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The long exposure as a creative tool

In Equipment & Technique, Landscapes, ND Filters, Scenes & Scenarios by Jason Odell

As a professional photographer, I’m always exploring creative techniques and how they can be used to create impact in my images. One of my favorite techniques is to use a long exposure to deliberately convey motion by creating a distinct contrast between moving and static elements in a scene. As exposure time lengthens, moving objects are transformed from sharp, static subjects into soft, blurred ones. If you can identify the movement patterns and direction of dynamic elements in your scene, …

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Visiting NYC with Singh-Ray Mor-Slo ND filters to shoot very long exposures

In Equipment & Technique, Landscapes, ND Filters, Scenes & Scenarios by Jason Odell

Living in Colorado, I don’t always have opportunities to do urban photography, so when I get a chance to go back east, I always bring along my creative filters. When I was in New York City for the Photo Plus Expo, I brought my two newest filters, the Singh-Ray 5-stop and 10-stop Mor-Slo filters. The image above is a good example of how these filters let me capture very long exposures even in broad daylight. Singh-Ray Mor-Slo filters are a …

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Jason Odell says making the choice between his Singh-Ray Vari-ND and Vari-N-Duo “depends”…

In Equipment & Technique, Landscapes, ND Filters, Polarizing Filters, Scenes & Scenarios by Jason Odell

I recently returned from leading a four-day photography workshop in Rocky Mountain National Park. One of my favorite spots to photograph is Hallett Peak at sunrise, with an alpine lake in the foreground. If you’re really lucky, you’ll get calm conditions and amazing scenery reflected in the lake. However, the slightest wind can create havoc with reflections, and the day we made the trip we had 10-15 MPH gusts with no relief in sight. What do I do in a …

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Reviewing the basics of Graduated Neutral Density Filters in the Digital Age

In Equipment & Technique, Landscapes, ND Filters, Polarizing Filters, Scenes & Scenarios by Jason Odell

Nowadays, 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 …