I was able to photograph a near perfect reflection in the calm waters. The clouds lit up with more dramatic colors as the sun set, but I find my photographic eye increasingly drawn to more fully illuminated landscapes with great light, rather than overwhelming neon colors and dark shadows. My Zeiss 50mm f1.4 ZE lens was fitted with the LB Warming Polarizer and 4-stop soft-step ND Grad to create this image.

"After visiting Cordova, I used Serenity to cruise from Whittier to the Columbia Glacier. I then spent a week anchored in Jade Cove located on the southeastern side of Columbia Bay during which I used my inflatable to explore the area. I spent much of my time photographing adorable sea otters during the day and then glacier landscapes at sunrise and sunset. Over the years, I have learned to appreciate photography in cloudy conditions in Alaska. Most of the time this is ideal for wildlife, but not so desirable for dramatic landscape images. However, just because it is cloudy doesn’t mean that there aren’t any images to be created. This image of stranded glacial ice on the Columbia Glacier's old moraine bar at low tide is a perfect example of creating an image in murky light conditions. Photographing the deep blues in icebergs requires overcast light and I took advantage of the calm, shallow water at low tide for a reflection. I created this image with my Zeiss 50mm f1.4 ZE lens and Singh-Ray 4-stop soft-step Graduated Neutral Density filter. I had to wait patiently for a perfect mirror reflection for more than an hour before I was eventually successful.

"I photographed this rugged view of Nellie Juan Glacier while cruising Prince William Sound with my dad in late June. I had scouted Nellie Juan Fjord several days earlier in rainy conditions and observed a few dwarf fireweed blooms high above the tideline on the granite cliffs. To get to this location, I woke up well before sunrise, navigated my inflatable boat through hazardous submerged rocks guarding the entrance to the fjord, motored through tons of floating ice, and finally tethered my inflatable to the base of a soaring rock wall. I then scrambled high above the water to get to this precarious perch. Once I was in place, I was fortunate to experience perfect landscape photography conditions with clear sky to the east and a few clouds hovering over the mountains to the west. My LB Warming Polarizer and 4-stop soft-step Graduated Neutral Density filter were used for this image.

"This is one of my images from my July visit to Denali National Park. I had been fortunate in receiving a Professional Photography Permit from the Park Service that allowed me to drive the park's 90-mile Wonder Lake Road in my own private vehicle. I had no ambitions to photograph Denali since I had already been successful in 2005 and 2006 when the weather was horrible. Since Denali is typically very cloud covered, I was mostly planning to photograph wildlife near the road. However, when the weather improved and the clouds parted, I switched back to landscape photography mode. This tundra pond is one of thousands located near Wonder Lake. This sunrise was gorgeous with the alpenglow illuminating Denali's summit at 20,000 feet while the clouds clung to the lower flanks of the mountain. There were a lot of water bugs disturbing the surface of this pond, but otherwise the reflection was as close to perfect as possible. I created this image with the LB Warming Polarizer and 4-stop soft-step Graduated ND filter mounted on my 50mm f1.4 ZE lens.

"While visiting Denali, the week started out with terrible weather, but quickly improved and kept getting better every day. With all the clear weather I experienced, I took advantage of every moment the summit was visible. I created this spectacular image on the last day of my permit. After staying up all night for several days and barely sleeping, I had lunch at the Kantishna Roadhouse. After lunch, my intention was to start driving back to Anchorage, but as I was nearing Wonder Lake the mountain was again entirely visible. So much for driving that afternoon. I had scouted several nice patches of fireweed during the week, so I decided to set up my camera for the rest of the day and see what would happen. Not only was it sunny and warm with almost no wind, but the mosquitoes disappeared entirely. This allowed me to comfortably sit at the side of the road while working on my tan with my shirt off. Anyone who has ever been back to Wonder Lake during the summer will appreciate how incredible this sounds. Over the course of 6 hours waiting for the sunset, I listened to some of my favorite music, waved at the occasional bus passing by, and waited for the clouds to part again in order reveal the summit of Denali. Everything came together perfectly about 1 hour before sunset. This image was captured with my LB Warming Polarizer and 3-stop hard-step ND Grad filter.

"Later in July, I used Serenity to return to Prince William Sound and visit Harriman Fjord. I was eager to photograph wildflowers blooming near the tidewater glaciers. My timing was perfect and the weather was spectacular. I had seen a few images of this patch of dwarf fireweed from Alaska photographers that I admire and easily located it during my first reconnaissance of the fjord in my inflatable. I returned the next morning and was rewarded with beautiful sunrise light and clouds. I created this image with my 28mm f2 ZE lens, LB Warming Polarizer, and 3-stop hard-step Graduated ND filter.

"I created this bold image of dwarf fireweed at sunset when I returned to Columbia Bay in July. I was so captivated by the dramatic and wild nature of the place in May that I had to return. It is now one of my favorite locations that I have ever visited in Alaska. I experienced much better weather during this visit and there were loads of wildflowers, especially the hearty dwarf fireweed. This plant grows in areas recently exposed by glacial retreat. This particular patch of flowers was located on the northwest tip of Heather Island along the edge of the old glacial moraine bar. Before settling on this composition, I ran around like a madman trying to find the best group of wildflowers that would complement the dramatic sunset that was unfolding. For this scene I used my 28mm f2 ZE lens, LB Warming Polarizer, and 2-stop hard-step Graduated ND filter. During brief but dramatic moments like this, a photographer must be comfortable with his/her equipment and methodically use the skills that have been mastered through years of practice.

"My August expedition to the outer coast of Katmai National Park was incredibly dangerous, but it allowed me to create some unique images. I took my boat on the ferry from Homer to Kodiak and then used it to cross treacherous Shelikof Strait in order to spend several weeks living with the brown bears. I spent the entire trip as close to brown bears as anyone has ever been. This probably sounds insane to most people, but brown bears are not going to just run up and eat you for no reason. However, they must be respected at all times. One of the new techniques that I employed was using PocketWizards to remotely trigger my cameras so that I could shoot wide-angle images of the bears. Guessing where to pre-position my cameras was the challenge, but I got better at it as I learned the bears' routines. While visiting Kuliak Bay, I noticed that certain bears regularly walked past this location, so I placed one of my cameras on a tripod low to the ground and waited. I remotely triggered the camera whenever a bear walked in front of it. I created this image using my 2-stop hard-step Graduated ND filter to balance the exposure for the bright sky with the foreground.

"During the past eight years, I have increasingly focused my photography ambitions on Alaska. My long-term goal is to gather enough images and experience to publish a book about Alaska. My short term goal is to continue serving the needs of the travel and calendar market with fresh wildlife and landscape images that reveal Alaska's many natural attractions. It's a big land, and a big challenge for all of us outdoor photographers."

"As I mentioned, I have been increasingly focused on wildlife photography. This past summer, I swam with wild Atlantic spotted dolphins in the Bahamas, and served as co-leader for my first Polar Bear Photography Tour with Steve Kazlowski. We will be expanding our polar bear tours in September and October of 2012. I will also be co-leading an incredibly unique tour along with underwater photographer Tony Wu in July and August 2012 when we will take clients to photograph humpback whales in both Alaska and Tonga. However, I am really looking forward to refocusing on landscape photography this December when I visit the US National Park of American Samoa and spend the holidays with my family on Maui. I look forward to photographing remote tropical beaches that I will have all to myself. There is nothing quite like the solitude of a beautiful ocean sunrise with the waves crashing against the shore."

Jon is currently realigning his entire website this winter. He is also a regular contributor to Outdoor Photographer and Popular Photography as well as being very active on social media. Please visit him on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, 500px, and YouTube where he regularly shares his most recent adventure as well as provides photography tips.

Alec Johnson traces his Silver Bay landscape image from pre-visualization to post production

2011-11-15T12:31:00.000-05:00

Alec Johnson is a commercial architecture and portrait photographer based in Saint Paul, MN. He's also an enthusiastic and inventive teacher of photography. "I thought I would offer a basic case study explanation of how this image of Silver Bay was created from the pre-visualization stage to the final post production steps. My basic motivation to create this image was to test an idea that's reflected in many landscape photographers’ work.

"I'm referring to the idea that the photographer can control where the eye of a viewer first enters the image and the path that the eye follows while looking at the image. The goal is to hold the viewer's attention as long as possible. You might say that we’re taking control of the viewer’s brain. Here's the theory: The human eye is drawn through various parts of an image in sequence; going first to the areas of greatest brightness, then through areas of high contrast (tonal or color), then on to warm colors (these come forward) and then cool colors (these recede), and finally to the darkest parts of an image. Furthermore, lines can control your mind’s movement through an image, so composition is obviously a factor as well. All this is a subtle form of 'brain control.' And trust me, resistance is futile. Let me walk you through some ideas of my approach to good digital black and white photography.

1. Seeing in Black and White
"'Do you see in black and white as you're photographing in the field?' I frequently get this question and my answer is yes. Those new to photography or those who don’t shoot black and white may have a hard time understanding this, so I’ll elaborate a little.

"Black and white photography IS color photography. Tonal relationships in black and white arise from two sources: Tonal relationships in the scene and color relationships in the scene. Often, a scene may have some necessary minimum tonal relationships, like this image, but be very thin on color relationships. Why? The blue sky was reflecting in the water, making it blue –- water and sky are my two biggest subjects and they are in the same color space. The rocks had some useful warm tones due to the late afternoon sun slipping through on them, but I wanted more. So, first I separated the sky and water using a Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue polarizer, then added strong color back to the scene where I wanted it -- in the water. The following raw-converted file, used in final production, shows warm tones and cool tones in the sky, as well as warm tones in the water. I can get good tonal separation in the sky without introducing a lot of noise in the blue channel. This is critical to understanding the approach. The blue channel has a lot of noise when converted to monochrome. The Gold-N-Blue allows me to shift the color pallet in favor of less noise.

2. Add the Motion Effect
"It was around 5:30 PM when this image was taken. I noticed the cloud movement and decided I wanted to slow things down to blur the relatively uninteresting cloud formations and see if I could put them more in favor with the composition. To do this I stacked a 3-stop and a 4-stop Singh-Ray 4×6 ND Grad in front of the Gold-N-Blue polarizer and after some experimentation I found that an exposure of about 1 minute was good for the cloud movement. I liked how the movement brought my eye into the island furthest from the camera. I hand held the grads to minimize the vignette effect created by stacking, but again that is personal preference.

Mid-Steam Summary
"I've pre-visualized the scene as black and white because it lacked any strong color relationships. I used my Gold-N-Blue Polarizer to add back some useful color relationships and used more filtering to slow the exposure enough to create blurred motion effects in the sky and water. These effects are intended to enhance the overall composition and soften the water. Essentially, I’ve created an image in the field heavily influenced by what I intend to develop in my post-production technique for black and white images. So, let’s move on to post production strategy.

Multiple Raw Conversions
"The first step in the digital darkroom is to set up the relationships I want by stacking the two color versions into layers and using a layer mask to establish a difference between the sky and the water. This part came through experimentation. I was losing detail in the cloud movement, so I went back to the color corrected version for the sky and that met my needs for tonal contrast and preservation of detail.

Black and White
"I'll develop different, localized parts of an image differently in black and white using Black and White adjustment layers and careful, detailed masking. For me, this is essential work and is absolutely akin to the work done by the print masters in the darkroom. If you are unfamiliar with these techniques, then I highly recommend the “5 Essential Adjustment Layers Tutorials” produced by super Photoshop teacher, Mark Johnson.

"For the sky I utilize 64 points of brightness on the magenta channel, but utilize 104 points on the water and rocks, hence the need for layers and masks. Likewise, I can manage the brightness relationships in other color channels, for different parts of the scene. This allows me significant control over tonality, which gives me control over where you move your eye through the image. Yes, essentially I’ve taken control of your brain.

The Final Step To Brain Control"Well, it's not the final step. I'm not giving you that today, but we're close. Seldom does a digital image have the contrast I like after completing my work with Black and White adjustment layers. To really finish off the mind control, I like to enhance localized contrast as well as establish black and white points in a monochrome image. This is really a necessary step. It prevents the entire image from falling into the mud hole of tonality. How much of your image should be black? Personal preference. How much should be white? Personal preference. Nonetheless, there should always be some black and some white in your image. Your histogram will tell you if you have a black and white point. In this last step I performed some dodging on a neutral density gray fill layer (set to soft light blending mode), a Curves Adjustment Layer to fix some specific mid-tone areas in the sky and Levels Adjustment Layer to establish a desired level of tonality in the middle and foreground.

"Perhaps the most important lesson here is this: This case history represents my approach, and you’ll soon discover your own personal approach to these issues. I would hope, however, that you might take a few nuggets from this case study to weave into your own workflow."

You can find more about Alec's photography and his schedule of Lake Superior Landscape Photography workshops by visiting his blog and viewing his commercial work on his website. He started offering location landscape photography workshops several years ago and is a regular speaker with Twin Cities camera clubs.

Michael James captures impressive infrared landscapes with his Nikon D-70 and an I-Ray filter

2011-11-11T11:11:00.004-05:00

As a semi-professional photographer in Edmonton, Alberta, Michael James enjoys shooting landscapes. "I became interested in landscape photography in 1997, when I was on Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada. I was in school learning about infrared film. I had done a bit of work with it, but I was eager to see what it would do in the lush forests of British Columbia.

"My mother and I traveled to the island for Christmas break and I spent some time shooting photos in various places. Of course, this was infrared film back then, so my shooting was limited by my student’s budget and experience. I brought one roll of Kodak infrared black and white film, taking care to keep it frozen until a few hours before I was to use it. On arriving at Cathedral Grove, I loaded the film into my camera after climbing into the trunk of our car. Keep in mind, this was a 19-year-old brain at work; and yes, I should have just used a jacket or dark box, but I got into the trunk, closed the lid, and loaded the film. I then shot the first landscape images I was really proud of, and I still like them today.

"I am still drawn to infrared images. Not long ago, I began looking into how I could continue shooting infrared in this digital age. Should I buy a film camera, should I get a digital camera body converted to IR, or should I try using a filter? Buying the Singh-Ray I-Ray was the simplest solution for me, and I have no regrets.

"A major advantage that many people may not think about is how this filter allows me to keep shooting landscapes even when the light may not be perfect. While in Banff National Park this summer, I wanted to revisit a well-photographed location I had been to in the past but had never felt really satisfied with my results -– the Vermillion Lakes Road with views to Mt. Rundle. This spot is often crowded with photographers, but my shots seemed to look the same each time. However, I was determined to get a more impressive shot in that location. The light was terrible when I arrived –- overcast and very grey. I pulled out my Singh-Ray I-Ray filter, mounted it on the 16-35 f/4 lens on my Nikon D70 and shot the image (at top of this story) of Vermillion Lakes with Mt. Rundle in the background – all of a sudden, I had a fresh take on a place that has been, as some may say, over-photographed.

"Often, I will be shooting a sunrise or sunset with my regular gear and, before I move to a new spot, I will bring out the I-Ray and my D70 to see what influence infrared light has on the scene. In the case of this photo of Mt. Kidd, I was just wrapping up an awesome morning shoot when I again grabbed the I-Ray, my Nikon 16-35 f/4, and my D70 to see what would happen. I was pleased with the result.

"The same situation occurred this past fall when the light was just not cooperating. A group of us had gone out for sunrise but the sun was nowhere to be found. I pulled out my IR kit and shot this image of Hector Lake in Banff National Park. I was shocked to see how, even in tough light, the I-Ray brought out the textures in the scene.

"I continue to use this filter in many situations where I feel an IR interpretation could be interesting -- and learning that I can often use this filter in situations where I might previously have put my camera away. The main advantages I find with the I-Ray are its ease of use and its continued success at creating impressive images. Once I set the white balance and the basic exposure, it’s just a matter of framing the shot and putting the filter on to get amazing IR results. I’m still surprised at the photos I get with this filter on my unmodified D70. Of course, more current cameras may need some modifications to use this filter but the D70 works great.

"Another spot I've visited twice now was Sarrail Falls in Kananaskis Country. This location is very shaded so the intense moisture and lack of sun cause it to be entirely covered in moss. I pulled out my IR kit and shot away. In this case, both the IR and the colour versions turned out well, and I still can’t decide which one I like best."

Michael James has been involved in media and the arts since graduating from high school. After earning an audiovisual communications diploma, he began working as a broadcast news photographer and is now a digital media manager. In addition to his day job, Michael works for local clients such as the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Police Service. To see more of his work, be sure to visit Michael's website, and check out his Flickr stream. You can follow him on Facebook, too.

Jason Odell reviews the basics of Graduated Neutral Density Filters in the Digital Age

2011-11-08T12:05:00.001-05:00

Back when Jason Odell started shooting slide film, he was trained to carry two "mandatory" filters: a polarizer and a set of graduated neutral density filters (ND grads). "Nowadays," says Jason, "my photography is still a passion that I pursue both as a doctoral graduate in biology and as a frequent photo workshop leader.

"While the magical effect of a polarizer is nearly impossible to recreate in image editing software, there are now all kinds of computer-based ways of replicating the effect of ND grads in post-production. In fact, many software packages offer built-in ND grad 'effects' that can easily be applied to images. We also have HDR software techniques that make it possible to create images with a considerable range of highlight and shadow detail. So, if that's the case, why do I still carry a set of Singh-Ray ND grads with me in the field?

"The short answer is to more easily capture outdoor images such as the one above of Kissing Camels and Pikes Peak near my home in Colorado Springs, CO. I used my 2-stop hard-step ND Grad to quickly balance the bright sky and snow-capped mountains in the distance with the foreground. I used my Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter for the image below of this year's fall colors along North Cheyenne Creek. The variable density of the filter enabled me to extend the exposure time sufficiently to blur the motion of the stream for a more flowing effect.

The Challenge of ND Grads
"I'll be the first to admit that even when I bring my ND grads along in the field, I don't always use them. ND grads can be tricky to align, especially in the semi-darkness of twilight. You also need to choose the right filtration strength. Reflections, for example, should not be brighter than the actual object, but that can be something hard to spot in the field. On the plus side, however, having a DSLR makes using ND grads a little easier. First, I can use live view to help position the filter in the frame. Second, I can review my images immediately and decide if they are OK or need to be retaken. But more than that, there are those times when a filter is actually preferable to using software or HDR techniques in a landscape shot.

The Case for Carrying ND Grads
"The traditional advice we get for exposing outdoor images is "expose for the highlights and recover the shadows." What this means is that we'll often deliberately underexpose the middle tones in the scene to preserve hard-to-recover highlight details. We then bring back the shadow details during post production. This technique works fairly well most of the time, but it does have some drawbacks, namely the risk of adding noise and losing color saturation. The resulting image can often look flat or lifeless because the shadow contrast just isn’t there. However, if we use a Graduated Neutral Density filter to reduce the exposure level in the highlight areas, we'll have a better overall exposure balance and cleaner shadows.

"Professional quality ND Grads are flat, rectangular filters designed to slide into a holder mounted on the front of your lens. These holders can be mounted on lenses of various sizes by means of adapter rings that screw into the filter ring of the lens. This means you can use ND Grad filters on just about any lens in your kit. You can not only rotate your ND Grads, but you can also slide them up and down to position the gradient exactly where your composition dictates.

