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Shooting summer wildflowers

In Equipment & Technique, Landscapes, Polarizing Filters, Scenes & Scenarios by Kevin McNeal

Kevin McNeal is a master at shooting wildflowers, as these photos attest. Here he discusses the one essential filter he uses for every one of his wildflower scenes and why. With summer comes the arrival of wildflowers, in all their glory. In my experience, one of the most challenging aspects of nature photography is successfully shooting wildflowers. But nothing is more rewarding when the outcome is what you’ve tried to achieve. I’ve made many mistakes over the past few years …

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Kevin McNeal uses his Mor-Slo 10-Stop ND to create more radiant images during the magic hours

In Equipment & Technique, Scenes & Scenarios by Kevin McNeal

Among the many professional outdoor photographers who have greeted Singh-Ray’s Mor-Slo 10-stop ND filter is Kevin McNeal. It didn’t take him long to try the filter and send us this helpful report on using the filter during the “magic hours” around sunrise and sunset. “For me, one of the most challenging tasks in landscape photography,” says Kevin, “is shooting long exposures during the periods of sunrise and sunset when the sun is brightly visible. Over the years I have gotten …

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Explaining the very important advantages of the Singh-Ray LB Polarizer

In Equipment & Technique, Landscapes, Polarizing Filters, Scenes & Scenarios by Kevin McNeal

For the most part, the students don’t exactly know what a polarizer does so they’re not at all sure when to use it. I start by explaining that Singh-Ray offers four different polarizers; two ‘standard’ types, the LB Warming Polarizer and LB Neutral, as well as the Gold-N-Blue and ColorCombo Polarizers. (Each of these filters is fully described on the Singh-Ray website.) Since my personal choice for about 85% of my images is the ColorCombo, that’s the filter I demonstrate …

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Explaining how I create colorful images at twilight with the Gold-N-Blue Polarizer

In Equipment & Technique, Landscapes, Polarizing Filters, Scenes & Scenarios by Kevin McNeal

Once the sun drops below the horizon, many photographers pack up their gear and go home. However, for those of us who have a Gold-N-Blue handy, twilight can present some great opportunities to capture a most magical light. Unfortunately, the color that presents itself during these twilight hours is often not long enough, nor strong enough, to permit us to photograph for very long. For me, this is where the Gold-N-Blue pays off. During twilight, the Gold-N-Blue dramatically increases the …

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Relying on Singh-Ray Mor-Slo filters to render ocean landscapes with a timeless calm

In Equipment & Technique, Landscapes, ND Filters, Scenes & Scenarios by Kevin McNeal

We were lucky enough recently to make a trip to the coastline of California and more specifically to the Big Sur region. Anytime I am shooting ocean landscapes, my Singh-Ray filters play a big part in creating the mood I’m shooting for. My current favorite is the 5-Stop Mor-Slo ND filter. My favorite shooting technique for ocean landscapes is to use the 5-stop Mor-Slo to produce very long exposures that dramatically enhance the mood of the image. For example, others …