Pump Up Your Landscape Photography Using Singh-Ray’s Vari-ND Filter

I love flowing water. Images of flowing water speak to me more than any other landscape photograph except perhaps for sunsets. There is something both dynamic and serene about water flowing gently down a stream or the surf crashing against the rocks. Water just speaks to me.

To get that smooth flowing look when photographing running water, I’ve found that a shutter speed of about 1 second is usually required.

Singh-Ray’s Vari-ND (or Vari-ND-Duo) neutral density filter allows me to control the amount of light which passes through my lens from 2 to 8 stops of exposure.

With the filter mounted on my lens and set to its lowest setting (minimum density) I can frame my subject (the rocks and flowing water) and use my camera’s auto focus system without any trouble. When I’m ready to shoot, all I need to do is turn the outer ring to increase the density until my long shutter speed provides the effect I’m looking for in the running water. I could achieve the same effect using a conventional neutral density filter but it’s a much more time consuming process.

Guadalupe Falls – Hunt, Texas
Copyright © 2012 Jeff Lynch Photography

Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III with GP-E2 unit attached, set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens and tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 47mm, f/16 for 2.4 seconds of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray Vari-ND-Duo filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 4.

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Private Falls

Much of the river front property in the Texas Hill Country is privately owned, creating a difficult situation for photographers looking to photograph our state’s beautiful rivers. Fortunately, there are hundreds of state and country roads criss-crossing the Guadalupe, Sabinal, Pedernales, Frio, Medina and Nueces rivers. These low-water crossings offers dozens of great photographic locations to choose from, just like this spot on the Guadalupe river near Hunt, Texas.

Private Falls – Hunt, Texas
Copyright © 2012 Jeff Lynch Photography

Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III with GP-E2 unit attached, set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens and tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 60mm, f/14 for 1/20th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 4.

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Grand Cypress in Autumn

Grand Cypress in Autumn – Hunt, Texas
Copyright © 2012 Jeff Lynch Photography

Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III with GP-E2 unit attached, set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens and tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 24mm, f/18 for 3.2 seconds at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 4.

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