"Rectangular filters come in two popular sizes: P-size and 4x6-inch. Many years ago, I started with the least expensive set I could get in the P-size format. I have since decided from experience that I should have purchased 4x6-inch filters from the outset, despite their higher price. While leading a recent photo safari in Colorado, I used a 4x6-inch 3-stop soft-step ND Grad to capture this sunrise image at Bear Lake. Having a larger filter means that I can hand-hold it without getting my fingers in the frame. Hand-holding also allows me to move the filter up and down during long exposures to further blur the transition zone.

"The other two factors in choosing ND Grad filters are density and edge type. You'll see that Singh-Ray offers 1, 2, 3, and even 4-stop ND Grad filters. The density you choose will depend on the amount of shooting that you do and where you shoot. For most landscape photographers, you'll get by with 2 or 3 stops most of the time. If you're shooting out west or in alpine elevations, you'll want to add a 4-stop filter because the exposure range tends to be much wider in the thin, dry air of the mountains. You can get either soft or hard-step filters. A hard-step filter has a relatively narrow transition zone between the clear half of the filter and the full density, while the soft-step filters offer a wider transition zone. Hard-step filters work best with telephoto lenses and for scenes with well-defined, straight horizons. With a wide-angle lens, you'll want to use a soft-step filter to mask the transition zone due to the very large depth of field these lenses create. Keep in mind that you can also stack multiple ND Grads to get different effects; just be careful to avoid vignetting on wide lenses.

"Even if you've mastered the computer-based, post-production techniques for image adjustment, you may still find it helpful to use ND Grads in the field. For me, they really come in handy whenever landscape photos are on the agenda."

In 2004, Jason established Luminescence of Nature Photography, dedicated to outdoor photography and photographic education. In addition to writing, he conducts field photography workshops and software training classes for photographers around the world and is the co-host of the biweekly photography podcast, The Image Doctors, which has aired on iTunes since 2005. He is also the author of several eBooks on digital photography which are available through his site, Luminescence of Nature.

Adam Barker never leaves home without his LB Warming Polarizer -- it's the ONE !

2011-11-04T15:13:00.001-04:00

Now that Adam Barker is back home in Utah after leading a number of photo workshops -- including several weeks in Asia -- he's once again emphasizing the importance of the one Singh-Ray filter he would urge every outdoor photographer to use. "I am asked repeatedly at my workshops and seminars what filter I use most, and the answer is always the same. If a dog is a man’s best friend, then Singh-Ray’s LB Warming Polarizer is a photographer’s most trusted sidekick. There are so many different shooting situations where this one filter can work wonders for our images.

"During my career as an outdoor photographer, I have been fortunate to travel to many parts of the world, photographing places, people and activities that many only dream of. I count myself one of the lucky few who gets to pursue their passion every single day. Whether I’m in the Bahamas shooting saltwater fly fishing, in Germany capturing the splendor of the Bavarian Alps, or closer to my home in Utah, the LB Warming Polarizer is one tool I never, ever leave home without. For example, the above photo of saltwater flyfishing in the Bahamas was much more effective and meaningful because it was taken with my LB Warming Polarizer. I decided to use the polarizer for this scene to deepen the sky and make the clouds pop. It was also very effective in removing the bright glare from the water and revealing the natural colors underneath.

"Fully understanding how a circular polarizer works is essential if I expect to take full advantage of the different shooting conditions I face on any given day. I have come to rely on this filter to such an extent that I will actually search out compositions that allow to me use it to its full extent. I find I'm always eager to use the polarizer to deepen the color of my skies and give clouds that extra punch!

"This next image was captured in the Bavarian alps along the spectacular Partnacht Gorge in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Here again, I used my LB Warming Polarizer to remove the sheen from the river and wet foliage during the long exposure. The LB Warming Polarizer will be most effective when it is directed at subjects that are positioned about 90 degree to the axis of the sun. To help me figure out how and where my polarizing filter will be most effective, I wear polarized sunglasses in the field and then tilt my head side to side while studying each scene in front of me. As I tilt my head, I can observe the effect of the polarizing lenses as reflections disappear and the blue in the sky deepens. This also helps me to be more aware of when and where to use the polarizing filter. Soon enough, that super-duper polarizing 'sixth sense' will kick in, and I just know when the scene will benefit greatly from my LB Polarizer.

"The LB Warming Polarizer is also particularly effective when shooting during the fall season. Not all photographers know that foliage has just the slightest natural sheen to it. This means that unless we cut through that sheen, we aren’t really capturing the full depth of color and detail to be found in the scene. This is one of those moments when understanding how and when to use the LB Warming Polarizer can help reveal the colors in a scene more clearly than they appear to our naked eye.

"As I approached this otherwise colorful view of Warm Creek Bay on Utah's Lake Powell, it became immediately apparent that the sky was casting a significant glare on the surface of the bay. It's always a kick when I can use the Warming Polarizer to cut through such glare -- just by rotating the outer ring. It’s exceedingly difficult, if not altogether impossible to replicate this effect in post processing, thus the vital importance of understanding how this filter can help you in the field.

"Finally, understanding how best to use my polarizing filter gives me the confidence to keep shooting well into the late morning when other shooters have since packed up and gone home. This is especially true in the fall when the sun is lower and the seasonal color serves as a perfect complement to a deep, blue sky.

"Never leave home without that polarizer, and you, too, will soon learn why it's a photographer's best friend in the field!"

You can see Adam demonstrate a variety of his filter techniques in our recent video, "Using Singh-Ray Filters in the Field" which also features Tony Sweet and Cole Thompson. To see more examples of Adam's work, check out his blog and website. You can also follow his frequently updated Facebook page and Twitter.

Photo artist Daniel Munteanu finds the Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue an inspiring creative asset

2011-11-01T12:04:00.003-04:00

Romanian fine-art photographer Daniel Munteanu recently worked with his Canon 5D Mark II, 100mm Canon Macro Lens and Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue Polarizer for three days in Romania's Retezat Mountains Nature Reserve and National Park. Although this beautiful park features more than 60 mountain peaks and 100 deep glacier lakes, Daniel concentrated on his own special project. "An important part of my work as a colorist in the field is to explore new ways to produce appealing and enhanced color schemes straight from the camera. I pursue my art both in the studio and in the field and strive for images that have a solid quality to them and don’t bother the eye by being artificial or oversaturated. We might say I'm seeking new, alternative ways through which we may see a color photograph.

"If I don’t get a photograph with good color graduation and information straight out of the camera, it takes a Photoshop expert way too much time to replicate the effects that I seek. Worse yet, it may simply turn the photograph into something else, like digital art or an excessively manipulated photo. Most photographers don’t want that, for several well founded reasons. That’s where the Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue Polarizer came to be used on this particular project. I have used it before on a previous project, but this time it meant going a different way.

"I took my camera and monopod and went up and down the course of the Big River and along other small streams in the Retezat Mountains area, which was still fresh and teeming with moss covered stones. I tried to get the specularity of the water to show from different positions and angles, thus producing different graduations of color with the filter -- either the golden or the blue tones, sometimes even getting that in-between violet hanging out there. I took a photograph in each color choice for every composition and decided on the final selection when I returned home.

"This filter renders the subject within a beautiful quality and light. The tones are perfect for post processing, though they look very good just straight out of the camera. I would never try to replicate the hues the Gold-N-Blue can produce by means of computer software."

You can find more images of this and other projects on Daniel's website, and you can keep up with his project via Facebook.

As Russ Bishop chases the light on California's central coast, his filters are right on the scene

2011-10-28T11:18:00.002-04:00

Based in Ventura, California, Russ Bishop has been shooting stock and fine art photography for the past twenty years. "Throughout my career, I have relied on Singh-Ray Filters to give light that special quality. On a recent trip to Big Sur on California's central coast, I found the dynamic landscape provided no end of subject matter, but there were times the light conditions had too much contrast or needed just a little more spark. The images I'm including here illustrate three occasions when I reached for my favorite Graduated ND filters as well as the Gold-N-Blue polarizer or the LB ColorCombo, to complete the picture.

As a way of working with and improving the light before I open the shutter, I find filters are as important today as in the days of shooting film. I often hear photographers say 'I can just fix that problem in post,' but I find it's always an advantage to get the image right while in the field. I have also found Singh-Ray Filters to be of the highest optical quality, so they are the perfect complement to my Nikon D300 and range of professional Nikkor lenses.

"The image above was made at Point Lobos State Reserve near Carmel, California, just as the sun was about to set. I wanted the aquamarine color of the water to be prominent in the scene, but the contrast between the bright sky and the cove was quite strong. It was a perfect opportunity to use my 3-Stop Graduated ND filter to properly balance the exposure and emphasize the water.

This second image was also made at Point Lobos in the Allen Memorial Grove. On this almost continuously foggy and wind-swept point, one of the last remaining wild stands of Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) in the world can still be found. The striking orange coloring is actually green algae that doesn't harm the tree, but certainly adds a wonderful contrast to its graphic quality. For this image I mounted my LB ColorCombo on a Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VRII to increase the clarity and color saturation of the cypress.

"About a century ago, noted landscape painter Francis John McComas described Point Lobos as 'the greatest meeting of land and water in the world."' It's easy to see why. Ansel Adams and Edward Weston were both frequent visitors who drew inspiration from its wild vistas and dynamic light.

A little further down the coast at Soberanes Point, in Garrapata State Park, I captured this magical sunset. Here the rugged coastline features some of the most dramatic scenery anywhere on the Pacific coast. Sunsets such as this can be truly unforgettable. On this particular evening, the clouds began to fill the sky almost to the horizon. The image I pre-visualized was a fiery sky mirrored in a glowing sea, and I knew that with just a small opening for the sun on the horizon (and a little help from my Singh-Ray filters) it would all come together. For this image, I used a Nikkor 17-35mm f2.8, with a Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue polarizer to enhance the liquid gold effect on the water and provide that mirror to the sky I had envisioned."

Russ' images can be seen in advertisements, books, calendars and international publications from a diverse clientele. He is a member of American Society of Media Professionals (ASMP), North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA), and Stock Artists Alliance (SAA). To view more of his images, visit his website and blog. You can also connect with Russ on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.

Landscape photographer Ethan Meleg counts on his filters to help him capitalize on Ontario's tourism market

2011-10-25T00:48:00.001-04:00

With the balmy days of summer and fall fading so quickly, Canadian photographer Ethan Meleg has more time to reflect on one of the busiest summers he's ever had. "I've been almost continuously traveling around Ontario and working on photo shoots for tourism clients. Although there was minimal sleep time, I was fueled by grand ideas for photos and a steady flow of medium roast coffee. For example, capturing the above sunrise image at the marsh in Point Pelee National Park called for several hours of preparation and setting up in the dimmest of twilight. Using my Canon 5D mark II with several Sigma and Canon lenses, I selected my Singh-Ray LB ColorCombo Polarizer to control the reflections, along with a Singh-Ray 3-stop hard-step ND Grad to properly balance the bright sky with the foreground.

"I started out in photography shooting birds and wildlife almost exclusively before gradually shifting toward landscapes. As my landscape photography evolved, I found myself looking for ways to convey depth, perspective and scale in photos. Often I would incorporate people in the scene to achieve this. It was through this process that I more or less stumbled into tourism photography, which has now become an important part of my business.

"Photographing people actively enjoying nature -- hiking, biking, shooting photos, canoeing, camping or kayaking -- is especially satisfying for me because those are activities I enjoy myself. My style of outdoor adventure photography is rooted in landscape photography. I strive to create visually strong images that tell a story by showing people interacting with their surroundings. If my photos end up giving the viewer a feeling of sense of place and a desire to be there experiencing it, then I’ve succeeded. For this sunrise image at Point Pelee National Park, I used my LB ColorCombo with a 2-stop soft-step ND Grad.

"Tourism photo shoots are logistically complex and highly dynamic, which makes them both exciting and downright stressful! The weather needs to cooperate. Props need to be coordinated. Models must be looking in the right direction, smiling and have their eyes open. This sunrise shot of hikers along the shoreline of Georgian Bay at Bruce Peninsula National Park called for the LB ColorCombo and a Singh-Ray 3-stop hard-Step ND Grad.

"Here's an image taken at Killarney, Ontario, on the northern shore of Georgian Bay. I used the LB Warming Polarizer and a hard-step ND Grad. One of my favorite parts in the tourism photo process is conceptualizing the images. After discussing the key elements and objectives with my clients, I think about locations, lighting/time of day, perspectives, and the props we'll need before I begin to pre-visualize potential images. When I lock onto an idea for a shot, I often draw rough conceptual sketches on a note pad (my drawing skill is limited to stick people!). Once all of the planning and legwork is done, it's time for the best part... shooting the photos! There are so many variables to consider, and the client is paying big bucks, so at the end of the day I need to have the shots. There are no excuses.

"I rely on my gear to perform flawlessly on all my tourism shoots, and Singh-Ray filters are particularly important to my success. My clients want vivid, punchy images, so I use LB Polarizers (either the Warming or ColorCombo) for almost every image to increase saturation and reduce glare. The low filter-factor of these "lighter, brighter" polarizers means better light transmission for faster shutter speeds to help freeze the movement of my models. I also use Singh-Ray 4x6-inch Graduated ND filters to balance the exposure range in images with bright skies. Typically I hand-hold the filter and move it around during the exposure to further blend the edge of the Grad into the image. I find this is a much better technique than trying to do HDR or exposure-blended images, which don't work well whenever there is movement in the image."

Ethan is looking forward to a bit of rest before taking off on his next adventure. "I'm currently researching a big trip for this winter. I haven't settled on the location yet, but the criteria are simple -- warm weather, high biodiversity, and stunning landscapes."

To find out where Ethan decides to travel this winter, watch for updates on his blog or Facebook page. As always, you can see a wide variety of his images and learn more by visiting Ethan's website.

Brian Rueb knows his book on Iceland is making him a better photographer and teacher

2011-10-21T12:06:00.001-04:00

After spending considerable time capturing the landscapes of Iceland over the past two summers, California photographer Brian Rueb is closing in on a long-held dream... a published book of images documenting the island's wealth of natural beauty and unique geology.

"When I began photographing almost 20 years ago, everything I knew about improving an image was done either at the time of shooting, or later in the darkroom. My knowledge of filters was limited to a polarizer. My primary subject matter revolved around urban landscapes, so I found the polarizer did most of what I wanted. It wasn’t until years later, when I moved my work to outdoor landscapes that I found my skill level was producing really unimpressive results. I had a very difficult time portraying colors, and balancing exposures the way I wanted. After a lot of research, I ultimately found my issues could be resolved in large part by using filters. I soon realized the Singh-Ray line of filters allowed me to achieve the results I had always hoped to get while I was still in the field. In the days when I was photographing areas close to my house, making mistakes was frustrating, but I was able to return to the spots and try again. Now, when I’m lucky enough to be working in a place as amazing as Iceland, I need to make sure I come home with usable images. The filters make ALL the difference.

"This past July I was able to make a trip to Iceland, my second in as many summers. The first one lasted nearly three months and I spent too much of that time walking, hitchhiking, and generally struggling to get from place to place. I learned a lot about photography during that time as I often was stranded in less than ideal places while a spectacular sunset was taking place. I had to make do with the subjects I could find nearby. However, I was fortunate enough to have a vehicle this past summer, and I was able to visit more places. Most importantly, I was able to chase the good light, as opposed to having to deal with the light that I was given. If weather was not ideal in one area I could check the radar and head to a more promising location.

"The image above was taken in northern Iceland of a rock formation that has been eroded by wind and water for ages. This iconic rock stands about 30 feet high and sits alone in a bay. When the tide goes out, the black sand reveals nice patterns and rocks covered in a bright green moss.

"This scene in southern Iceland was discovered after a night that had proved to be great for photography. I spent nearly 5 hours wandering the land of the midnight sun and enjoying the surreal landscape mixed with hours of color and light. What drew me to this area were the very different looking basalt rock formations and the far off view of the distant cliffs and sunset. I climbed up a nearby cliffside to get a better perspective and then used my LB Warming Polarizer to bring out the sky and achieve more definition in the rocks and the water. I also used a 4-stop ND Grad to balance the exposure levels in the foreground and sky. The combined effect was a nice overall warmth to this image. Without the filters, I would not have been able to balance this tricky exposure, nor bring out the colors that gave the best feeling to the images.

"This image was from the same night as the one above, taken nearly an hour later as the sun dipped somewhat replacing the warmer tones with more pinks and purples. I used a 3-stop hard-step ND Grad filter here to hold back some of the brightness and give me more detail in the black sand and reflection. I handheld the grad filter over the LB Warming Polarizer which I adjusted to bring out the wonderful reflection of this still pool we had come across.

"I get asked all the time about exposures, and many people in the age of technology have gone the route of taking five or more exposures to cover the large dynamic range of many outdoor scenes. While such methods certainly work, it requires a lot more time spent on the computer doing post processing. My goal is always to minimize that time on the computer and maximize the image as best I can in the field. I was never a fan of spending long hours in the darkroom, nor do I enjoy tweaking images for hours and hours in post-processing. I certainly do as much as I need to complete an image... but I always strive to get the best single image I can. My Warming Polarizer and Graduated ND Filters are always on hand to help me do that.

"Here's a good example of balancing a wide dynamic range in one image. Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon is an amazing location for sure. Great chunks of blue glacial ice, mixed with stripes of white and black float around this huge pool of water. The night we were there was a spectacle to be certain. Light rays danced out of the clouds creating this amazing blend of warm and cool colors. It was great. The challenge was knowing how to shoot this location to do it justice. While everything seems still on the surface, the icebergs are actually floating around due to the tides that come up the channel connecting the lagoon to the sea. If you try to shoot a number of bracketed images, all of the icebergs are going to move, and lining up the images will prove to be quite difficult, and in some instances can leave you with no way to get a good image... you’ll have 5 different images that are almost useable.

"For this shot I used the LB Warming Polarizer to give more definition to the sun-rays and bring out some reflection in the water as well to get some of those warm tones mixing in with the cooler ones. I also bumped my ISO up a bit to get shorter exposure lengths and freeze the icebergs, so they weren’t blurring as they moved about the lagoon. I used the 4-stop ND Grad filter as well to balance the exposure. With the sun setting directly in front of me, I had to hold back some of the brightness. I positioned myself in the lagoon as well so I could make the best possible composition given the wide angle lens I was shooting with. The whole scene came together brilliantly, and I was very happy with the number of useable images I came away with from that night. There were a lot of other photographers there that night as well, and I know some of them were using a bracketed style shooting, and I would be willing to bet they came away less than thrilled with their results.

