# In the Wind | Silo | Long Exposure



## D-B-J (Oct 26, 2014)

Today was a beautifully cloudy day, with plenty of wind.  Which means perfect weather for some long exposures.  I've been wanting to get a shot of this old silo for a while now, and today everything came together.  In the process I met the owner of the property, a few fellow photographers, and accidentally laid down in what I think was the remains of a dead bird (it was mostly feathers... but still).  Comments and critiques welcome!

Nikon D800
Nikon 16-35 f4 VRII
Lee Big Stopper




In the Wind by f_one_eight, on Flickr

Cheers!
Jake


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## Rick50 (Oct 26, 2014)

Nice.


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## D-B-J (Oct 26, 2014)

Thanks Rick!


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## tirediron (Oct 26, 2014)

Really nice!


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## snerd (Oct 26, 2014)

Lovely. Love the clouds stretching. Supposed to be a front move through Tuesday, I hope to get some long exposure weather shots in. The Big Stopper is quite fun to shoot with!


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## D-B-J (Oct 26, 2014)

snerd said:


> Lovely. Love the clouds stretching. Supposed to be a front move through Tuesday, I hope to get some long exposure weather shots in. The Big Stopper is quite fun to shoot with!



That it is. I love me some black glass!


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## D-B-J (Oct 26, 2014)

tirediron said:


> Really nice!



Thanks! The toughest part was nailing the exposure. Since there were soooo many clouds, and all moving so quickly, some were underexposed (lots of clouds and no sun) and some were just the opposite. It was more of a "guess and check" type shoot, which is not at all how I normally do these types of sessions. [emoji5]️


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## snerd (Oct 26, 2014)

D-B-J said:


> snerd said:
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> > Lovely. Love the clouds stretching. Supposed to be a front move through Tuesday, I hope to get some long exposure weather shots in. The Big Stopper is quite fun to shoot with!
> ...


Had my grandson with me last time. I told him to bring me that Black Ice!!


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## D-B-J (Oct 27, 2014)

snerd said:


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Woowoo!


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## annamaria (Oct 27, 2014)

Really like it!!!!!


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## D-B-J (Oct 27, 2014)

spanishgirleyes said:


> Really like it!!!!!



Thank you! [emoji5]️


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## Austin Greene (Oct 27, 2014)

Man, I've been eyeing one of those Big Stoppers for quite some time now. All I've used thus far have been grad. filters, and at most like 3 stops. 10 stops sounds glorious.


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## D-B-J (Oct 27, 2014)

Austin Greene said:


> Man, I've been eyeing one of those Big Stoppers for quite some time now. All I've used thus far have been grad. filters, and at most like 3 stops. 10 stops sounds glorious.



It made this 1/30th second exposure (f20 and ISO 50) to a 55 second exposure. It's just pure fun!


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## JustJazzie (Oct 27, 2014)

What an awesome shot! I could stare at those clouds all day.


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## Heather Koch (Oct 27, 2014)

I love the creativity and simplicity in this shot.  I also really enjoy that rustic feel to it while being a bit dreamy.  Awesome capture!


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## Austin Greene (Oct 27, 2014)

D-B-J said:


> Austin Greene said:
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> > Man, I've been eyeing one of those Big Stoppers for quite some time now. All I've used thus far have been grad. filters, and at most like 3 stops. 10 stops sounds glorious.
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So you'd say that the $280 for the WA adaptor, filter holder, and big stopper was a worthwhile investment? Also, how often do you use the big stopper vs a grad. ND?


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## D-B-J (Oct 27, 2014)

Austin Greene said:


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Hmmm. I use grads every time I shoot a sunset. I use the big stopper the *least* really. I've found the little stopper the most versatile, really.


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## D-B-J (Oct 27, 2014)

D-B-J said:


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Like if I had to choose, I'd say get soft set of GND's, then the little stopper, then the big.


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## _t_is_me_ (Oct 27, 2014)

Absolutely beautiful.  Nice job!


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## D-B-J (Oct 27, 2014)

Austin Greene said:


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Haha I keep thinking of things to add. This shot wouldn't have been possible with the little stopper though. Because that would have only gotten me down to 2 seconds. So in this case, in midday high sun, the little stopper isn't that useful. But I've found the big stopper opens up a lot of shots that would otherwise be unavailable or difficult to create. And GND's are great, but you could always composite in post or shoot an HDR and have a similar "effect." You can't, at least to my knowledge, recreate the Big Stopper's effects on landscapes in post. You just can't. So, with that in mind, I'd say go Big Stopper first. Add grads and other ND's later. 


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk


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## Gary A. (Oct 27, 2014)

I am torn on this image. I love the sky/clouds. Great job on this. Super color, the silo is quite interesting ... but ... (the big but) ... my first impressions of sticking the silo in the middle, is it shows a lack imagination. Not being there I don't know what other possibilities were available, but my first impression is the scene has more potential than what you tapped. I think you may have played it safe by playing the symmetrical card.

