Travel is becoming harder these days, especially for the globe-trotting photographer. Packed planes, clients that want you to fly coach, lessening overhead space in addition to many airlines charging for what was once a given on flights, that space over your seat in which to place your gear. Over the past years, I’ve been working on reducing my “footprint” of gear, you can read my blog piece, “Traveling Light” to further explore that idea of minimizing to maximize. Having said …
Rediscovering My Origins with Singh-Ray Filters in Hand
I was born in 1960 in Augsburg, Germany, just 15 years after World War II destroyed significant parts of this historic city. Augsburg’s origins go all the way back to two decades BC. It has survived the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, Medieval Times, the Crusades, the Renaissance, the Industrial revolution, two devastating World Wars, and now the Technological Revolution. The city’s population is just a bit over a quarter million today, about 60,000 people more than when I lived …
Using the reverse graduated neutral density filter
I’m a firm believer that if you do as much as possible in the camera when you capture an image, it will lead to the best image. Even if we love post-processing work, getting the best exposure on an image allows us to use our software as a creative tool – not a “fix-it” tool. That’s why I carry a complete selection of Singh-Ray filters for the types of shooting I do. Different filters help me in various tough lighting …
Using Mor-Slo Solid ND Filters
As a professional photographer, I came from the film days. We had to control as much of our creative vision as possible in the camera. Whether it was exposure, depth of field or motion, we did all of that through our cameras. In most cases, we used external filters to help us control the environment in which we photographed. Now, in the age of digital, we find we have tons of control once we hit the computer and software. Does …
Capturing the image you envision
Photographers now have more powerful tools available to them than ever before. Exciting new sensor technologies already up to 50+ megapixels. Lenses that can resolve the finest detail. Huge advances in the digital darkroom, such as the ability to easily blend multiple images using luminosity masks. With all these advances, where do filters fit in? In my photo tours and workshops I often hear “I can do that later in Photoshop.” Photoshop is certainly a powerful tool, but it can’t …
“Cleanse your palette” Another approach to using solid neutral density filters
Solid neutral density filters – I use Singh-Ray Mor-Slo and George Lepp solid ND filters – have become increasingly popular the past few years. Their ability to increase exposure times from 1-stop to 20-stops (2x to, amazingly, more than 1,000,000x) helps to emphasize motion, thus adding a soft and ephemeral feel to moving elements such as waterfalls and clouds. However, there is another use for these filters beyond emphasizing motion, and that is to hide it. To soften detail. To …
A Resident Artist
Editor’s note: In our humble opinion, Chuck Kimmerle is one of today’s truly outstanding black & white photography artists. Our thanks for this reflection on the residency he just completed in Joshua Tree National Park, along with some of the extraordinary images he created during that time, with a little help from his Singh-Ray Vari-ND, Galen Rowell grads and LB neutral polarizer. Taken with Singh-Ray LB neutral polarizer I was getting a bit apprehensive. It was my second day of …
Five + Ten + Fifteen + Twenty + Vari-ND = Perfect ND Kit
Utah Hills, created with the Singh-Ray 15 Stop Mor-Slo Filter After years of experimentation and trying various ND filter combinations, I have assembled what I believe to be the world’s perfect ND kit. It consists of the following Singh-Ray filters: 5-stop Mor-Slo in 82mm 10-stop fixed ND filter in 82mm 15-stop fixed ND filter in 82mm 20-stop fixed ND filter in 82mm Vari-ND in 82mm Step up rings on each of my lenses so they all can use 82mm filters …
Fall in New Hampshire – An Annual Color Riot
Our annual New Hampshire photography tour is one of our most visually stimulating workshops. We’ve been shooting and conducting workshops there for 15 years and really look forward to going back each year. It’s also when I keep my Singh Ray filters close at hand. Clear, chilly mornings will be wet, creating a glow on the fallen colorful leaves patterns, which is always a great subject. However, the color can be dulled by the glare deflecting light away, resulting in …
Visiting NYC with Singh-Ray Mor-Slo ND filters to shoot very long exposures
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 …