"The rugged coastline along Vik in southern Iceland is full of arches, sea stacks, and interesting rock formations that showcase the geological wonders of the country. This little cove was one of the only spots I found with good wave action, interesting rock shapes, and dramatic light. I used a slightly longer exposure to capture the movement of the waves crashing against the lava rock. The sunset on this night was spectacular and seemed to go on forever. I made several images in my gallery on this night. That's the key reason I use my filters so much of the time. There won’t be another moment like that one. I can’t afford to get home, look at my images, and then wonder what I should’ve done differently. I’ve had those disappointments too many times, and I know how disheartening it is to spend time and money to get somewhere special and then come home with images that don’t reflect the opportunities I had. From the moment I started using filters, my world changed, and I don’t miss out on nearly as many opportunities as I used to."

Brian teaches a variety of landscape workshops in the western United States and, starting June of 2012, he will be conducting workshops overseas. Visit the Aperture Academy website for more details. You can find more of his work on his website or add him on Facebook, and now Google+.

From the Archive:Tracking the "filter workflow" through a winter workshop in Yosemite Valley

2011-10-18T12:31:00.000-04:00

At the 5 year mark of this blog, we are revisiting some of our most helpful instructional stories. Going back to March 2008, Steve Kossack describes his "Filter Workflow" in detail, as he evaluates different lighting situations and determines what will be the perfect combination of filters to help optimize his captured image.

When outdoor photographer Steve Kossack shoots in any location, he instinctively follows his "filter workflow." To help explain how it works, Steve offered these three images of an early-morning scene he recently visited with his annual Yosemite Valley winter workshop. "Once again," says Steve, "the endless photographic opportunities plus the exhilaration of being in such a magical place made for an unforgettable week. And because Yosemite is so magical, whenever we return to the locations we've visited in previous years, we find they are never the same.

"With a deep snowfall and the weather changing by the moment, even familiar and easy-to-get-to locations were neither," explains Steve. "Road construction prompted the closure of the north side road and forced us to take a short predawn hike to reach Valley View. We were well rewarded for the effort.

"While standing in the dark, after hiking through the knee-high snow pack down to the edge of the Merced River, we saw the clouds getting pinker in the light blue sky, but only for a few moments. (Frame A -- click image to enlarge.) Not certain how much detail could be recorded in the shadow areas, I positioned the camera down low and tilted forward to include as much of the foreground as possible. To emphasize the color in the sky, the LB Color Intensifier was selected along with a 2-stop soft-step Graduated Neutral Density filter to reduce the relative brightness of the sky. Because the exposure would be for several seconds, I did not want to extend it too much further. The modest filter factor of the "lighter, brighter" Color Intensifier cost me only about half an f-stop. It's surprising how often my filter workflow begins with trying the LB Color Intensifier for early morning light.

"Soon after the first shot -- with the color of the sky now faded and the scene before me gaining even more contrast -- everything became flat. The river had some reflected light on the far side but the shadow area of the water was now dark with no reflection. (Frame B.) In cases like this my filter choice is often the Gold-N-Blue Polarizer and 2 or 3-stop soft-step Graduated ND filter. Anytime there is no reflection in the shaded areas, I check to see if my Gold-N-Blue can help out. Of course you need light to create reflections and the orientation of the sun has to be right for a polarizer. I reframed the composition just slightly to limit the amount of now colorless sky and highlight the river. Here the balance of the blue to gold polarization helped accentuate the natural flow of the river. A 2-stop ND Grad was also used here.

"My third shot (Frame C.) at this location was taken as the first light of the day illuminated the tip of El Capitian. Here's where the LB ColorCombo became the right choice. This time, the reflections from the river were distracting the eye from the focal point and the ColorCombo's polarizing effect tamed this problem nicely. The added warmth of the color intensifying filter (an integral part of the combo) was also a welcomed effect. Adding a 3-stop hard-step ND grad was used to achieve the finished image.

"A few days into our winter workshop it became clear the Merced River -- which was now a calm reflecting pool in many places -- was presenting us with dramatic photo opportunities at almost every turn and bend. The opportunities, in fact, were sometimes overwhelming -- a situation I always welcome! My filter workflow enabled me to rationally concentrate the left side of my brain while the right side was joyfully experiencing the dramatic winter scenery.

"For this next scene, I choose to anchor the image on the left with the river bottom. The problem was that I could not see the river bottom in the reflection.

To help solve this and a few other problems, I chose the ColorCombo for several reasons. The first reason was the small bright green conifer at the top of the snow bank and its reflection in the still water. This green is what brought me to the composition in the first place. Whenever I see an important green element in a scene, my first thought is always the LB Color Intensifier or -- in this case -- the LB Color Combo which also provides 'lighter, brighter' polarization. To set the composition, I first found the best orientation for the polarizing filter by making my way down the snow bank to change the angle. Then a slight turn of the filter clearly revealed both the river bottom and the surface reflection. The polarizer was then fine tuned to cut the bright reflection off the snow as much as possible while still revealing the river bottom. Since the bright snow was such a major part of the composition, I realized it had to be exposed to capture both the overall scene and the detail in the white snow.

"For the stormy image of Yosemite Falls seen at left -- with its beautiful muted light -- you would think no filters would be needed, but this image is not quite as simple as it appears.

Rain was moving in and out as the falls drifted from view and then appeared again. This also obliterated the reflection in the water at times or made it dark and distant when it was visible. The colors were also very muted in the mist. My next workflow step was to try balancing the exposure to render the mid-tones a full stop brighter and accentuate the reflected image in the process. The only problem created by doing this was a very slow shutter speed that would have made the quick moving clouds, as well as the rain spattered river, too blurry. The next decision was to test the capability of my new Canon 1Ds MKIII at a higher ISO 800 setting while using a 3-stop soft-step Graduated ND filter. What was lost was some of the detail in the snow, but what was gained is a brighter reflection, a more realistic presentation of the falls and a recognizable cloud pattern that shows the passing storm’s movement.

For me, working through the filter workflow process is both fun and productive. I should add that I always expose a 'reference" frame without any filters to provide a basis for later review. In the end, there are always choices to be made between the variously filtered images. I can’t help but feel that is always a good thing!"

For more information about Steve's work, videos and workshops, visit his website.

From the Archive:Before choosing which ND grads to start with, it's worth asking a few questions

2011-10-14T11:44:00.000-04:00

At the 5 year mark of this blog, we are revisiting some of our most helpful instructional stories. Originally posted in September 2009, Adam Barker provides some excellent advice for choosing and using Graduated ND Filters. Also, be sure to check out our new video featuring Adam, Tony Sweet and Cole Thompson.

In the course of his frequent workshops, exhibits and photo trips throughout the West, Utah free-lancer Adam Barker talks with lots of photographers. "Since I started using, bragging about and writing blogs about Singh-Ray Filters," says Adam, "I've been getting many questions about which ND Grad filters are the most useful ones to start with. That’s always a tough question to answer, because there are many variables to consider. I always begin my answer by asking a few questions of my own.

"What type of outdoor photographs do you most often shoot: landscapes, action sports, lifestyle, architecture, or perhaps commercial projects? Where do you most often shoot: sea coast, desert, mountains, forests, or around the city? What types of exposure balancing challenges do you often find yourself dealing with? Do they most often involve moderate or extreme differences in dynamic range?

"What type of horizons do you most often encounter? Are they mostly straight across the scene and uninterrupted, or do they more often include uneven shapes such as mountains, rocks, tall buildings, or other protruding subject matter that could be adversely affected by a 'hard-step' gradient?

"By now, my reason for asking these questions should be obvious. Depending on where, how and what you intend to shoot, your ND Grad choices will likely differ somewhat from mine. I live and shoot a great deal in and around Salt Lake City, UT. This means lots of mountains, mountain lakes, streams, with vibrant sunrises, and sunsets. I also shoot a great deal throughout the greater American West -- think Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, Arches, and Canyonlands. My filter set was chosen to answer my own expected needs when shooting in these areas.

"In addition to various kinds of landscapes, I shoot a great deal of active lifestyle, travel and action sports photography. I use my set of Singh-Ray filters for all of it -- even the commercial stuff. So please keep this in mind as I stick my neck out to try answering the one question still on your mind.

"In addition to Singh-Ray's LB Warming Polarizer, my idea of a good starter kit would include three types of Graduated ND filters: the 2-stop hard-step, the 3-stop soft-step and the 3-stop Reverse ND Grad. By using these three filters individually and in combination, you should be able to do most of the exposure balancing required for your outdoor photography. Once you have become skilled with these filters, you will know if and when you need to add others to handle special circumstances.

"You can see in this image of Devil’s Castle in the Alta Ski Area -- with its relatively straight horizon line and moderate range of exposure levels between foreground and background -- a perfect candidate for the 2-stop hard-step Graduated ND. The vignette caused by the (particular orientation of the) Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue polarizer was a welcome touch that added to the moodiness of this image and aligned perfectly with my vision for the final result. It helps to have an idea of how you prefer to post process the image as you’re shooting it.

"In this early morning image of Utah's popular Emerald Lake and Mt. Timpanogos hiking area, the dawn color in the clouds begged to be balanced by a soft-step Graduated ND filter. Compositions like this require practice, and a knowledge of how to use the filter in a way that gives you the best and most natural results. By holding the 3-stop soft-step grad at an angle over the sky, I was able to concentrate the densest part of the filter over the part of the image that needed it most. I often employ a dodging and burning technique when shooting images like this by moving the filter back and forth and up and down. This further reduces the chances the transition will be noticeable. In general, exposures with uneven or partial horizon lines are best handled with a soft-step grad.

The image appearing at the top of this story -- taken at Dry Fork Canyon in northern Utah -- is a typical example of when to use a Singh-Ray Reverse ND grad. I am always reaching for mine whenever I plan to shoot into the sun at sunrise or sunset. As I’ve discussed in previous blog posts, there are a variety of other important ways to use this versatile filter as well,

I hope these suggestions will help those photographers who are about to start using a basic set of ND Grads. I think most would benefit by having at least one hard-step and one soft-step filter -- of either two or three-stop density. It's worth remembering that you can readily combine two Singh-Ray ND grads together to achieve even greater density -- without losing any resolution or color quality of your image. The determining factor lies mainly in how different the filtered and unfiltered parts of your image are in terms of light value. For example, when you shoot lava rock seascapes in Hawaii, you will likely need more density to balance the very vibrant sunsets and sunrises with the dark lava surface in the foreground. By putting some thought into how and where you'll shoot most of your images, you'll be ready to choose the ND grads that will work best for you for many winning images to come."

You'll find many more examples of Adam's landscapes and outdoor action photography on his blog and website. Details on his Fall Foliage workshop and other projects are listed, too. Any social media fans can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

From the Archive:The Essential Filters for Controlling Contrast in Digital Nature Photography

2011-10-11T11:11:00.003-04:00

At the 5 year mark of this blog, we are revisiting some of our most thorough instructional stories. Originally posted in March, 2010, this article from Darwin Wiggett contains some truly fundamental information about using filters for photographers to learn or review.

Each time award-winning photographer and author Darwin Wiggett writes about filters, he is sharing his own years of successful experience. His stories featured on this blog have become a trusted reference source for many visitors. Now Darwin discusses the essential filters for controlling the luminance or contrast range of digital images and offers us his perspective based on his own methods, experience and equipment.

"To me, there are two types of filters that are truly essential to outdoor and nature photography, and these are the filters that help us control lighting contrast in a scene," says Darwin. "In nature, the contrast range of a scene is often beyond what can be recorded successfully on the sensor. The range of brightness between shadows and highlights is usually so extreme that neither is recorded with detail on the sensor. There are several options available to photographers to help reduce the contrast range of light in such scenes. The first is to return to the scene when the light is lower in contrast -- much like that on a cloudy day (but that will also change the character of the light). The second option is to add light to the shadow areas using fill flash or a reflector -- but this solution is not too practical when shooting grand scenics. The third solution is to make numerous exposures of the scene to record detail in the shadow, highlight and midtone areas, and then blend these exposures together in post-processing. This latter practice often works well but it's time intensive.

"The fourth option is to use the two types of filters -- polarizers and graduated neutral density filters -- that enable us to control the contrast in a scene to get the correctly exposed image in-camera. When possible, I prefer this last method because it gives me high quality in-camera images and requires little post-processing effort. That gives me more time in the field to take photos. Plus, I know I got what I wanted while I'm still at the location. Let’s take a close look at how polarizers and ND grads help tame the contrast in landscape and nature photography.

The Polarizer Controls Contrast Over The Entire Image
"One of the easiest ways to make better nature photos is to use a polarizer. The glare reducing effect of a polarizer can’t be duplicated in any software – period. By removing the reflective highlights (glare) everywhere in the scene, the polarizer effectively reduces the contrast range and enriches the colours. In short, a polarizer usually gives you much more pleasing images than photos recorded without the filter. I almost always have a polarizer on my lens when doing outdoor photography. To really understand when and how to use a polarizer refer to my recent post Seven Rules for Effectively Using a Polarizer.

"Here is a comparison of the same photo shot without (photo 1a) and with (photo 1b) a polarizer. It is easy to see how the contrast is reduced and colours are enhanced with the polarizer. In photo 1b, I used a Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer which not only reduced image contrast and created snappier colours, it added extra warmth to the scene with its built-in warming filter. I can’t imagine photographing landscapes without using a polarizer.

What Kind of Polarizer?
"When you are convinced that a polarizer is in your future, you’ll then need to decide which kind of polarizer to get. I like Singh-Ray’s LB Warming Polarizer for two reasons; first, the polarizer only absorbs just over 1 f-stop of light rather than the 2 f-stops which is typical of some other polarizers. Getting a little extra shutter speed is important if you photograph active subjects like wildlife or sports but want the benefit of a polarizer. Secondly, I like the lovely, subtle warm cast that is imparted with the LB Warming Polarizer. If you don't want the warming colour cast to your photos, then Singh-Ray’s LB Neutral Polarizer may be your best choice.

"Once you decide which polarizer, you need to decide if you will use a screw-in polarizer that attaches to the threads on the front of you lens, or if you are going to go with a filter holder system and use a drop-in polarizer. I discuss these options in detail in a previous article. Personally, I like to use a filter holder system on each of my lenses so I can easily transfer my polarizer from lens to lens and so I can add additional filters like ND grads in front of my polarizer for even more refined contrast control. Photo 2 shows a P-size filter holder that I use to hold a drop-in polarizer, which also has room for ND grad filters.

Graduated ND Filters Provide Local Contrast Control

"In landscape photography, skies are often much brighter than foregrounds and if you properly expose for the foreground, then the overexposed sky washes out. In photo 3, the top image was shot without a grad filter and the bright sky lost all detail. In the bottom image in photo 3, I used a Singh-Ray 3-stop hard-step ND grad filter to darken the sky to properly balance the exposure. From these images, we can see why an ND grad filter is often used to even out the exposure between the bright sky and the darker foreground of the landscape.

What Graduated ND Filters Do I Need?
"Graduated Neutral Density filters (ND grads) come in different strengths and types. Photo 4 shows the various kinds of ND grad filters. Starting at the top is a Singh-Ray P-size (84x120mm) hard-step filter. On the right, we see a larger Singh-Ray 4x6-inch size (100x150mm) ND Grad that has a soft-step transition. At the bottom is a P-sized soft-step ND Grad and to the left is a specialized P-size Reverse ND Grad filter. Each filter type comes in various strengths from 1-stop to 5-stops of density. The challenge for beginners is deciding which type of ND grad filter (hard-step, soft-step or reverse) and which density is most useful. After using ND grads for over 20 years, I have found that just 3 ND grads will cover more than 80% of my needs.

The 3-Stop Soft-Step ND Grad for Water Reflections
"I use a soft-step ND grad mostly for images of lake reflections where I have a foreground that is in the shade and I want to show detail across the frame. For example in Photo 5, I wanted to photograph a sunrise sky reflection but preserve the detail in the rocky shoreline and in the canoe. Without an ND grad, the sky becomes a pale wash. A 3-stop soft-step had enough density in the upper part of the filter to hold back the bright sky. The transition or ‘soft-step’ gradient area slightly darkened the reflection and the clear part of the filter kept the foreground bright. The image at right shows the end result--a perfectly exposed image using the 3-stop soft-step grad.

"The comparison in photo 6 shows a mountain reflection shot without any filters (left) and then with the 3-stop soft-step ND grad (right). The right image has a beautiful realistic tonality that was easily captured in camera just by using the grad filter.

The 2 and 3-stop hard-step ND grads for Defined Horizons or Defined Lines of Shadow and Light

"I use hard-step grads whenever I have a well delineated horizon line like on the prairie, desert or ocean. I also use a hard-step grad whenever I see that the line of shadow and light is well defined. The density of the grad I use (2 or 3-stops) simply depends on how bright the differences are between the shadow and light. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples.

"In photo 7, when I properly exposed for the foreground rocks, the dramatic but brighter sky washed out (left image). Because the horizon line is well defined, a hard-step ND grad worked perfectly well here to hold back the bright sky. In this case, I used a 2-stop hard-step ND grad to even out the exposure (right image). Be careful not to use a filter that's too strong or else your skies will look overly dark and the image will look ‘off.' I will often start with the 3-stop hard-step grad first, look at the image on my camera’s LCD and then decide if the grad was too strong. If it is, I will then try my 2-stop grad for a less intense effect.

"In photo 8, the horizon is punctuated by the peaks of the mountains and so the horizon is not even. Nevertheless, the light on the mountain peaks is well defined and mostly forms a straight line which allows use of a hard step ND grad. The photo taken without the filter can be seen on the left, while the right side shows the effect with a 3-stop hard-step grad brought over the brighter part of the scene. To precisely place the grad so the hard edge of the ND grad lines up perfectly with the line of light, I used my camera’s depth-of-field preview button to see the effect of aperture on definition of the grad line. (For more information about how aperture choice affects the edge transition of grad filters refer to this article.)

"As a side note I also used another filter in the image on the right which is not a contrast control filter but is a special effects filter. I used the Singh-Ray 5-stop solid neutral density filter to increase exposure time so that the moving water in the scene recorded in a softer, more ‘mystical’ manner. To read more about how I use the 5-stop solid ND filter for creative effects see my article The Terrific Triple Threat.

"Often when I shoot at sunrise or sunset directly into the sun, a 3-stop hard-step grad is not strong enough to hold back the bright sky. In these situations, I will use both the 2 and 3-stop hard-step grads 'stacked' together to give me a density of 5-stops to hold back the bright sky. Often this one-two punch is enough to tame the contrast, as in photo 9 - shot with Singh-Ray 2 and 3-stop hard-step grads stacked over the area of sky.

Polarizers and Grads Can Work Together for the Ultimate in Contrast Control
"It is pretty easy to see the differences that filters can make in controlling nature’s often high contrast light. Polarizers are great for taming reflective highlights while Graduated Neutral Density filters are often used to hold down the brightness of sunlit areas or bright skies. When you combine a polarizer and an ND grad you can really begin to deliver a beautiful image that your camera’s sensor will love. In Photo 10, the contrast was just too much for the sensor to record detail across the scene.

"To help remedy the high contrast in this scene, the first filter I grabbed was my Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer. The polarizer removed the reflective glare from the water and the algae to produce richer colours. The warming filter also helped remove the blue cast in the shadows. You can see the effects of the polarizer in photo 10 (center).

