What details and skills do you need to pay attention to when shooting scenery at the slow gate?

Generally, people call the shutter less than 1/30 second slow shutter. When the shutter speed is slow enough, the camera can smooth the fluctuation of the sea water and even catch the changing stars that we seldom care about. So what details and skills do you need to pay attention to when shooting the slow door?

Composition and preliminary preparation

There is no need to elaborate on the composition of the picture. Photographers have their own opinions on the angle from which to shoot a scene. Whether the tripod is properly placed, and the installation of shutter line and gradient filter are all the preparations for the smooth shooting of slow shutter. At sunrise and sunset, the light change is very obvious. In slow-door photography, when 10-gear and 6-gear dimmers (ND1000 ND64) are used, the exposure usually lasts for about two minutes. A slight error in the middle may lead to the failure of the whole shooting.

Installation and arrangement sequence of filters during shooting:

If the square filter system is used, pay attention to the installation sequence of gradient lens and dimmer lens. When the dimmer is in front, the side gap will cause light leakage. When installing the gradient mirror to balance the light ratio, the position of the dimmer should be reserved.

Focus and focus lock

High-grade dimmers, such as ND64 and ND1000, because the lens transmittance is very low, the automatic focusing of the camera will be affected, so focus first, and then install the ND filter. To finish focusing in AF mode, you need to switch the focusing mode to MF manual focusing mode. As long as you do not turn the focusing ring on the lens, the focus will not change.

Calculate the shooting time of slow door

Before shooting at the slow door, you need to take a picture with correct exposure and rich details of light and dark. Use this photo parameter to calculate the correct exposure time after using the dimmer.

Light leakage, duration, thermal noise

Light leakage is the only disadvantage of the square filter system. Although the lens will be attached with light-blocking cotton, don’t forget to close the viewfinder when shooting.

Slow door shooting, B door is often used. The longer the exposure time, the more noise the camera produces. So how long is the appropriate time for slow door shooting?

In slow-gate photography, the difference between exposure of 2 minutes and exposure of 10 minutes is not significant, so I usually control the exposure time to about 2 minutes. When the light is weak, use a low-gear dimmer, or properly increase the sensitivity to control the shooting time of the slow door. About ISO1000 is not a problem for the current post-noise reduction technology.

This is a photograph that I took for a long time in the slow door. With an exposure of more than 7 minutes, the camera will not only produce a lot of gray noise, but also the color noise will grow exponentially. In this case, it is better to use a slightly higher sensitivity to shoot, and the noise control should be better.

Stack or filter?

In the same position, take multiple photos, and then use the average stack to simulate the effect of slow gate. Is it stack or filter? We don’t have to gamble long and short. I think we can only deal with the complex shooting environment by mastering various methods.

Example 1 of stack shooting:

In the Green Stone Valley of Benxi, the Tindal beam in the mountains and forests is very beautiful. After using the dimmer lens, the water surface achieved the desired atomization effect, but the beam has lost a lot.

Then I choose 100 consecutive shots, and use the effect after the post-average stack synthesis. The stack method not only retains the atomization effect of the water surface, but also does not lose the charming beam in the mountains and forests.

Example 2 of stack shooting:

After the rain, the clouds in the sky are very beautiful. When the clouds move faster, the light and shadow between the buildings on the ground will be lost when the low-light mirror is used to shoot the slow door, resulting in the lack of stereoscopic sense of the picture.

The fixed position is fixed, and the continuous shooting mode is selected, and 30 images are processed by the average stack. While retaining the light and shadow on the ground, the clouds in the sky also form a dynamic effect. During stack shooting, there should be no interval between each photo, otherwise the effect of slow door will become the effect of oil painting brush. (Change the camera shutter release mode to continuous shooting.)