My second impression is the contrast between the fluid, ethereal and edgeless sky and the solid, unmoving, manmade object is a very strong statement.

This has the potential of being a portfolio shot. I think there may be more untapped photographic power than what you captured.

Just my $.02.

Good Luck and Good Shooting,
Gary


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## D-B-J (Oct 28, 2014)

Gary A. said:


> I am torn on this image. I love the sky/clouds. Great job on this. Super color, the silo is quite interesting ... but ... (the big but) ... my first impressions of sticking the silo in the middle, is that shows a lack imagination. Not being there I don't know what other possibilities were available, but my first impression is the scene has more potential than what you tapped. I think you may have played it safe by playing the symmetrical card.
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> My second impression is the contrast between the fluid, ethereal and edgeless sky and the solid, unmoving, manmade object is a very strong statement.
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> ...



Let me explain my thinking. I originally wanted to shoot horizontally, but at 16mm and to get the right sky/ground ratio I got some horrid distortion that made the tower look like it was falling into the middle. This is one of the first honest times I WISH I had a tilt shift lens. And really, there is nothing else around. It's isolated. So I figured a centered and simplistic composition would be the strongest option. 

Thanks for your input Gary. The issues you have with this are almost exactly the same as the ones I had while shooting. 

Jake


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## Gary A. (Oct 28, 2014)

I have a slight problem with the sky seemingly given the same weight as the silo, (or vice versa). My little cream cheese brain keeps trying to figure out the principal subject ... is it sky or silo ... claiming both offers little comfort. Go back with a ladder. Make me happy.


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## Austin Greene (Oct 28, 2014)

D-B-J said:


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That's what I'm thinking. At the moment, I have a set of grads that I can stack to get a couple stops down, I think 3? They're the cheap Cokin ones, worthless anytime except for sunset. With this shot, for example, did you use any grads or just the big stopper? I suppose the foreground and sky were already pretty well balanced? Or did you just expose for the cloud highlights and bring up the rest of the shot in post? 

I've decided to pick them up, just have to make sure I'm picking up the right filter for starters that would actually add something significant to my arsenal. Seems like the Big Stopper fits the bill.


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## D-B-J (Oct 28, 2014)

Austin Greene said:


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When I got lower and included more foreground I used a 3 stop soft, but ended up not really liking the looks of that angle. So this one was just the Big Stopper. [emoji106]


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## Austin Greene (Oct 30, 2014)

D-B-J said:


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Well, you convinced me man! Plopped down the $286 dollars the other day to get the adaptor, filter holder, and big stopper! Really looking forward to getting out to the coast with it. 

Thanks for all the info, and keep the great shots coming!


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## D-B-J (Oct 30, 2014)

Austin Greene said:


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Enjoy!


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## astroNikon (Oct 30, 2014)

Cool and inspirational.


FYI, don't eat the dead bird, you could get Ebola.


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## D-B-J (Oct 30, 2014)

astroNikon said:


> Cool and inspirational.
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> FYI, don't eat the dead bird, you could get Ebola.




Orrrrrr maybe H1N1 is making a comeback...?


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## JTPhotography (Oct 30, 2014)

Cool shot. I find myself wondering how it would look if it was shot from a much lower perspective.

Love me some 10 stop ND action.

The rule of thumb I use when figuring exposure is if I can get to 1/30th of a second without the filter, then my starting point will be around 30 seconds with it. This works great because it forces a small aperture, for DOF, and low ISO, for quality. If light is limited, then I will crank up the ISO.  Then I will try anything from 15-60 secs from that point. It can be time consuming and a little tedious, especially when trying this in nasty weather, which is usually the best time to do it if you're going for cloud motion.


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## D-B-J (Oct 30, 2014)

JTPhotography said:


> Cool shot. I find myself wondering how it would look if it was shot from a much lower perspective.
> 
> Love me some 10 stop ND action.
> 
> The rule of thumb I use when figuring exposure is if I can get to 1/30th of a second without the filter, then my starting point will be around 30 seconds with it. This works great because it forces a small aperture, for DOF, and low ISO, for quality. If light is limited, then I will crank up the ISO.  Then I will try anything from 15-60 secs from that point. It can be time consuming and a little tedious, especially when trying this in nasty weather, which is usually the best time to do it if you're going for cloud motion.




It looked alright. I have one from a lower perspective and closer, but the drama just wasn't there. I can post it later for you to see [emoji106]


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## sleist (Oct 30, 2014)

A nice shot.  Not sure I would have made the same choice with composition and crop.
It's one of those shots where changes in these things would have made the shot different, but maybe not better.
A matter of taste I suppose.

Still a good shot.


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## D-B-J (Oct 31, 2014)

sleist said:


> A nice shot.  Not sure I would have made the same choice with composition and crop.
> It's one of those shots where changes in these things would have made the shot different, but maybe not better.
> A matter of taste I suppose.
> 
> Still a good shot.



Thanks! Yeah, I chose to cut so much off the bottom cause all it did was distract from the main subject. It didn't add anything. 

Jake


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