"In the finished photo 10 (right), I added a Singh-Ray 3-stop soft-step ND Grad because this is a reflection shot where I want the most density over the sky, a little density over the reflection and no density over the foreground. The 3-stop soft-step ND Grad gave me the additional contrast control I needed to balance the light in this scene.

My Essential Contrast Control Filter Kit
"Whenever I go out into nature to make images, I always have my four essential contrast control filters. My Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer helps me tame reflective glare and enhance colours and my three Singh-Ray ND Grads (2 and 3-stop hard-step and 3-stop soft-step) help me tame uneven light. With these filters, I can successfully photograph almost any scene. If you prefer to get the best possible captures 'in the camera' and wish to spend less time in post-production, then these four filters are the ticket."

To learn more about Darwin's photography and check his other educational resources, stop by his website or visit his blog for the latest information.

"Focus on Singh-Ray Filters" celebrates 5 years

2011-10-07T11:00:00.003-04:00

In October of 2006, we launched "Focus on Singh-Ray Filters" to showcase images made by real photographers using our filters to serve their real-world needs. These photographers have provided a rich source of information, examples, tips, and ideas for using Singh-Ray Filters to get more of what you're shooting for. We're pleased to say our blog is still going strong, having presented over 450 stories by more than 130 contributors, ranging from ambitious amateurs to the very best professional outdoor photographers. Their stories have featured locations from across the United States and Canada, as well as around the world such as Australia, China, Patagonia, Iceland, and many others. Over 1,000 instructive and inspirational photographs have appeared here over the past five years, each one geared towards demonstrating the importance of getting the image right "in camera" and in the field to the greatest possible extent.

This blog has grown into one of the most helpful resources for information on using photographic filters to be found anywhere. The contents are fully searchable via the search function in the upper left corner of every page, and each entry is labeled by photographer, and filters used -- these can be accessed by browsing the list in the right-hand column. So, if you have questions about using filters, or are looking for ideas and inspiration, we hope that you'll take time to explore our "back issues."

To commemorate our 5th Anniversary, we will be revisiting several stories that we feel would be most valuable to those who are new to choosing and using filters.

We would like to thank all of our contributing photographers for their impressive photos and excellent articles, with special recognition to Steve Kossack, Darwin Wiggett, Adam Barker, Ethan Meleg, Ernesto Santos, John Cornforth, Daryl Benson, Joel Addams, Joe Rossbach, Kevin McNeal, Cole Thompson, and Tony Sweet -- they have each contributed 10 or more stories over the past five years.

Most of all, we would like to thank our readers and customers for making this blog possible, and for continuing to support Singh-Ray Filters. We treasure your trust in our products, and want to assure you that we are continuing to fine tune their performance. Join us as we continue traveling the road ahead.

"The Road Ahead" image by Darwin Wiggett appeared in the first Focus on Singh-Ray Filters posting.

Steve Kossack's new location moves him closer to his two favorite national parks

2011-10-04T12:40:00.000-04:00

"I've just visited two of my most favorite National Parks now that they are closer than ever," says Steve Kossack from his new office and residence in Las Vegas, Nevada. "When I first moved to the deserts of Arizona ten years ago, I considered Page AZ but did not move there. Instead I went a couple of hundred miles south to the small town of Cottonwood, about 100 miles north of Phoenix. For more than a decade, Phoenix served as a terrific base for conducting my various photo workshops throughout the western states. I enjoyed great access to the south rim of The Grand Canyon with the Navajo nation and all of Utah's parks close by.

"Now that I have moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, I find myself halfway between my two most favorite national parks. Six hours to the north is the Grand Canyon. Yosemite is just six hours to the west. That means both are virtually right in my backyard. I first visited the North Rim, then I went west across the deserts of Nevada to Yosemite. Fall was in the air, but the color had not yet changed. The Canyon was mostly quiet after the tourist season and the weather was mild. In Yosemite we closed two of the High Sierra camps. Both visits were great opportunities to celebrate my relocation!

"Photographing the Grand Canyon felt like visiting an old friend. It was a time to relax -- knowing that whatever happens next will be enjoyable on several levels. I find tranquility in setting up an image where I've previously made some fine images. I'm seldom disappointed photographically and even when I walk away empty handed, I revel in the experience of just being there! The image above was taken from the north rim of the canyon which has an elevation that's over a thousand feet higher than the south rim and the rock formations are so much closer. Nowhere are both rims more in play than here at Cape Royal. From this point above the dramatic setting, it is easy to set up an image that has converging lines that parallel the rim to the south. This gives a flow to the composition that is simply majestic to me! In the past I've been fortunate enough to capture two images from this location that I have framed to hang in my home. Maybe this one will be number three? I used a Singh-Ray Color Intensifier along with a 4-stop hard-step ND Grad.

"This sunrise image from the north rim was an unexpected gift! I was out looking for first light on Mt. Hayden, but the cloud cover that morning prevented it. Over my shoulder I had been watching the changing colors in the sky for more than half an hour when suddenly the rising sun lifted into the cloud formation thus giving even light to the canyon below. Setting up my composition as fast as possible to show the ledges leading into the canyon, I was only able to capture two frames before this image was gone. The use of a 3-stop Reverse ND was the key to holding the exposure of the light rays below the clouds. I also used a ColorCombo and a 4-stop hard-step ND Grad.

"On my trip to Yosemite, I was able to make the last few days of the season at two of my favorite Sierra high camps. Both the Glen Aulin and the May Lake high camps offer different and unique photo opportunities. This view of Glen Aulen never disappoints me. It's located at the mouth of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River. This late in the season, the orientation of the light was much different and offered beautiful sidelight on the canyon rim. The magic light that appears in this image turned the clouds a crimson wonder. Using a ColorCombo and a 4-stop soft-step ND Grad, my exposure was for 10 seconds at f/16. With the future of the Glen Aulin high camp in jeopardy due to the drain field runoff into the river, each visit here becomes even more special. I happily add this image to my portfolio with hopes of capturing more in the future.

"I've shot this scene at May Lake many times, but this was only the second opportunity I've had to photograph the scene with Mt. Hoffman reflected so clearly in the perfectly still water! The reflection was a rare treat but it presented a couple of problems. First and most important was the fact that I have, for years, considered my previous reflected image from this spot to be about as good as I know how to make -- both compositionally and technically. But in my heart of hearts I always hope this is not true. But what to do now? I was also limited in what tools I had with me. Backpacking only allows for limited photo gear. If I wanted to take advantage of the three-quarter moon setting, I needed to widen the composition a lot. Including the reflection would help immensely here. The long 20-second shutter setting would render the moon oblong. It's moving! I had two lenses in my pack. One of them was my Canon 20mm 2.8. Perfect! I used a 4-stop hard-step ND Grad to balance the exposure."

Steve continues to polish his website to make it more convenient for visitors to browse his gallery and keep up on the latest information. As the result of his new location in Las Vegas, he expects to be adding several more workshops for the coming year.

As soon as Louis Wood got serious about his photography, he got serious about filters

2011-09-30T11:00:00.001-04:00

It's only been a year since Louis Wood decided to take his photography more seriously. "I upgraded to a Canon DSLR so that I could start using filters. Previously, I did a lot of HDR with a small manual point and shoot, but after discovering what Darwin Wiggett had to say about filters and reading lots of stories on Singh-Ray’s blog, I decided to begin using filters. I am far from being an expert, but I hope my experience with Singh-Ray filters will help other amateurs decide if using filters is for them.

"My first filter was an inexpensive polarizer from another company. I really liked the way it removed glare but the colors were off. It gave a really strong blue shift to my pictures. After playing with this filter for a while, I purchased my first Singh-Ray sprocket mount Neutral LB Polarizer. What a difference. I was immediately hooked! Image sharpness and color saturation are outstanding. I'm now convinced that the optical quality of my filters is very important and not a place to play the budget card.

"That's when I also began moving away from the time-consuming HDR process and started processing my RAW images in Lightroom 3. I don’t own Photoshop, and don't use other software in my workflow. I don’t make my living as a photographer, so if a picture doesn’t work I will not burn too many calories on it with complex processing software. Simplicity helps keep the fun in my photography.

"Although armed with my new polarizer, I was still noticing on my histograms that I was having problems controlling the light. Blowing out highlights was a big problem. I decided to buy Singh-Ray 2- and 3-stop ND Grads in both hard and soft-step versions so I could simplify my RAW processing without getting into HDR processing. These Graduated ND filters have allowed me to correctly balance the dynamic range of light that my camera is capable of collecting without clipping any highlights or shadows on the histogram. The image taken at Navajo Lake seen at the top of this story shows how well the LB Neutral Polarizer reduces glare in a typical landscape. The only problem is the wide dynamic range in the scene results in overly dark shadows in the foreground. As we can see in the lower image, it's only when I add a 2-stop Graduated ND filter to my lens that the image reveals sufficient detail and color in the foreground. Thanks to the combined effect of my two filters, the image is vastly improved and ready for any final adjustments I might want to make in Lightroom.

"It seems to me that any photographer who wants to reduce the time they spend in their digital darkroom might want to consider the benefits I now enjoy with my high-quality filters."

Louis enjoys living and photographing in sunny Albuquerque, New Mexico. If you'd like to see more of his work, send him an e-mail for more information.

As Dennis Frates pursues the big picture, he never forgets the details

2011-09-27T11:14:00.000-04:00

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"I have always loved nature," says Oregon professional landscape photographer Dennis Frates. "I seem to have a deep-rooted need to be outdoors often and my photography business allows me to do this. I get immense satisfaction from creating fine art photographs, not only while I'm 'out there' capturing the original images but again during post processing.

"In previous stories on this blog, I have explained that I specialize in creating large-scale scenic images for corporate offices and public facilities. To achieve the extra-high resolution my clients require, I have begun using the new 40-megapixel Pentax 645D camera. The image above of the lupines at sunrise in the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon was captured with my Pentax and a Singh-Ray 3-stop hard-step ND Grad. I visited this site every morning for three days, and on the third morning I was rewarded with this beautiful sunrise.

"It's perhaps no surprise that I am somewhat of a sharpness freak. Although I often enjoy using selective focus to render the background with a soft blur, whenever something is supposed to be sharp, I want it to be bleeding sharp -- even when it's blown up to a very large size. It's hard to describe the look of my image files, but I have read several other medium format photographers describe it as a '3D look.' To me the file looks like it's going to pop off the page with soft gentle gradations between the tones. I suppose it's the result of the larger file size and the unique qualities of the medium format sensor. When I look back at my Canon 1ds Mark III files, they still look good, but I can now safely say that the Pentax 645 files look so much better.

"As for working with the new camera in the field, there has been almost no change from the way I used my Canon. The larger sensor size does result in less depth of field, so I am bracketing my focus more often and using Helicon Focus to compensate. Other than that, the Pentax handles beautifully and I almost forget that I'm not using my Canon. For this image of the rainbow and storm clouds above the Painted Hills in John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon, I used my Singh-Ray 2-stop soft-step ND Grad. I was in the area all day as clouds rolled in and it started to sprinkle. This shot was taken just as the sun was setting.

"I'm also pleased to say I can use my Singh-Ray filters with the camera's 40-megapixel sensor with no loss of sharpness. The fact that the conventional anti-aliasing filter has been eliminated in the Pentax sensor has also been no problem when I use my filters. This image of lupines on the shore along Clay Myers State Natural Area called for the use of my LB ColorCombo. It was taken just after the sun peeked through a very cloudy sky. This was an outstanding year for wildflowers on the Oregon coast. I am very impressed with the lenses for the 645D. I am using six Pentax lenses ranging from 25mm up to 300mm. In 35mm 'full-frame' speak that is 19.5mm to 480mm (with the 2X converter). I eventually plan to purchase another 645 body -- which I hope will be an upgrade.

"It's a bit too early to say how my clients will respond to the higher resolution images. It usually takes me about a year to get a clear idea how an image will sell. On a computer screen, the image quality cannot be readily appreciated. However, after clients see some of these images enlarged in calendars and prints, I'm hoping they will be as impressed as I am. One client wants only the largest file sizes for their projects. So that's a great beginning. This image of the snow bank on the East Rim Overlook was taken at sunrise about 10,000 feet above the Steens Mountain Wilderness in Oregon with the Singh-Ray LB ColorCombo. The high altitude contributed to the unusual light.

"So now I have done it again. I recently bought another high-performance camera -- a Leica M9 rangefinder camera -- that I will be using for travel. I was looking for a professional camera that I could easily carry in airports. Its 18.5 megapixel full-frame sensor, working with the legendary Leica lenses, produces images of astounding sharpness and quality. I'll continue to rely on my medium format system for most of my work, but when traveling to far away places, I'll likely be taking the M9 with four lenses -- total weight 7 lbs. There's just an amazing amount of detail in shots like this view on a California golf course I recently visited. The exposure was made with a 2-stop soft-step ND Grad just as the light peeked through the overcast morning. I will take the Leica as my main camera with the Canon 1ds Mark III with one lens as a backup when I go to Hawaii later this week.

"Although I do enjoy making a living from what I do, it sometimes raises the question in my mind, 'Am I really being paid to do this?' When clients select my images, I'm so grateful I am able to meet their needs. My personal goal will always be to create images that are as emotionally expressive as they are technically sound. I know it will always be my eye that creates the best images."

You'll find that Dennis has recently posted a large number of new Pentax images on his website for you to enjoy, as well as images from his Hawaii trip.

After 18 days of frustrating weather, Marcio Cabral is eager to return to the immense landscapes of Patagonia

2011-09-23T11:24:00.027-04:00

Brazilian landscape photographer Marcio Cabral recently spent 18 days in Patagonia visiting the amazing National Parks of Los Glaciares in Argentina and Torres del Paine in Chile. "These parks are two of the best places in the world for landscape photography," says Marcio. "We arrived to find the vibrant colors of Autumn making the scenery look even more beautiful. The trip began with camping for 5 days in El Chalten, which is Argentina's newest town -- established to serve the many trekkers and mountaineers attracted to hike and camp in the foothills of the majestic Fitz Roy and Torre mountains. Although weather predictions were favorable, my first days were so cloudy that I couldn’t get good images.

"After my second day camped close to Capri lagoon, my luck seemed to be changing. Just before sunrise I saw an unusual cloud formation just above the mountains. It was exactly what I was expecting. The view was magnificent and I knew I had found the right place. I set up the tripod and waited for the sun to rise. Everything seemed to be perfect but then a dark cloud appeared and blocked the sun just as it was rising. This was a very disappointing moment because I had spent much of my time and resources to be there in that place at just the right time.

"Since my tripod and equipment were set up and ready to use, I decided to try using my Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue polarizer. It proved to be the perfect tool for this situation. I also used my Singh-Ray 2-stop Reverse ND Grad and 3-stop soft-step ND Grads. I was delighted to see how the combination of these filters recovered part of the magic of the scenery which the dark cloud had blocked and how the grads balanced the brightness of the sky and mountains with the foreground. I was happy with the result and decided that it was time to move my camp to explore other locations.

"As the weather improved, I packed my stuff to go to one of the most magnificent views of the park, Laguna de los Tres. That night I camped at Poincenot camp near the lagoon. A few hours before sunrise, I started on the trail to reach the lagoon. When I arrived and choose the perfect spot, I saw a cloudy sky. So I mounted my tripod and waited patiently until sunrise. Because the sun was partially covered it couldn’t reflect its light to the clouds. I took as many shots as I could from different points along the shore of the lagoon until another cloud completely blocked the sun. For this image, I used an LB Warming Polarizer with a 2-stop Reverse and a 3-stop soft-edge ND Grad.

"After shooting the lagoon in the morning, I came back to lunch at the Poincenot camp. In the afternoon, I followed the Blanco River near camp and searched for a place where I could capture the sunset and show the cascades and Fitz Roy in the background. The winds in this place are very strong and wisps of water were constantly striking the lenses. It was a real challenge to photograph in such conditions. The weather again was not helping. The absence of clouds produced an intense glare that left the colors desaturated and less attractive. To compensate for the lighting problems, I once again chose to use my Gold-N-Blue polarizer, which added a golden reflection on the water and more color to the vegetation and mountains. To balance the very bright sky with the foreground, I also used a 3-stop Reverse and a 3-stop soft-step ND Grad.

"After 10 days in Argentina, I moved on to Chile and Torres Del Paine National Park. When I arrived at the park it was raining a lot so I decided to stay a few days in Puerto Natales and wait for the best time to photograph the towers. After 4 long days, the sun finally appeared and I could continue on my way. I decided to camp near Lake Pehoe. The sunrise brought beautiful cloud formations. This time there were no clouds to obstruct the sunlight. Finally my luck had changed, and I realized that my patience was paying off.

"I used the LB Warming Polarizer along with a 2-stop Reverse stacked with a 2-stop and 3-stop soft-step ND Grad. I liked the results very much and proceeded to make a number of images, including some panoramas. I made many photos and several spherical panoramas on this site. For this trip, I used a Canon 5D Mark II with the 17-40 and 24-105 lenses. Next year, I want to return and stay longer to make the most of Patagonia."

Marcio has had photographs published in a wide variety of nature and tourism publications. You can see more of his work on his website. He also was the first Brazilian to produce underwater spherical panoramas -- be sure to visit his portfolio of panoramic work.

Joel Addams weathers Nepal's monsoon season with his Singh-Ray filters

2011-09-20T11:24:00.032-04:00

While visiting Nepal in July, outdoor and travel photographer Joel Addams pursued several projects that involved shooting both motion and still photos. "Whether I was going for video or stills, I found my Singh-Ray filters to be very important tools." Joel explains, "being in Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu during the monsoon season is the least appealing time for tourists to visit the area. But even though we were challenged by the constant rain and heat, we found that the continuing cloud coverage was a gold mine whenever the sun finally did appear for brief moments at sunrise and sunset.

“Whenever I'm faced with tough weather, I remind myself that unless I'm out there, the photographs won’t come. I've learned that just being out in the early hours in the rain can lead to dramatic photographs. When the great light suddenly does appear out of nowhere, I just want to be ready. A friend and I went out to the Hindu Temple, Pashupatinath, around 5 a.m. one morning with no real promise for interesting photographs. Besides the added benefit of not having to pay entrance fees that early (no one at the ticket gates), the weather was generally cooler and more pleasant.

"To capture the image above, we set up on an area above the holy Bagmati River that looked down on the temple site, where a traditional funeral was taking place. Funeral customs and practices are much different in Nepal and very open to the public, as long as you are reasonably respectful. Using a 24mm tilt-shift lens, I limited the area of sharp focus in the image to draw the eye to the family proceeding with the ritual of the funeral. To suppress the busy background of the temple itself, I used a 3-stop Graduated Neutral Density filter to place even more interest on the main subject.

"Instead of leaving the temple by taking the normal path, I hiked north through the small jungle area where tourists normally do not travel. I was delighted to find additional photographic treasures, including this image of a small Hindu holy place, set gently in the lush forest next to the river. Using the same tilt/shift lens, I felt that a natural vignette occurred with the heavy use of the tilt function on the lens. This time, I used a 2-stop Graduated Neutral Density filter to mildly balance the sky with the foreground temple. The result is an interesting, colorful vignette in an exotic location. In fact, the weather had broken by this time and a pleasing warm light softened the colors of the scene.

"In addition to the abundance of Hindu temples and the Hindu culture (about 80% of Nepal's population), the Buddhist population is also strong and integrated (about 20% of Nepal). I found that the monsoon clouds cleared just in the nick of time as I was at the famous Monkey Temple (Swayambunath), an old and famous Buddhist temple on the west side of Kathmandu.

"To capture this image, I chose my 70–200mm lens and decided the best composition would include the many prayer flags that dotted the area. Looking into the sun, I needed some really heavy neutral density to hold back enough of the bright sky to achieve a balanced exposure. I used all the ND Grads I had on me at the time -- that included a 2-stop and a 3-stop grad as well as my 4-stop Reverse ND Grad. They were carefully stacked together and handheld in front of the lens. The result was a cloud-filled exposure that left the foreground reasonably exposed and a dreamy feel in the sky. I always try to carry enough ND Grads for the 'just-in-case' situations like this. Up to 9 stops of graduated density is quite a bit, but I find that my larger 4x6-inch Singh-Ray filters can be easily stacked and hand-held without inadvertently including a finger or edge of the filter in the frame."

Joel is now completing his motion project on Kathmandu and will soon share it with us. He found the Vari-ND, his LB Warming Polarizers, and ND Grads helpful for this video work as well. You can continue to follow Joel's ventures and workshop schedule on his website. Also stop by his Facebook fan page, blog and YouTube Channel.

Ten Tips from Cole Thompson for lo-o-o-o-ong exposure photography

2011-09-16T11:13:00.001-04:00

Fine art photographer Cole Thompson is known far and wide for his dramatic monochrome and long-exposure images.

I have been doing long-exposure work for a number of years now, and I've explored many different techniques and methods. Here are 10 of my fundamental tips to make your long exposure experience easier and better:

(Auschwitz No. 14 – Photographed in Bright Daylight)

1. For extremely long exposures, have at least 13 stops of neutral density available.
I have been using the Singh-Ray Vari-ND Variable Density Filter for a number of years now, and it revolutionized the way I work by allowing me to rotate the filter to minimum density for composition and focus, then immediately dial in maximum density so I don't miss the shot. However, if you want to obtain exposures of 30 seconds and longer in bright daylight, you may need more than the 8 stops of density offered by the Vari-ND. I stack a Singh-Ray Mor-Slo 5-stop ND filter onto my Vari-ND which gives me a range of 8 to 13 stops of added density. By the way, 13 stops of density transmits only about 0.01% of light -- that's one percent of one percent. This is generally enough to allow a 30-second exposure in bright daylight.

The shot above of "ghosts" at Auschwitz was made in bright daylight -- having sufficient additional density allowed me to simulate nighttime, as well as blur and obscure the movement of the visitors for the ethereal effect I was shooting for.

(Lone Man No. 20 – Photographed with 3 Stacked Filters)

2. Purchase the largest size filter you can afford.
I use the 82mm Vari-ND (the largest offered by Singh-Ray) which allows me to avoid vignetting when stacking filters and using very wide angle lenses. The 77mm will work in many situations, but will vignette in others. Use step-up rings on your lenses so that you can use the 77mm or 82mm filters on all of them.

The Lone Man image above was made with 3 stacked filters, and using larger filters helped prevent corner obstruction and vignetting. In situations where you are seeing some obstruction or vignetting on wide-angle shots, consider adjusting your composition to allow for cropping -- square or panorama, or see if you can take a step or two back and use a slightly longer focal length.

3. Use an eye cup for your camera's viewfinder.
To meter your long exposure you’ll be in manual mode and using the camera’s internal meter, but it can give a false reading because stray light leaks into the camera from the eye piece. This can cause your images to be underexposed. You can eliminate this problem by using an eye cup, which helps seal out stray light. Eliminating the light leaks will also help your eye adjust to the darkened image in the viewfinder when using the Vari-ND -- even at minimum density, it's blocking over 80% of the light entering the lens.

4. Use a sturdy tripod.
A good tripod is a must for serious landscape photography, but it's even more important when doing long-exposure work. The enemies of a long exposure are vibration and camera movement, and so you’ll want to use the sturdiest tripod that you can find (or at least the sturdiest one you are willing to carry), as well as a tripod head that locks down for rock solid support. I find that the carbon fiber tripods soak up vibrations better than the metal ones. And of course, find the most solid footing possible when positioning your tripod so it doesn't sink into the sand or wet ground or wobble during the exposure. Some tripods have a hook on the bottom of the center post to allow you to hang "ballast" such as your camera bag or weights for added stability.

(The Angel Gabriel – Photographed with hundreds of people walking by)

5. Turn OFF your image stabilizer!
When shooting from a tripod, leaving your image stabilizer turned on can often work against you, especially if there is motion in the scene, such as moving water or wind in the leaves. The image stabilizer attempts to stabilize these movements, which results in blurring the overall image. I cannot tell you how many images I’ve ruined because I’ve forgotten to turn off the image stabilizer! Canon has just announced improvements to their image stabilizing, including a "tripod mode" that may help alleviate this problem, but that's still a ways (and an upgrade) down the road.

My photo of "The Angel Gabriel" is filled with movement -- the many tourists wandering by (most disappearing entirely), the clouds, the water, the pages of the book, and some slight blurring of the subject despite his effort to stay perfectly still. However, the railing and planks of the pier are tack sharp, which adds to the impact of the image, as the rails lead the viewer's eye directly to the subject's face. If I'd left image stabilizing ON for this shot, all the movement in the frame would have "confused" the IS and it would have blurred the parts of the image that I wanted to be sharp.

This image brings up one other side note: another benefit of long exposures is that it can make unwanted "intruders" disappear from your shot, as long as they keep moving. For instance, in one of my segments in the new Singh-Ray video, there are kayakers paddling through my shot of some rocks on the shore -- a long exposure effectively eliminated them without requiring retouching.

(Isolated – Photographed at 30 seconds in bright sunlight)

6. Place your finger over the eyepiece to help the autofocus.
In very low light situations (eg: using a lot of ND filters) the autofocus may “hunt” and not let the camera fire. You can manually focus or you can simply place your finger over the eye piece, which stops stray light from entering the rear and allows the camera to find focus. You don’t need to hold your finger over the eyepiece for the entire exposure, just for a very brief moment to allow your autofocus to focus.

The open eyepiece can also allow light leaks in through the viewfinder, especially during a long exposure with the sun behind you. This isn't a problem normally, because your head (and your eye cup) blocks stray light. But often when doing long exposures, you step back to avoid vibrating the camera, allowing light to enter. If you're seeing odd glare or reflections in a shot done in this manner, try blocking the viewfinder for the next one, or use the viewfinder shutter if your camera has one.

7. Use a hood loupe and carefully check every image!
A hood loupe allows you to more closely inspect your images and avoid costly mistakes. It shields the LCD from light and glare, plus it magnifies the image, allowing you to be sure that your details are sharp and that you remembered to turn off the image stabilizer! There is nothing worse than coming home from a big trip only to find that your images were not right. Closely check each image and you can make corrections right on the spot. It's much better to get the shot right in the field than it is to attempt to fix it back at your computer.

(Swimming Towards the Light – photographed with a one quarter second exposure)

8. Try different exposure times when photographing water.
For long exposures, the only rule on exposure times is that there is no rule on exposure times. When shooting water you’ll be amazed at how different a half second exposure can look compared to 2 seconds, and how completely differently 5, 15 or 30 seconds will look. So try different exposures until you find the one that you like for a given scene. With practice you'll get a feel for what shutter speed would be a good place to start, but I still suggest experimenting while you're at it.

The shot of the swimmer was made at a relatively fast shutter speed (for me) of 1/4 second, which allowed me to capture details in the surface of the water and have parts of the subject appear sharp, while still getting the motion blur of her arms and legs. Of the various exposure times I tried, I felt this was the best result in this situation.

(Monolith No. 10 – photographed with a 120 second exposure)

9. Skies often require a much longer exposure.
If you’re looking to create those long streaking clouds, start at 30 seconds and then try 60 and 120. Since most cameras will only meter to 30 seconds, you’ll have to do a little extrapolating to figure the correct exposure for 60 or 120. To do this, set your meter to one f-stop underexposed and then shoot for 60 seconds. For a 120 second exposure (as used on the image above), set your meter to two f-stops underexposed and expose for 120 seconds. Remember that for each f-stop you underexpose, you double your exposure time.

Once you’ve set your camera’s meter to underexpose the image, put it into “bulb” mode and use your watch to time your 60 or 120 second exposure. Bulb mode requires the shutter button to be held down for the entire exposure, so you’ll need a remote shutter release that can be locked "open" for the exposure.

(The Fountainhead No. 93 – 30 second exposure in high winds)

10. There are no rules -- experiment and try different things!

To create the image above from my "Fountainhead" series, I photographed the building reflected from a flexible ferrotype plate -- a chrome-plated steel sheet with a near-perfect mirror surface. By just gently twisting and bending the plate, I achieved these otherworldly distortions, and I also feel they have an "organic" quality to them that would be difficult to achieve in Photoshop without hugely compromising the image quality. With this technique, I was able to achieve the effect in camera, so the pixel data doesn't need to be unduly "stretched" or compromised.

And, once again, I was able to view the images in the field to see the effect and make sure I was getting what I wanted, rather than taking standard photos of buildings and hoping to find a creative way to manipulate them back at my computer. I suppose that would be another tip that always applies -- take a little time to make the best possible image in camera on the scene, and you'll always know you got the shot.

You can see other examples and read more about the Fountainhead series in my prior blog story.

So, there really are no “rules” for long exposure photography, and while long exposures are most often applied to water and skies, they can be used in many different and imaginative ways. So experiment, try new things, and get creative!

You can see Cole demonstrate his techniques and expand on these tips in the new video, "In the Field with Singh-Ray Filters" which also features Tony Sweet and Adam Barker.

You can find many more of Cole's images and learn about his work on his website and blog. Also, look for Cole on Facebook for ongoing updates.

Singh-Ray's New Instructional Video takes you into the field with Tony Sweet, Cole Thompson and Adam Barker

2011-09-13T11:23:00.001-04:00

We are pleased to introduce our new instructional video program, "Using Singh-Ray Filters in the Field" with Tony Sweet, Cole Thompson and Adam Barker. In this video program, these three top professional photographers walk you through working in the field with their favorite Singh-Ray filters. The program includes real-time "live view" demonstrations showing how each filter helps to improve your image in-camera, and on-site. You'll see demonstrations of Singh-Ray ND Grads, Reverse Grads, Vari-ND, Mor-Slo, LB Warming Polarizer, Gold-N-Blue Polarizer, and more. The program is loaded with tips to make the most of your filters when you're out in the field.

Our thanks to MasterPhoto Workshops for their help in producing this video for Singh-Ray. You'll find full-length DVDs and downloadable programs by these and other top professionals at their website, MasterPhotoDVD.com.

Special thanks also to Tony, Cole, and Adam for their assistance in preparing this video. Of course, you'll find more information about each photographer on their website: TonySweet.com, ColeThompsonPhotography.com, and AdamBarkerPhotography.com

We hope you all enjoy this informative video, and if you have further questions about their demonstrations, be sure to check out this blog for more detailed information and discussion from each of these photographers and many others, covering the full-line of Singh-Ray Filters.

Bret Edge's ND Grads help him master the challenging light of Black Canyon

2011-09-09T12:14:00.006-04:00

Utah Photographer Bret Edge has been busy as usual, traveling, taking photographs, and putting together a new e-book. He checked in recently with photos of an unusual and beautiful canyon. "The American Southwest is home to several iconic and highly photogenic canyons – the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, Antelope Canyon, just to name a few. While these canyons certainly deserve inclusion on any photographer's 'bucket list,' there is one gorge that is often overlooked. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is less than 20 miles from Montrose, Colorado, which may be the reason so few photographers bother to visit. Most camera-toting tourists passing through Montrose are headed south to the San Juan Mountains to photograph bountiful wildflowers in summer or autumnal aspens and dramatic mountain peaks. Boy are they missing out!

"Black Canyon is a deep, narrow gorge carved by the fast flowing Gunnison River. Canyon walls are near vertical, well over 1,000 feet tall and decorated with myriad natural patterns. Access to the inner canyon is extremely difficult, involving routes - not trails – that lose elevation at a pace guaranteed to destroy your knees. Not to worry, as there is plenty to photograph from dramatic overlooks at the canyon rim.

"On my recent visit, the wind was whipping up dust that hung in the air, creating hazy conditions above and below the canyon. I used my Singh-Ray Thin Mount Warming Polarizer to penetrate the haze and allow details on the canyon walls to stand out. I also used the polarizer to slightly extend my shutter speed as the light waned, allowing me to emphasize the cloud movement. For both purposes, the filter worked beautifully!

"Black Canyon is so narrow that the inner canyon is only lit during mid-day, a time when conditions generally aren’t considered optimal for photography. At sunrise and sunset, the dynamic range between inner canyon and sky is far too great for most sensors to record. In most places the canyon rim is relatively flat. There are three ways of dealing with the high contrast conditions: High Dynamic Range Imaging, hand-blended exposures or Singh-Ray’s Graduated Neutral Density filters. I have nothing against HDR and exposure blending, and I use both in my own workflow. But at Black Canyon, I wanted to make sure I got the exposure right while I was there on the scene, so I used a 3-stop Hard-Step ND Grad. With such a nearly flat horizon it was easy to balance the exposure. Using the ND Grad filter meant I’d spend less time sitting at a computer and more time exploring the outdoors.

"Singh-Ray’s polarizing and ND Grad filters allowed me to work efficiently in the quickly changing conditions at Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Without the filters, I’m not sure my all-too-brief visit would have produced so many quality images."

Bret has just released his first e-book, The Essential Guide to Photographing Arches National Park. It includes tips for getting the best shots, maps of the park and trails, schedules of when the light will be optimal, suggestions for gear to bring, and more. You can learn more about the e-book on Bret's Blog, or at the NatureScapes website. Bret's main website is www.bretedge.com and you can find out about his upcoming workshops at www.moabphotoworkshops.com. You can also find him on Facebook.

Orange barrels in Glacier National Park can't keep Joe Rossbach from the right light

2011-09-06T11:18:00.007-04:00

Every summer, we're used to the inconvenience of road construction around town and on the highways, but Joe Rossbach wasn't counting on finding orange barrels in the wilderness of northern Montana. "My most recent 9-day trip to Glacier National Park was productive, but incredibly frustrating. Shooting there is challenging enough, but to complicate matters, one of the main roads through the park was under heavy construction and completely closed down from the bend to Logan Pass each evening from 9pm until 7am. Because this trip was planned almost a year in advance, and we were staying on the western side of the park, it meant that we would have to get up way earlier than normal to drive around the perimeter of the park to get to many of our shooting locations. And on the flip side, it meant getting back well after midnight from sunset hikes in the high country around Logan Pass. Can you say "sleep deprivation?" Well it was worth it. Glacier is amazing, and occasionally she lets down her guard and puts on the most amazing show of light and land. I was fortunate enough to catch a few glimpses of her grandeur during the trip.

Mountain Goat above Hidden Lake
"In addition to the construction headaches, my first three days in the park provided absolutely horrid conditions for nature photography -- blue bird blue skies and not a cloud in sight. On the third evening of the trip, I knew there was finally great potential for dramatic light. We had clouds and thunderstorms building all afternoon. So I headed to Logan Pass and made the short, yet steep hike to Hidden Lake Overlook. The snow fields were still blanketing much of the trail up, and in some sections the footing was quite sketchy. After arriving at the pass above Hidden Lake, I started to scout potential compositions. When I encountered a large number of mountain goats roaming about the cliffs directly above the lake, I decided to hang out with them, watching their patterns of movement and letting them become comfortable with my presence. I was lucky to have a single goat pose on this rock ledge just as the sky was becoming very colorful. I quickly made my way within about 20 feet of the ledge, and framed up the scene with my Nikon 24-70mm F2.8. Because I needed to make sure the goat was tack sharp, I pushed the ISO up to 400 and shot the image at F8, making sure I had critical focus from front to back. I used my Singh-Ray 4-stop Soft-Step ND Grad to balance the light between sky and land. I also bracketed an extra frame at +1 with the ND Grad for a little more shadow detail in the landscape.

Triple Falls Sunset
"You have to make a decision when in the field -- sacrifice your own personal comfort, or miss the shot. But who needs sleep or food when you get light like this, right? On this evening, I found myself once again at Logan Pass with a huge thunderstorm billowing across the west. I knew that if I made the bushwack out to Triple Falls for sunset I would be forced to drive down the east side of the park and make the 120 mile trip around the southern perimeter of the park back to my campsite outside of McDonald Lake to the west. I had no choice in the matter. There was no way I was going to pass up these conditions for a little sleep and a hot meal. After crossing several snowfields, making sure not to trample the vegetation, I found Reynolds Creek and slogged my way up through ice cold water and over snow bridges until I reached the falls. At the start of this trip, I was certain that this image was going to elude me once again, since most of the Hanging Gardens were still covered in deep snowfields. In fact at the beginning of the trip, this area was still buried under about two feet of snow! I was lucky that the temperatures had warmed enough during the week to melt the snow. For this image I got low and close with my Nikon 16-35mm, using the Singh-Ray LB Polarizer to cut glare from the wet rocks and also intensify the sky. Because the light was so much brighter in the sky than on the landscape, I once again used my Singh-Ray 4-Stop Soft-Step ND Grad to balance the exposure. I also bracketed a few shots at +1 and +1.7 to blend in some fore shadow detail, especially inside the chasm. Even though I didn't reach the campsite until after 1 AM, and had to be out of the tent at 4 AM for first light, I went to bed with a huge grin plastered to my face. I got the light!!

Avalanche Gorge
"Finding a unique view on an iconic location is not all that hard. Just find where all of the well-worn tripod holes are, and then move on to another spot. I would guess that 99% of all photographers who visit this location set up right on the bridge looking into the gorge. It’s a beautiful spot to shoot from, but let’s be honest -- these images all look the same. I can’t feel satisfied shooting like that and insist on finding a unique angle or perspective. To achieve this, I climbed down below the bridge and belly crawled out across the slick rocks into the heart of the gorge. From there I was able to find a very different perspective. I used my Nikon 16-35mm lens fitted with the Singh-Ray Thin Mount LB Polarizer to cut glare from the wet rocks and increase contrast and color saturation.

Lake of Fire, Saint Mary Lake
"And finally a shot from Saint Mary Lake -- this amazing location is like having the sea meet the mountains -- the lake is gigantic. I visited this spot five times during the trip, getting shut out each time. On my last night in the park, with fingers crossed and thunderstorms once again pelting the high country with lightning, rain and sleet, I made my way past the crowd of photographers shooting from the parking lot. I made my way down the hill and headed off into the woods following a game trail to a location of sculpted rocks on the shore of the lake. I knew my composition already as I had scouted it out before. I set up and waited for the light. It came, but didn’t last too long. I used my Singh-Ray 3-Stop Reverse ND Grad to balance the light between sky and land.

"All told, it was ten days and lots of extra hiking and driving to capture four incredible displays of light! I consider it a successful trip, despite the challenges. We’ll be back again next summer leading a photo workshop, so stay tuned by visiting the website, joining our mailing list and following us on Facebook. Until next time, I wish you the best of light!"

On Thierry Hennet's recent trip to Iceland, his Singh-Ray Filters solved a wide variety of challenges

2011-09-02T11:02:00.000-04:00

When Thierry Hennet was young, he loved to browse through the family's photo albums. "Over time, this reinforced more memories from my childhood than I otherwise would have. Now that I am a professional biologist, family man and amateur photographer in Zurich, Switzerland, I love taking pictures because they remind me of the eager anticipation I felt at the moment I released the shutter. For me, nice pictures bring back nice memories.

"My last trip to Iceland several weeks ago is a good example. Iceland richly deserves its reputation as the perfect playground for landscape photographers. To capture its magnificent textures and vibrant colors, I made sure to bring along all my Singh-Ray filters. The filters take very little space, they're light in weight and they turned out to be extremely valuable. My filter kit includes hard- and soft-step ND grad filters, the LB Neutral Polarizer, the Vari-ND filter and the Gold-N-Blue polarizer.

"The ever-changing weather and strong winds are the main challenges to deal with when photographing Icelandic landscapes. Often, rain and sunshine alternate at a fast pace, thereby increasing the haze and muting the rich colors of the landscapes. In such conditions, the LB Polarizer is simply magical at restoring the tones of Icelandic earth and vegetation. I especially appreciate this filter's excellent optical quality and its impressive light-transmission that allows me to maintain high shutter speeds at apertures between f/8 to f/11. The amazing properties of my LB Polarizer saved the day several times during the trip.

"For example, I captured the image at the top of this story during a hike to the Bláhnjúkur mountain (Blue Peak in English) in the Landmannalaugar. The strong wind made taking pictures quite challenging, even using a sturdy tripod. The LB Polarizer enabled the selection of short exposure times while saturating the natural colors and increasing the contrast of the beautiful rhyolite formations of the Landmannalaugar. This picture was taken close to the top of Bláhnjúkur. It is a stitched image of five frames captured with my Sony a900 using a Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70 F2.8 zoom set at 50 mm. Even with the LB Polarizer on the lens, I managed to freeze the scenery at 1/320 second at f/8 with the ISO set at 400. The polarizer perfectly neutralized the morning haze, thereby rendering the rich tones of this Icelandic landmark. The LB Polarizer nicely complements the sharpness of the Zeiss lens and I am always impressed by the amount of information recorded when examining images at 100% magnification. On the original size of this panorama view, several hikers can be spotted near the opposite ridge on their way to the Hrafntinnusker hut.

"Waiting for the right moment is not always possible under harsh weather conditions, especially when standing at the bottom of a rushing waterfall fully exposed to strong winds. While visiting the Svartifoss waterfall in the Skaftafell National Park, I wanted to render the water as white streaks falling on the sharp hexagonal rocks at the base of the waterfall. Svartifoss is flanked by high basalt columns, which break off to the bottom of the cliff as nearly perfect hexagonal prisms. Being so close to the waterfall required extreme water protection for the camera and quick handling to avoid being soaked to the bone. I used a preset f-stop of f/8 at ISO 200 on my Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70 F2.8 zoom set at 70 mm and used the Vari-ND variable density filter to achieve the best effect in the shortest time possible. This image was taken at 1/13 second with the neutral density set at 5 stops. The truly amazing Vari-ND filter allowed me to test several exposure times in rapid sequence. I could not have imagined switching solid ND-filters and tuning the shutter speeds under that kind of shower. Overall, I was surprised how often I used the Vari-ND filter on my trip to add slow-motion effects while capturing waterfalls or breaking waves on coastlines.

"For the end of my stay in Iceland, I did not want to miss the glacier lagoon of Jökulsárlón, where dozens of icebergs float towards the sea. The view is impressive in itself but even before my arrival, I was imagining how my Gold-N-Blue Polarizer could enhance the scene. Jökulsárlón is a recent appearance, which is caused by the melting Breidamerkurjokull glacier. Before 1950, the glacier almost reached to the sea. Breidamerkurjokull now recedes by 200 meters per year and calves large blocks of ice, which drift as icebergs on the lagoon. The icebergs of Jökulsárlón feature beautiful white and blue tones with bands of black lava sands. Their slow motion on the lagoon looks like a hypnotic ballet, which mesmerize any spectator. Jökulsárlón is one of the few places on earth where everyone becomes a photographer.

"This picture shows a typical view of Jökulsárlón captured with the Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70 F2.8 zoom set at 50 mm without using the Gold-N-Blue Polarizer. To maintain a broad depth of field, the photo was taken at f/18 and ISO 200. The composite image above illustrates how the mood can be transformed using the Gold-N-Blue. As discussed in several previous stories on this blog, it's important that the white balance be adjusted either prior to shooting -- by creating a custom white balance in the camera -- or during post-processing. If you plan to adjust the white balance in post-production, be sure to shoot in RAW format when using the Gold-N-Blue polarizer. Software such as Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture allow me to change the white balance easily and achieve the desired effect with very little tweaking.

"For this image, I used the Gold-N-Blue polarizer to increase the blue tones of the glacial water and enhance the impression of cold. At some places, the turbid water of the lagoon was loaded with sediments, of which the brown-gold tones could be underlined using the Gold-N-Blue polarizer. The Gold-N-Blue filter is definitely a powerful tool in any filter kit. The filter's color effects, however, need to be carefully controlled to achieve the best result. In any case, this filter is definitively an ideal tool to achieve a personal expression of a photographic subject.

"I am still processing the photographs I made in Iceland. I do not try to rush through this task, because playing with my digital darkroom pleasantly extends my experience of this magnificent country. I will return to Iceland and my Singh-Ray filters will certainly come along, too."

Thierry has recently begun to build an impressive gallery of images on both his website and his Flickr stream. Be sure to watch for new photos to be posted regularly.

In preparation for his first scenic travel book, Brian Rueb made a return trip to Iceland this summer

2011-08-30T11:38:00.000-04:00

It's now been a year since California landscape photographer Brian Rueb completed his first two-month trip to Iceland. "That trip began with my decision that it was time for me to get serious about writing and illustrating a book. This summer, I made a return trip to gather more material. Iceland is a photographer’s dream. The light is amazing for hours every night -- the good light runs from about 10pm to 3am. The subjects are always astounding and the opportunities for original and aesthetic compositions is there on a consistent basis.

"I can now say that traveling in Iceland once is a photographer's dream come true, but being there TWICE was... well I wasn’t sure it was real. The first time I went I was on foot. I hitchhiked, walked, and bussed myself from location to location. Overall it was a long arduous process where I put over 400 miles on my boots and many more hours sitting in a strange vehicle hoping to arrive at a location that offered me good subject matter and great shooting conditions.

"On my second trip I had learned from the mistakes of the first, and I set out to come home with a new set of images to add to my portfolio. I was fortunate to be traveling with friend and fellow photographer Adam Attoun, and the two of us had a vehicle to use for the entire 12-day adventure. This allowed us to follow the light and get to locations that would give us the best chances to capture something magical. This trip was also my maiden voyage with the Singh-Ray thin-mount LB Warming Polarizer. The light in the Icelandic sunsets and sunrises tends to be very soft and warm and I was eager to see how this filter would help me capture the beauty of this often desolate landscape.

"I cherish the opportunity to be out in places like this doing what I love. I never know what life will throw me, and making the most of every photographable opportunity is a must. It’s what drives me to perfect my use of filters. I realize there is always a chance I may never be back to a location again, so I want to make sure I’ve captured it the way it deserves? I can usually do that, which is why I'm convinced that quality filters such as those from Singh-Ray are vital to my success. I hope the three images with this story will help confirm my point.

"The shot at the top of this story was made on a gorgeous night at Jokulsarlon, or glacial lagoon. This iconic location eluded me for most of my first trip because I hadn’t gotten the light I wanted on the first trip. This trip proved to be different. The lagoon was calm and the sky was perfect. Light rays blasted out from behind the clouds to give a very dramatic scene of warm and cool tones. I used the LB Warming Polarizer, which did a fantastic job of accentuating the warmth of the sunset and its reflection on the water. I combined it with a 4-stop soft-step ND Grad filter to help balance the brightness of the sky with the foreground. The polarizer also helped bring out the reflected colors that gave the overall image nice depth and balance.

"This image shows a waterfall in the northern highlands called Aldeyjarfoss. We arrived here to find rainy and overcast skies. There appeared to be some clearings on the horizon and we opted to stay and shoot the area knowing we probably wouldn’t be able to get back to this location. It’s by far one of the best and most powerful waterfalls I’ve ever photographed. Situated in a large cauldron of interesting basalt patterns this mighty waterfall give a perfect contrast to the interesting textures and colors of the basalt. While we waited, the patch of sky opened up and I knew from looking at this area that the LB Warming Polarizer would be ideal. The sun had come back out and was low in the sky. The clouds were also picking up some fantastic tones that blended well with the warmth of the rocks. I climbed down a very steep embankment to set up near the edge of the pool. The water surge was so powerful in this area that 2-foot-high waves periodically swept over the rocks I was standing on. This waterfall literally created its own wave pattern. It was a little nerve wracking standing here trying to compose. The goal was to use a slightly faster shutter speed to capture the turmoil the of the scene, and the polarizer provided just the right amount of density to let me get the 1/10 of a second shutter speed I needed to capture some of the detailed movement in the water and not blow out the whole area with a longer exposure. As I sat watching this force of nature in awe, I looked to my left and a wave of fog swept in and literally rendered the area impossible to photograph. It really was a right-place-at-the-right-time scenario.

"This last image was taken in the south of Iceland near the town of Vik, along the rugged coastline. I found this little area nook and knew by the wave action and unique rock structures that the images would be both unique and amazing. Because of the power of the waves hitting the rocks I opted to climb up onto a small shelf to allow me to get a better perspective of the whole scene as well as get a better vantage of the waves as they struck the rocks and ran off back to the sea. The sunsets are long in Iceland, and it was a treat to sit on the ledge and watch as the colors and clouds shifted into the right position to capture this image. I combined the LB Warming Polarizer with a 4-stop soft-step ND Grad filter to balance out the brightness of the sky and allow me to get more details on the darker rocks and water."

Brian is currently finishing up his book project and planning a photographic workshop to Iceland in June of 2012. For details, as well as more images of Iceland, check his website or add him on Facebook. Brian is based in Northern California and is a full-time instructor with the Aperture Academy in San Jose.

Steve Kossack sends his "reflections" of this year's visit to the splendors of Glacier National Park

2011-08-26T11:51:00.003-04:00

Steve Kossack has just returned from leading another workshop to Glacier National Park. "Sometimes I wonder whether success in any creative art is more dependent on the singer or the song? That is to say, is it really the photographer or the place? Over the years, I've come to realize excellent outdoor images can be made almost anywhere at any time. Nevertheless, that rationalization fades from memory when I find myself surrounded by the awesome grandeur of our nation's National Parks, and one in particular.

"Although it's in a remote location, Glacier National Park on the Montana Canadian border is rich with photo opportunities for those who visit frequently. Nowhere -- except for Alaska -- are there primitive wilderness settings as easily accessible as here! By 2020, however, Glacier National Park will have no glaciers! The original estimate for their demise was 2030, but that date has since been revised and a current study may yet again move this date. What this means for those of us doing photography is unclear. Those visitors who have hiked to Jackson, Grinnell or Sperry glaciers in the park have witnessed over the years their decline and increasingly limited accessibility. It's just tougher to get close to what's left! This will certainly have an effect on the surrounding plant and animal life. It's well worth noting that within its 1 million acres, this park still retains almost all its original endemic plant and animal species. It's doubtful that a name change for the park will take place after the last of the glaciers have gone, however. Glacier National Park it will always be, with or without them! It's a place where the hand of man has met the environment head on. Its drastically short summer season permits a short window into this hostile habitat with long days and very short nights. Especially so if one wants to sing its song with tripod and camera.

Mule Deer on Logan Pass
"Yes, I would prefer that nature's wildlife step into more of my frames! I'm not a wildlife photographer at all. That is a skill set unto itself. Here the final element presented one more challenge. As I was considering the possibilities for this landscape, I noticed the deer making its way into the scene. I quickly switched from my Singh-Ray LB ColorCombo to an LB Color Intensifier to gain a one-stop advantage in shutter speed. While I lost the advantage of a polarizer, I realized I'd need the extra speed if the deer did indeed enter the frame. I also chose my 3-stop soft-step Graduated ND filter to balance the distant sky. The deer would not cooperate by turning toward me, and I considered not opening the shutter at all. I've learned that shooting creatures from behind is not the angle of choice. Then I decided the deer was not my main focal point in this composition. I then waited for it to stop once again and raise its head.

Further Reflection
"This image was made just after the one above. It's a good example of my belief that nature never does anything just once. Repeated patterns, textures and shapes are usually found again in the surrounding area and this scene proved that point. Arriving with a reflection pattern fresh in my mind, I was immediately drawn to yet another. Here the reflection was the focal point and I 'shortened up' the composition with a longer lens. But this left less feeling of scale. The tree was the last element I needed for this shot and the exposure was set for the snow field at the base of the butte. My Singh-Ray LB ColorCombo was carefully set so that it did not negate the reflection or over-saturate the sky. A 4-stop soft-step ND Grad helped bring the reflection value closer to the exposure for the butte.

Moonset at Swiftcurrent Lake
"The eastern part of Glacier National Park is the windy side. It's also the quiet side in terms of people. The lakes are the main attractions. Swiftcurrent Lake is one of the park's jewels! In all the years I've been photographing these lakes, I've only seen a smooth, glass-like surface once! And it was obvious as we stood in the dark an hour before sunrise that this was not going to be the second time. In order to 'create' a smoother surface, I used my Vari-N-Trio. With the benefit of the that filter's built-in warming polarizer and color intensifier all that was needed was to first set a shutter speed and aperture combination that would give a long exposure to blur the water and achieve enough depth of field to keep the foreground rock in sharp focus as well. The last step was to use a 2-stop soft-step ND Grad to hold back the exposure of the moon near the horizon. The exposure was 30 seconds at f/16 at 100 ISO.

Passing Storm at Sundown
"Low light and the drama of a passing storm is what we found as the sun was setting over the peaks. A thunderstorm had developed as our day came to an end, and with it came the challenge of composing and exposing this scene. The focal point is way out at the far horizon. Without the ability to change my camera position at the base of the lake, the only way to change my composition was by my choice of a 24mm tilt-shift lens. The reflected clouds were helpful but it was the branch and rock that seemed to anchor a foreground that made the decision for me. The LB ColorCombo was set to take advantage of its built-in polarizing feature to show the lake bottom merging with the cloud reflection. I also used a 3-stop soft-step ND Grad to balance the sky with the foreground. The trick was in the exposure of the foreground. I considered using fill flash but knew the bounce off the water would produce glare. My second thought was the reflector in my vest pocket but there just was not enough light to reflect. In the end I simply used my Petzel head lamps to "paint" the foreground during the 3 second exposure.

"Watching the light glow and glaciers recede in this remote wilderness is both breathtaking and heartbreaking, sometimes at the same moment. Although this year's summer season was no more than a few weeks, every moment spent here is a moment to be cherished. Especially in a viewfinder!"

For more news and information about Steve's workshop schedule, including his Monument Valley Expedition this October 8 - 12, visit his website and gallery.

Thierry Resin was immediately impressed when he began using his new Gold-N-Blue Polarizer

2011-08-23T11:20:00.000-04:00

When he was a Swiss teenager, Thierry Resin loved photography, then he turned his attention for the next twenty-some years to becoming an independent osteopath and starting his family. "My 'rebirth' as an amateur photographer occurred in 2008," he says, "and now it is one of my favorite hobbies.

"A few weeks ago, I received my new Gold-N-Blue Polarizer from Singh-Ray. A few days later, I decided to take the new filter along on a brief Saturday morning trip to the small nearby Lake Remoray, even though the goal of my trip was to photograph water birds such as gray herons and great crested grebes. When I arrived before sunrise, the atmosphere was very misty. That was not so bad, but there were no herons and just a few grebes. So, I decided to unpack my EOS 5D Mark II and take advantage of the almost autumnal atmosphere. The Gold-N-Blue Polarizer was an entirely new thing to me and I was very eager to try it out.

"The moment I looked through the viewfinder, I was impressed. The only drawback was that the filter did fool the camera's automatic white balance setting. The image on the camera's LCD display was far from what I expected. No matter, I continued to carefully expose my photos. Back home, I did a little post processing in Lightroom to achieve without much 'homework' some very nice, properly color balanced images. For me, it seems easier and much faster to adjust the white balance on my PC rather than doing a custom white balance at the scene.

"The image above was captured during that first test, I was not properly equipped to deal with the light conditions. Without my tripod, I was obliged to handhold my camera during all the shooting. For this picture, I set the filter just a little -- but not too much -- to the gold side in order to stay realistic. To balance the foreground with the bright misty sky, I used my 2-stop soft-step ND Grad. The problem was the lack of enough light and the only way to make it right was to settle on a relatively high ISO (1000), a descent shutter speed (1/125) and an aperture of f/10.

"The next picture was taken the following Saturday when I was better equipped with the Gold-N-Blue fixed on my 24-70 f/2.8 lens. It was a little later in the morning but at least as misty as the week before. When I began to see the sun behind the mist, I decided to try to deal with the very high difference in luminosity between the sky and the foreground. The way I did it, though, was not very conventional. I stacked a 2-stop soft-step ND Grad together with a 3-stop hard-step Grad. That provided good control of the strong light in the sky and a relatively soft transition. To avoid blurred reeds and achieve good depth of field, I set my camera at 1/25 second at f/13.

"For the third picture, the sun was higher in the sky and behind me. The mist stayed over the lake. I carefully turned my filter to get the balance I wanted between gold and blue. I placed my tripod in the water and exposed for 1/13 second at f/14 while I was hand holding my 3-stop hard-step ND Grad.

"I definitely like this Gold-N-Blue polarizer very much. With very little post processing, I was able to once again capture exactly what I saw in the viewfinder. The most important thing to remember is to be very precise with the initial color settings during exposure. I always find my Singh-Ray ND grads are very helpful -- almost essential-- in landscape photography to balance the luminosity of the foreground subject and the sky. Using my Singh-Ray Filters while I'm in the field tends to serve my natural creative impulses, and I hope I can continue to develop the ability to capture impressive pictures without spending 80% of my time trying to solve problems in post processing."

Following a trip to Kenya in March, Thierry felt like sharing his pictures with more of the world. So, he has launched a new website at Thierry-Images.ch where we will be able to follow his future success and renewed love for photography. Note that the website is in French, but the pictures speak for themselves.

Darrell Moll and Rod Brown have been preparing for years to lead their next workshop

2011-08-19T11:14:00.000-04:00

While Darrell Moll was teaching a workshop last year, one of the students asked him what "one thing can you teach me so my work will look like yours?"

After contemplating the question for a moment, Darrell realized that he had never looked at his role in those terms before. "Then, after thinking a bit longer, it dawned on me that there is no one thing. Although many aspiring photographers start out looking for a quick formula for success, we all find that our ability to actually capture the dramatic landscape images we visualize is the result of learning and applying all the 'little things' that make for success. While my reply was not exactly what the student hoped to hear, I still feel it was the best answer.

"There's no question in my mind, for example, that one of the biggest success factors in my outdoor photography has been the discovery of Singh-Ray filters. Frankly, I could not imagine shooting landscape photographs without them, and I definitely would not want to try. The image at the top of this story, Autumn Serenade was shot on the Roaring Fork Motor Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg. Near the end of this trail, the water seems to get better and better. This image was shot with the Singh-Ray LB ColorCombo Polarizer and was one of the few I made from the road. There are times when this filter will deliver color that other filters are simply not capable of producing and this was one of them. What it does to the greens in some scenes is truly impressive. Not only does the filter produce wonderful color, but the filter's polarizing feature improves color saturation and helps slow shutter speeds to get the look of the water movement that makes landscape images rock!"

On the same trip to the Smoky Mountains, Darrell portrayed the dramatic aerial perspective of the mountains from Clingman's Dome at dusk. "Mountain Majesty would not have happened without the use of my Galen Rowell Graduated Neutral Density filters. He chose his 24-105 4.0 L Canon lens fitted with a pair of 2-stop soft-edge ND Grads. By using the live view function on his Canon 5D Mark II, he was able to line up each filter properly. I taped one filter in place then hand held the other while checking the view on the back of the camera. The 4 stops of density really was the trick here. While darkening the sky and opening up the foreground to show detail in the trees nearest the lens these grads really made all the difference.

"The following day, the same camera and a 70-200 2.8L lens were used to isolate the Little River's flowing waters near Tremont. Conditions were excellent for this kind of shooting but I needed to get the right water flow. I chose a Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer and adjusted the filter to tone some of the reflections down. After determining the proper ISO, shutter speed and aperture combination, I zoomed in on this formation. Riverdance would not have danced without the use of my polarizer. It did just what it was supposed to do, slowing the shutter speed just enough while improving color balance and density. The image was later converted to black and white in Photoshop."

Rod Brown, Darrell's partner in the workshops, is equally convinced that filters play an important part in any landscape photographer's success. "At least 95% of my landscape images have a Singh-Ray filter in front of the lens. For example, my filters did a great job during my last trip to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon.

"I photographed this panorama while on a late afternoon scouting mission to find my sunrise shoot the next morning. I knew I needed to be in place well before sunrise to get the best shots of Bryce Canyon just as the sun breaks over the horizon, so such planning is important. While scouting, I noticed really nice evening light was starting to form, so I set up for a panorama shot. As I stood there enjoying the last light of the day, the sky began to turn beautiful shades of pink. I quickly composed the image and dropped my Galen Rowell 2-stop ND filter over the lens to bring back detail into the sky and open up the foreground. Sweet light brought a great ending to the day, for sure.

"The next evening on a similar scouting mission I happened to get lucky again with the light. Once the sun comes up or goes down in Bryce, the light on the hoodoos changes rapidly so I had to be ready. My LB Warming Polarizer did the trick on the hoodoos as the light explosion began, being backlit by the sun. Here I used a 70-200 VR Nikon Lens to isolate the rocks with the warmer light against those in the background.

"My last two days of the trip were spent in one of my favorite places on earth, Zion National Park. To be in such a great place at the peak of Fall is truly a blessing. The light bounces off the canyon walls and serves as a giant fill-light reflector in the afternoon hours. The first day I was scrambling down the trail in Zion Canyon when I was struck by the beauty of the palette of colors before me. It was a feast for my eyes -- the beautiful rock formations and the vibrant color all around. I set up my tripod and attached a Nikon 24-70 2.8 lens with the Singh-Ray LB ColorCombo, which transformed the really good color to really great color. It reminds me of wet paint!

"My last day in Zion was spent making images along the canyon. On this special afternoon I was rewarded with River of Gold. The Virgin River caught all that great color from the surrounding canyon walls, and my Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer helped create another memorable image."

"We're two veteran landscape photographers and teachers from Ohio who use different camera systems and different Adobe processing programs, but once we choose our vantage point and get our cameras and lenses out, we're back on the same page," says Darrell. "It's Singh-Ray all the way!"

Rod and Darrell will be traveling to Zion and Bryce for their Next Level Workshop from October 30 to November 3. Complete information on the workshop and registration can be found at their website.

Record drought in Texas leads landscape photographer Jeff Lynch to Big Bend National Park

2011-08-16T11:19:00.007-04:00

Sugar Land, Texas, is just a short drive southwest of Houston, which would make it a great location for landscape photographer Jeff Lynch -- except for one thing. "Texas is in the middle of the worst drought in over fifty years," says Jeff, "with rainfalls all over the state averaging more than 15 inches below normal. Almost every county in the state is under a 'burn ban' and most have implemented severe water conservation programs for farmers, ranchers and homeowners. Wildfires have scorched millions of acres of ranchland from as far east as Nacogdoches to as far west as El Paso.

"You can imagine what this type of weather does to a landscape and nature photographer like myself. The once lush and green vegetation in my favorite spots all across central Texas has turned to a dull brown and gray color. The lakes and rivers I love to explore and photograph are either completely dry or so low that i can't actually get to the water to shoot it. In all my years photographing central Texas, I've never seen a drought like this.

"Texas, however, is a vast and diverse region and some parts have known this type of weather for millions of years. Deep in the southern-most part of West Texas along the mighty Rio Grande lies one of our nation's least explored and photographed wonders, Big Bend National Park. It's so vast it covers three distinct geological zones, the Chihuahuan desert, the Chisos mountains and the Rio Grande river basin. The park contains literally thousands of miles of hiking trails just waiting to be explored, enjoyed and photographed. Since much of the park is deep desert, this year's unusual drought hasn't really affected the landscape.

Grapevine Hills Balanced Rock

"One of my favorite trails in Big Bend National Park leads to a unique rock formation called Grapevine Hills, shown in the photo above. The drive in to the trailhead takes you deep into the desert just north of the Chisos Mountains but the hike itself is fairly short, although very rocky at the end. Once you reach the summit the view north through the balanced rock formation is stunning.

"Photographing a spot like this is not quite as simple as it seems. The bright sunlight in the deep desert tends to wash out the color and texture from most scenes as your DSLR's exposure meter works hard to 'average' the bright rocks, deep shadows and cobalt blue sky. Using a Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer not only helps cut down the glare but also adds back some saturation and texture in the rocks. For desert photography, it's the one filter I'm never without.

Chisos Basin Storm
"Some photographs take months of planning, hours of preparation and minutes of execution. Others happen at the drop of a hat and it’s only through luck that the image was captured at all. Most, however, fall somewhere in between these two extremes and the luckiest photographers seem to be those that prepare the most. Take this image for example. I'd been following a line of small storm clouds running along the US/Mexico border for several hours hoping to catch a developing thunderstorm or at least some rainfall. These clouds had led me on a merry little chase along the River Road (FM 170) when they turned sharply east and headed toward the Basin in Big Bend National Park.

"I drove through the park hoping to get ahead of the storm as it built up along the Chisos Mountains but it outpaced my best effort. Knowing that I couldn’t catch the storm, I drove along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and decided to head for some higher ground I scouted the day before. I quickly setup my camera and tripod on a small rise facing the mountains and followed the storm as it swept across the Chisos basin and headed southeast towards Mexico. If I hadn’t scouted this area the day before as a potential location we would never have had the time to get these shots before the storm moved off. Our few hours of preparation and planning paid off in spades!

Santa Elena Canyon
"Here’s an image taken in bright sunlight (to illuminate the canyon) using a Singh-Ray 2-stop, soft-step Graduated Neutral Density filter with no major adjustments in post-capture processing. More proof that with the right in-camera techniques, you don’t need to rely upon HDR techniques or exposure blending to obtain an acceptable image.

"I was able to balance the exposure in this high-contrast scene by metering for the shadows and then hand-holding my graduated ND filter 'sideways' to hold back the sunlit side of the canyon and prevent it from being completely blown out. This technique of 'fooling your camera’s meter' is old school but works very well in high-contrast landscape situations like this. I use these filters at various angles to help balance extremes between bright and dark areas of a scene.

Sotol Vista at Sunset
"My readers know I’m an old-fashioned kind of guy when it comes to getting the correct exposure 'in-camera' as opposed to 'in post.' For me, post-capture processing in Lightroom 3 or Photoshop CS5 is simply a matter of tweaking the RAW image to help recreate what I remembered seeing when I took the shot. A graduated ND filter is used to balance the exposure between the background and foreground of an image. As such, it is an essential tool that every landscape photographer should learn to use early in their career (or hobby). Yes, I know I could accomplish the same thing using a photo-blending technique like HDR but it’s much easier to do this in camera while I am out in the field.

"The way a graduated ND filter works is very simple. It reduces the amount of light transmitted through a portion of the filter to your camera’s sensor so that the foreground exposure more closely matches the background exposure. They are not always perfectly matched mind you, just more closely. By positioning the graduated ND filter in front of the lens I can vary the amount of exposure balancing the filter does in each scene. I can position the filter by hand or by using a filter holder as shown in the image below.

"This is my typical setup for a landscape shot with my 5D Mark II on a lightweight but sturdy tripod (Gitzo Traveller using an RRS ball-head) and a Singh-Ray graduated ND filter held in place by a Z-Pro holder, mounted on a wide angle tilt-shift lens. The filter is generally a 2, 3 or 4-stop soft-step ND Grad made by Singh-Ray -- a company that, for my money, designs and builds the best quality photographic filters in the world."

Jeff leads groups of serious amateurs each spring and fall during the Texas Landscape Safari workshop. His blog, Serious Amateur Photography conveys his passion for Texas landscape and nature photography around the globe. He is the author of two books of Texas photographs, and his next book, Big Bend Landscape Adventures is due out this fall. You can also follow Jeff on Twitter and browse his portfolio on Flickr.

Richard Murphy is willing to wait for hours or days until the right light finally comes his way

2011-08-12T11:07:00.005-04:00

This photo was taken last year by landscape photographer Richard Murphy on the Slea Head drive near Dingle in his native Ireland. "The lighting that particular morning was very delineated due to a bank of clouds just above the horizon. It didn't last very long and I used a Reverse ND Grad which I angled in line with the lighting. To me, photography is about the dynamism that exists between light and shade. It's the reason I became interested in photography and is the driving force behind my personal style.

"The subtle differences between dark and light tones in my photographs can be barely discernible at times, but without those differences, I feel my images would lack the vibrancy I'm striving for. As a result, I will happily sit for hours or days waiting for the right moment and I will visit a location many times to capture it adequately. The images displayed on my website were taken over a number of years and represent an ongoing and continued development of my style.

"I’m often asked if I use HDR techniques for much of my work. The short answer is very rarely. I’ve tried it and found it to be time consuming and often -- with landscape images that have moving water or wind-blown trees -- I'm left with a lot of artifacts in the final image that don't look entirely natural. I have processed one or two images where it worked but these images still don't look quite right to me. My best work has always been produced with my Singh-Ray ND Grad filters. I find them indispensable for getting the lighting just right. Examples from recent trips to Utah and Cape Town are posted here along with some thoughts about how they were created.

"This image was captured from the Zion Canyon Overlook. The sun started to illuminate the cliffs and rather than risk blowing out the rich golden hue or blocking up the deep shadows in the canyon, I used a Singh-Ray custom-made 5-stop ND Grad that I use extensively. A slight adjustment using the shadows and highlights tool in Photoshop quickly led to an evenly balanced image. The shadows are still there but are not lacking detail and the highlights have been maintained.

"This next image of Zion Canyon was taken in late afternoon at observation point. I really wanted to emphasize the contrast between the white canyon rock and the clouds, so I once again used my 5-stop ND grad to darken the sky as much as possible. Minimal adjustments were made to this image using Photoshop. It’s as straight out of the camera as possible.

"For this final image of the Three Patriarchs in Zion Canyon, I wanted to hold the detail in the cliffs and sky so I used a Singh-Ray 3-stop Reverse ND Grad. This image is not quite perfect to my eye; I think the bottom is slightly overexposed. (This may just be an excuse to go back and try again.) All in all, I think ND grads really do beat using HDR techniques for landscape photography. They're simple to use and, more importantly, they save me time in post processing.

"Since these three examples from Utah don't show how ND filters can also be used to great effect when dealing with waterfalls, rivers and seascapes, I've posted two more images to illustrate how I've used both solid neutral density and graduated ND filters, along with some notes on capturing these shots.

"I'm a sucker for a good waterfall, and I like the flowing effect that a long exposure gives to moving water in any outdoor scene. During summer, however, the water level is often too low to give that effect even when using a small aperture. In such cases, I may either use my polarizer set at maximum effect to increase the exposure by about 2 stops or use my neutral density filter. Rather than carry 4 or 5 individual ND filters, I prefer to use a Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter which allows me to add up to 8 stops of density. I captured this 1-second exposure of Anglin Falls near Berea, Kentucky, with my 28-70mm Nikon lens at f13 and Vari-ND filter.

"My seascapes also benefit from the use of ND filters and I've posted two examples of different effects created by using an ND grad and a Vari-ND filter. Both were taken at Milnerton Beach on Table Bay in Cape Town, South Africa, which is one of my favourite locations for beach photography!

"For this first image, I used my Vari-ND to slow the shutter speed to 1/2-second which created a silky effect on the water. I wanted to make sure the sea wasn't rendered flat and ghostly looking. The light was pretty even throughout the scene so I didn't need a graduated filter.

"This next photo was taken about 30 minutes later from the same spot with the same lens. The basic difference this time is that the light distribution had changed significantly. I switched from the Vari-ND filter to the 5-stop ND Grad to balance the light from the sky. I focused on a rock in the foreground and made a number of exposures at 1-1/2 seconds to get the flow and ebb of the tide right. This image is the best of that set.

"I would like to add that I find the use of the 'live view' feature in my Nikon D-300 is especially helpful when aligning ND-Grad filters precisely the way I want in much less time. Speed can be of the essence when dealing with rapidly changing light!"

You can see more galleries of Richard's landscapes on his website. He will soon be adding a wildlife gallery that will concentrate on images from Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. You can also keep up with him on his blog, or via Facebook and Twitter.

Jason Odell explains why the Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo is his favorite "specialty" filter

2011-08-09T11:33:00.009-04:00

Ever since he received his first camera at the age of 10, Jason Odell has maintained a passion for photography -- all through high school and his studies for a doctorate degree in Biology from the University of California, Riverside.

"My doctoral advisor was also an avid nature photographer, so our trips to the field always involved packing and using lots of camera gear. These days, I rely on natural light for most of my outdoor photography because today’s digital SLR cameras produce such incredibly clean images at ISOs that were unimaginable to film shooters. However, while fast shutter speeds are great for wildlife and many other outdoor subjects, there are times when I want to go slow. Using very long shutter speeds helps me create those soft, flowing water effects that often grace the photographs in wall calendars and posters. But there are many scenes where the light is simply too bright to allow a multi-second exposure that's necessary to achieve that effect. That's why I pack my Vari-ND and Vari-N-Duo anytime I go out where moving water may be a subject. These two variable density filters allow me to achieve softly flowing water effects in just about any scene that includes a waterfall, river or stream.

"The Vari-ND and Vari-N-Duo filters both work similarly. They have a rotating control ring that allows me to adjust the density of the filter. The “Duo” also includes a polarizer that is incredibly useful when working on a stream where glare on the water, wet rocks and foliage can reduce color saturation.

"The Vari-ND and Vari-N-Duo filters offer photographers some significant advantage over traditional solid ND filters. With these variable filters, I don’t need to remove the filter to compose and focus each shot. If I'm working in or near the water, there's less risk of dropping the filter into the water while I'm focusing my lens. Second, combining camera ISO settings and lens openings with the variable density function lets me choose whatever shutter speed I need. Even on a very bright day, I am able to choose shutter speeds from less than 1 second all the way up to 30 seconds or longer when I’m using my Vari-ND filters. The resulting appearance of the moving water will be quite different depending on how slow my exposure is.

"When I'm using these Singh-Ray filters, I try to follow these good practices:

I manually set the camera to its lowest ISO setting to achieve the slowest shutter speeds possible.
I use the camera's manual exposure and manual focus settings because the high density can trick the meter or autofocus.
I set my exposure first, and then adjust the filter to match it using the camera’s meter.
If I'm using the Vari-N-Duo, I set the polarization before dialing in the ND effect.
I compose and focus with the filter set to its minimum setting, then I adjust the ND effect as needed to achieve the desired exposure time.

These points are demonstrated in this brief video tutorial that I put together.

"The following image sequence illustrates how the appearance of moving water changes as I changed the shutter speed.

Image #1: 1/3 second

Image #2: 1.0 second

Image #3: 13 seconds

"Notice how even a one-second exposure still shows a fair degree of structure in the moving water. At 13 seconds, the water is rendered almost as a vaporous state and it is no longer the dominant subject in the frame. Keep this in mind when you’re going really slow; it helps to have some kind of rocks, foliage, or other non-moving subject matter to anchor the scene in the frame. Just follow the simple steps outlined in the video and see how simple it is to make dramatic images like these yourself using your Singh-Ray Vari-ND or Vari-N-Duo."

In 2004, Jason established Luminescence of Nature Photography, dedicated to outdoor photography and photographic education. In addition to writing, he conducts field photography workshops and software training classes for photographers around the world and is the co-host of the biweekly photography podcast, The Image Doctors, which has aired on iTunes since 2005. He is also the author of several eBooks on digital photography which are available through his site, Luminescence of Nature.

Although He Knows 'the Rule,' Juan Chamorro Prefers to Shoot Reflections with Centered Horizons

2011-08-05T11:14:00.022-04:00

Although he has had some photos published, Juan Chamorro's photography is mostly a hobby to be enjoyed while he's on his frequent nature walks. Most of his images are made near his home in Galicia, in the northwestern corner of Spain. "Galicia is a magical land of contrasts," says Juan, "which always makes for beautiful scenery and interesting photography.

"When I began studying photography, one of the first rules I learned about composing landscape images was to not focus on the horizon and not place it in the center of the image. However, I have found many times when I think a centered horizon works well for me and enables me to fill my foreground with a beautiful reflection of the sky -- either in a quiet pond or lake or on the wave-soaked shore of a beach. The photo above was taken in Playa America with my girlfriend looking into the sunset to balance the composition. To balance the strong sunlight on the horizon with the foreground, I used my Singh-Ray 3-stop Reverse ND Grad. An LB Warming Polarizer helped me control the glare from the wet sand. Until shortly before I captured this image, the evening light didn't look at all promising.

"This sunrise image is one of several I've taken at a nearby reservoir I pass almost every morning. On this special morning, the reflection of the sky in the water revealed every color that was in the heavens. Here again I used my 3-stop Reverse ND Grad placed with the darkest part of the gradient on the brightest area in the water and the trees.

"The estuary of Foz on the north coast of Galicia is a residential area and wildlife habitat where many migratory birds flock despite being surrounded by pretty houses. At low tide, most of what we see here is earth and mud where the birds feed. Luckily the seas gives us these beautiful reflections. For this image I used my Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue Polarizer to capture the wonderful golden highlights this filter is known for. In all three of these photos, I used a Nikon D80 with the same Sigma 10-20mm lens."

You can view many more of Juan's images on his Photo.net gallery page and keep up with his projects by visiting his Spanish-language blog or Google translated into English here. OR visit his Facebook page, also in Spanish.

Whenever Greg Miller gets the chance to go near the water, he always takes his Singh-Ray Polarizer

2011-08-02T11:21:00.001-04:00

Based in the Hudson Valley of New York, Greg Miller photographs a wide range of outdoor scenes in the Hudson River Valley and far beyond. "One of my favorite subjects is water," says Greg, "in any and every form. It moves, it shimmers, it reflects light, and it refracts (bends) light. And water comes in so many convenient and photogenic forms –- such as ice, mist, fog, mirror-smooth ponds, large lakes, and rushing cascades. The filter that I consider to be the most essential tool for photographing water is the Singh-Ray Polarizer. Any time I photograph water, I find the polarizer is able to expand my vision and create exciting possibilities. I've included images with this story to illustrate some of those added possibilities whenever I'm photographing rainbows and reflections.

Rainbows
"Rainbows can occur anytime there's the combination of water droplets suspended in the air and direct light from the sun (or occasionally the moon) shining on those droplets. Look for rainbows to occur when you're facing in the opposite direction to the the sun when it's low in the sky. When these conditions exist, lots of light is also being reflected and refracted, causing scattered and sometimes hazy light. A polarizing filter is the ideal way to eliminate this scattered light and let the colors of the rainbow become fully saturated. That's when the rainbow will really pop in the image. When I am looking at a rainbow through the polarizer, I rotate it and watch the rainbow’s colors alternately become enhanced or almost disappear. I can rotate the polarizing ring to dial in just the right amount -- remember, however, that since most cameras see the world with more color contrast than our eyes can. So some experience may be required to get just the right amount of polarization. By the way, this is the rare exception to basic rule that polarizers have their greatest effect when pointing at a 90-degree angle to the sun.

"The image at the top of this story was captured in the Hudson Valley of New York. It shows a typically arched rainbow, but this one happens to be a double rainbow with the colors of the 2nd rainbow reversed from the dominant rainbow. Using my Singh-Ray Polarizing filter allowed the fainter 2nd rainbow to be visible in the image, and also allowed the dominant rainbow to pop against the darker sky behind it.

"These next two photos were taken when only a portion of the rainbow's full arch is visible. This image, which is also from the Hudson Valley, shows the left portion of the rainbow's arch. My Singh-Ray Polarizer filter really helped pop the colors of the rainbow while also emphasizing the diagonal bands of light that are perpendicular to the rainbow and highlighting the lighter steaks of rain falling from the clouds.

"This photo was made when I was Artist-in-Residence at Acadia National Park last year. It was nearing sunset and I was despairing over the absence of any clouds for a dramatic sunset photo. This one rogue storm cloud saved the day by blowing in unexpectedly and producing this small partial rainbow out over Frenchman Bay. The rainbow only covers a small portion of the image, but the dramatic colors draw the eye and provide balance against the much larger cloud looming on the right.

Reflections
Reflections are an important topic because sometimes they can greatly enhance a scene, and at other times they detract. In both cases, a polarizing filter is the perfect tool to dial in just the right amount of reflection.

"This photo was taken on a bright but overcast day in Harriman State Park -– only a 1-hour drive from New York City. This was perfect lighting for a white water scene, but these conditions also created unsightly white reflections of the gray sky on wet rocks and leaves that greatly reduced the color saturation. I used my Singh-Ray Polarizing filter to eliminate most of these reflections, leaving only enough to keep the feel of the rushing water.

"On an evening where a light fog hung over these wetlands in the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area in New York, I was especially attracted by the gorgeous painterly clouds hanging in the sky overhead. I wanted to keep some reflection in the open water, but using too much polarization would have eliminated the subtle fog layer. Judicial control of the polarizing effect allowed me to capture just the right amount of fog, reflection, and cloud detail.

"This image is also from the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area. It demonstrates how dialing the full effect of the polarizer emphasizes details in the clouds and achieves maximum reflection in the water. Capturing a razor sharp mirror reflection is always rewarding, but windy days can be fun too.

"Here's one more reflection image from the Adirondacks that illustrates how a very long exposure can make for a compelling photo by letting let the movement of the clouds streak and the waves blur. A polarizing filter was used to darken the storm clouds and keep the colors rich and vibrant.

"So next time you are out shooting around water -- or on all those days when rain is in the forecast -- be sure to keep your Singh-Ray polarizing filter close at hand. The odds are good that you'll find exciting opportunities to turn a good photo into an excellent one."

Greg's commercial assignments include projects ranging from the Catskills to Chilean Patagonia. His first photo book, The Hudson River, A Great Amercian Treasure (Rizzoli, 2008) was included in The Bloomsbury Review’s Favorite Books of 2008. He leads photography workshops and tours for organizations such as the Center for Photography at Woodstock, the Adirondack Photography Institute, and the New Britain Museum of American Art. More examples of Greg's panoramic views and other gallery images are presented on his website, or keep up to date with his Facebook page.

Jim Patterson took his new Gold-N-Blue Polarizer for a trial run to Lake Tahoe and returned fully convinced

2011-07-29T11:40:00.002-04:00

Living in Santa Cruz, California, on the edge of Monteray Bay first led Jim Patterson into his love for SCUBA diving and then into underwater photography. "I wanted to share my experiences diving the amazing kelp forests of California by creating compelling images. After several years shooting the underwater world, I began photographing the coastal seascapes near my home. This love of shooting landscapes has now expanded into areas further inland as I begin to explore the state and national parks of California.

"Last Thanksgiving I decided to spend the long weekend exploring around Lake Tahoe, the largest freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. About two weeks before my trip, I had decided to add the Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue Polarizer to my arsenal of photographic tools. I chose the thin-mount in order to use the entire focal range of my wide-angle Nikon 12-24mm lens on my Nikon D300. I knew the Lake Tahoe venture would be a good opportunity to try this unique filter.

"My childhood winters were often spent on the snowy slopes of Lake Tahoe, but this was my first trip as a photographer. Bonsai Rock, located along Nevada’s northeastern shore, provided my first opportunity to use the Gold-N-Blue. As I worked the scene in front of me, my initial impression was how dramatically this filter altered the blue and gold colors in the viewfinder. A simple turn of the polarizing ring gave the scene an entirely different look and feel. I must admit I almost got too caught up in the moment as the sunset light intensified. My Gold-N-Blue was dialed such that the lake reflected a strong gold cast. Then the little light bulb flickered in my brain, and I thought, 'Hey, wait a minute. Maybe the lake would look better blue!' As we see in the final version (at the top of this story), the lake was still illuminated enough in the fading light that my fifteen-second exposure captured nice reflections.

"Having previously read Bob Krist’s article about the Gold-N-Blue on the Singh-Ray blog, I was well prepared to immediately adjust the white balance of my RAW images made with the Gold-N-Blue during post processing. The standard white balance settings for the digital sensors on most cameras can't quite get the colors right with this filter, so I used a custom white balance setting during raw conversion to help get back to the original colors seen through the viewfinder. For my Bonsai Rock image, I ultimately double processed the RAW file -- once for a corrected blue lake color and again for the sky -- leaving in some of the magenta to enhance the sunset colors.

"The next day a storm rolled across the lake which presented prime conditions for landscape photography and my continued introduction to the Gold-N-Blue. Sand Harbor, a popular recreational area for boaters, kayakers, divers, and photographers, is located just up the road from Bonsai Rock and I was immediately drawn to its golden sands. I quickly realized the Gold-N-Blue offered more impact if the scene already contained some blues, yellows, or greens. As a result, I started seeking out compositions that included these colors. The lake was choppy and although I tried some faster shutter speeds, this seventy second exposure helped simplify the chaotic water which allowed the sandy details and color to take center stage.

"Sunrise the next morning was a winter wonderland with freshly fallen snow blanketing the landscape. Luckily, the highway remained open all the way to Emerald Bay which is located on Lake Tahoe’s southwestern shore. I purposely started the morning with the Gold-N-Blue still in the bag. I felt I was overusing it, practically addicted to its gold and blue powers. In order to break the addiction, I decided to go ‘cold turkey.' That lasted all of twenty minutes. The overcast sky and fresh snow created a near monochrome palette, and I was soon reaching into my bag to see what I could do with my new filter.

"As I now think about my new filter, ‘surprised’ and ‘impressed’ are the two words that come to mind. First, the Gold-N-Blue has the ability to pull blues from the lake and sky without affecting the natural look anything else in the scene. And no matter which way I dialed, I couldn’t make the lake turn golden like I previously did at Bonsai Rock. This filter truly was accentuating light in a specific spectrum, not just an arbitrary blue or gold across the entire scene. This final panoramic image of Emerald Bay is a stitch of seven vertical frames exposed at the 24mm focal length on my D300 using ISO 100, f16, and 1.6 second exposures.

"By the final evening, the storm cleared completely and a return visit to Sand Harbor concluded my trip. The air was cool and crisp, and the lake was very calm. I chose this rock garden composition and patiently waited for the sun to start dropping behind the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the west. In order to capture the sun burst, I stopped my aperture down to f22 which required a 1.3 second exposure at ISO 100. Once more, the Gold-N-Blue worked its magic, adding a pleasing golden hue to the sky while alternatively picking up the blues in the lake. Much like a normal polarizer, this filter has the ability to dial in as much or as little effect as I wanted.

"After four straight days of consistent use, I was quite impressed with my Gold-N-Blue. Not only could it accentuate the natural colors in scenes such as Bonsai Rock and my first outing to Sand Harbor, but I was equally impressed by how it could turn an otherwise flat scene into something more pleasing as it did at Emerald Bay. This ability will help me increase the number of 'keepers' I'm able to shoot in less-than-perfect light. And that is exactly what I was aiming for."

You can view more of Jim's work by visiting his website, his Facebook, or his Tumblr feed. He is also a co-founder of Sea-to-Summit Photography Workshops, which offers both private instruction and group workshops along the coast of California and beyond.

Joel Addams makes excellent use of his ND Grads to balance the bright light in Antelope Canyon

2011-07-26T11:05:00.000-04:00

When professional outdoor and travel photographer Joel Addams conducted his recent Travel Light Classics workshops in Antelope Canyon, he was really surprised. "The workshop I was teaching was geared toward black and white photography and I had chosen Antelope Canyon -- on Navajo land near Page, Arizona -- as an ideal location because the light entering the slot canyons created a very wide range of exposure tones -- as much as 8 to 10 f/stops of dynamic range -- that would be perfect for black and white photography.

"When we arrived, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. When I was there several years ago, we didn’t have any direct sunbeams to work with. This time, however, Upper Antelope was on fire. It was unreal and the participants were loving the bright beams of light that quickly shifted around the rooms in the canyon.

"The night before, I had been explaining the various uses of Graduated Neutral Density filters, but I wasn’t sure if we would actually need them in the slot canyons. I thought maybe the sky wouldn’t even be an issue because the steep canyon walls were so high. I was wrong. Soon after I handed out my Singh-Ray ND Grads to participants who felt they might need them to hold back areas of light, I was begging to get several of them back. I realized I would need them at the spots where the sunbeams entered the top of the canyon.

Preparation is Always Important
"As a working professional, I learned long ago to always bring along all my essential gear, and I've also learned that my Singh-Ray filters are certainly essential. When teaching workshops, it is even more important to be fully prepared to share all six of my Singh-Ray ND Grads with students so they can learn how they work. Many students don’t know they can stack several ND Grads together to build up enough density to handle particularly challenging and overpowering light. When I noticed that my 2-stop soft-step filter was not being used by a student, I quickly retrieved it and stacked it with a 3-stop ND Grad to hold back some of the brightest light coming through a portal in the middle of Upper Antelope Canyon. When I looked at this resulting image (above), I felt the combination of the two filters was just right -- it conveys the impression of the blasting ray of light without losing any of the detail in the shadows.

Using Filters to Work Around Problems
"The image at the top of this story is an example of successfully working around several problems at the same time. So many people were roaming through the canyon that it was difficult to get a clean ground-level view of the light beams without having an unknowing tourist wander through the shot. Our guide was excellent. He not only threw sand into the air to accentuate the light beam for us, but then he blocked the crowds so that we could shoot without people interfering. Since our guide could only stop the flood of people for a minute or so, I had to make a quick decision.

I had a 24mm tilt-shift lens on my camera which did not provide a sufficiently wide-angle view to get the entire light beam in the frame. I decided to take a series of four overlapping images as I shifted the lens upward, starting at ground level and moving to the top of the scene. I manually focused at f/13 on a nearby rock and used the same exposure for all three images. Then when shooting the fourth exposure at the top of the series of images (which overlapped for later merging in post processing), I used the same stacked pair of ND Grad filters -- the 2-stop and 3-stop -- to hold back the extremely bright sunbeam. I then merged the four images vertically in Photoshop to achieve an awesome 16 x 20-inch image file at 300 dpi which is tack sharp. Each exposure was f/13 at 4 seconds.

Capturing a Vertical Light Beam
"Another image became a challenge when I realized I couldn’t use an ND Grad because the brightest light was mainly centered in the image. I did the next best thing, by bracketing the exposure until I found one I liked. Then I underexposed the scene by about 2 stops until the rock taking the most light was properly exposed. I don’t use HDR. I feel that I can work around problems like this in a better way. I simply made the underexposed image my background layer and used a mask layer on the top and then painted out the very tip of the rock. The result is much more pleasing, and actually very simple. When it comes to tonal range, I still love my blacks. They give important definition to an image. Contrast is still a prominent part of my photography. In this case, I just had one tiny area that my sensor could not handle.

A Good Subject for Black & White
The evening before we visited Antelope Canyon, I was sharing with the students ideas from Ansel Adams’ book, The Negative, and suggested they review the first chapter which deals with pre-visualizing a scene and trying to determine what it will look like in black and white. My black and white images from the same workshop will be the subject of a subsequent article on Antelope Canyon. I was, however, so mesmerized by the colors we encountered during this visit, that I wanted to encourage all photographers going into the Canyon during the summer (the best time for beams) to use their ND Grads for properly balanced images."

Joel will be teaching again in September in Grand Teton National Park. His series, Travel Light Classics and the Dirtbag Series will continue over the next year. Joel conducts various types of workshops for his TravelLight Series. For more information, go to Joel's website. Also stop by his Facebook fan page, blog and YouTube Channel.

As life keeps getting busier, Chris Moore is learning to make full use of the time he has for photography

2011-07-22T11:21:00.003-04:00

Whether he's photographing close to his home in Florida or many miles away, Chris Moore always knows what the weather reports are predicting and what time the sun will rise and set. "With the birth of our second child in January, life at home has become increasingly busy. More and more I have to make the best use of my time that's available for photography.

"Near home, winter seems to be the best time to chase a good sunrise along the Atlantic Coast, as the abrupt changes in temperature and occasional rainstorms overnight will often bring some nice, soft light in the mornings -- in stark contrast to the harsh light and heat we have for most of the summer. During January and February, I check the weather reports frequently, and when conditions seem ideal, I drive out to one of my favorite spots along the mid-Atlantic coast. That's where I captured these first two images on different days of the same week during a higher and lower tide. This stretch of the coastline just south of St. Augustine is studded with coquina, a form of limestone that gives a nice foreground and reflects the light very well.

"For the first image, I exposed at a relatively fast shutter speed to freeze the water motion. I used my LB Warming Polarizer to bring out some of the warmth from the rising sun, but dialed the polarizing effect down just enough as to not lose the reflections of the light which I felt was a necessary component of this image. In addition, I handheld my Singh-Ray 3-stop soft-step ND Grad filter to keep the highlights of the sky under control. In contrast, this second image was shot just about 50 feet down the beach, but for this image I used the Vari-ND to make a 15-second exposure. With the longer exposure, the cloud motion and misty water gives this shot the mood I was looking for.

"Yearning for more exposure to the Southwest after my trip there last fall, I returned to Southern Utah and Northern Arizona for a week of shooting in late March with Marc Adamus and Vlad Sadovsky. During that week, I logged over 2,000 driving miles and more gigabytes of photos than I care to count. Two of my primary interests for the trip were the slot canyon system around Page, AZ, and White Pocket, an extremely remote location in the Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness.

"Seeing White Pocket for the first time is a magical moment, as anyone who has been there can attest. The trip is so arduous, the casual site seekers usually don't bother. It is truly reminiscent of another planet... 'otherworldly' would be an understatement.

"These two images were taken on two consecutive days, the first in the late afternoon just before sunset, and the second at sunrise the following morning. While the skies were certainly not epic, it is hard to go wrong compositionally here. Both these images were captured with the LB Warming Polarizer to help define the sky and emphasize the warm glow of the sun. In the first image, using a polarizing filter also helped bring out the reflection of the peak in the pool of water from a recent rain.

"Page, Arizona, is well known for Antelope Canyon. While the photography in Antelope is popular, I found the crowds there to be almost overwhelming. Save the fact that almost 100 people are taken through each day, and many leave with the exact same compositions. But just outside Page is a huge network of lesser known slot canyons, many of which are near impossible to find without someone who knows the area. I was shown a couple of such canyons in 2010.

"This particular composition caught my eye when I explored it for the first time, but the azimuth of the sun was in such a position that the reflected light really didn't lend well to a good image. Fortunately, when my travels took me back here, I went straight to this spot. I ended up having a lot less time with the good light than I anticipated, but was able to capture the image I envisioned.

"As more people have learned about this spot, I have seen a similar composition from others both before and after me, but nonetheless it is one of my favorite images from my recent southwest travels. To create this photo I used a 70-200mm lens to give some compression to the sandstone pillars. I took 4 shots at slightly different focal points at f/11 and manually blended the focus stack in post-production. I used my Warming Polarizer to emphasize the warm hues of reflected light which was essential to the photograph.

"Finally, just a couple hours away, at 9,800 foot elevation, Boulder Mountain, in Utah's Dixie National Forest, was laden with snow and aspens, a totally different landscape from the nearby desert. I was experimenting with a new technique to create abstract images, and this location was perfect. To create this abstract, I used a 70-200mm telephoto at .8 seconds, handheld, with slight camera motion during the exposure. Because the snow reflects a very bright light, I needed my Vari-ND filter to decrease my exposure by around 3 stops in order to expose properly at this shutter speed."

Chris has plans to spend a few days on the west coast later this month, and then travel through the Cascade Mountains and Pacific Northwest in September. You can find more details on his website, and keep up with his photography projects on his blog.