You're intelligent people, you can probably see where I'm going with this, but I'll set out my stall from the outset - I'm not the biggest fan of HDR photography.
It didn't take me long on google to find the image above - I have no idea who's work it is and I'm not singling it out at all - it's just a good example of the kind of imagery that's becoming more and more popular, particularly on the web based social sites like 500px and flickr.
A while back I was watching a video blog where the author described the process of HDR photography as "puking colour all over his sensor" - it's pretty funny, but also hits the nail on the head. If I was walking on that farm trail I'd be soiling myself - it looks like the end of days!
For those who are unfamiliar, HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Dynamic range describes the range of lighting conditions that a camera sensor (or film?) is capable of recording before sending the extremes to solid black of blowing out the highlights to white. If you shoot into the sun, you're going to be struggling with dynamic range and either the sky will blow out or your foreground will be black. Adding an ND grad is a way of compensating for this and stretching out the dynamic range to get a more pleasing image.
The HDR process takes a set of images - say 3 - one overexposed, one in the middle and one under exposed (as you would do bracketing a shot) and combines them using a proprietory HDR software title, into one image where you get the extremes of highlight, shadow and contrast available in one image. Great right! What's not to like?
Well, the problems start to creep in with the application of this process. There are, as with everything, varying degrees of subtlety that can be employed when making an HDR composite. Used in a subtle way, HDR images can look fantastic and there will always be a place for this. The popularity of the online social sites combined with popular tastes and the "flavour of the moment" factor, means that this kind of imagery is starting to dominate. When your uploaded images are shown in a 30mm square on screen, only the super saturated images pop out, so this has understandably led to these kind of images getting more views. They're eye catching, there's no denying it.
I find myself coming more certain that this approach is not for me. I'm not at a stage where any definitive style is asserting itself in my work, but the super saturated fakery of this kind of work is not for me. There are ways of achieving greater range without going down the HDR route, by hand-blending a couple of exposures for instance, that gives a much more pleasing result. I've meen checking out the work of Fran Halshall and Dav Thomas lately (google them up - their work is beautiful) - who are producing the exact opposite kind of image - beautifully lit, subtle muted light that celebrates the landscape.
If you're into shooting machinery or cars, part of the growing urbex movement that seems to love HDR, or just like the retina searing colour saturation that makes all your landscapes look like your on the way to throw a ring into a volcano - then stick with it! I'll be taking it easier with the saturation and contrast sliders to try and celebrate the natural beauty in the landscape - it's what drew me to pick up a camera after all!
If you agree or disagree with any of the above - why not leave me some feedback? I'd love to hear from you and keep shooting!
It's been a few months since my original posting about a do-it-yourself budget long exposure filter, but - finally - here are some of the results…
To be fair, this is a photographic project that pretty much relies on access to moving water, so my excuse is that I've had to wait until I was on holiday to try this out, but I think it's been worth the wait.
I've just got back from a week in Northumberland, followed by a day's shooting on the Gower Peninsular, so I've had plenty of time on the coast to try this out and as you can see above - it definitely works! Here's a breakdown of how the glass filter unit performed:
I set up my filter holder with a 10 strength piece of glass for a first try in the field and in practice, this required a 45-55 second exposure (depending on the light conditions). I set up my camera as usual - compose your shot with the camera on your tripod, with cable release, set your zoom and manually focus, live view on so the mirror is up. I set up initially in aperture mode - set my aperture how I wanted it (f20 for this) and did a test shot to see if I was getting any blown highlights. When you're happy with this set up, you need to change the mode to full manual - this will keep the aperture you set already, but will automatically set the exposure to bulb (if it doesn't - you can dial it in manually).
Then, with the adapter ring already screwed into your lens thread - carefully attach the filter housing - you need to be careful not to de-focus the lens, move the camera, touch the glass etc. Once the glass is in place - you're good to go! On my cable release, you can lock the shutter button down so you don't have to hold it for the 50 seconds, but on some models you may need to keep the button held down. I bought a cheap digital stopwatch for timing the exposure and then found that my cable release counts up the seconds on it's display, so I didn't need it, but you could use one if your model doesn't do that, or just time it on your watch or phone. With exposures this long a second either way isn't that critical.
When your exposure time is done (I'd start with 50 seconds), release the button to shut the shutter. I have my camera set for "auto noise reduction" so it then sits and processes the image in-camera for the same time as the exposure - another 45-50 secs. After that, you can review your image and see if you need a longer or shorter exposure. I'd add or subtract 5 seconds and try a second shot.
Your image on the back of the camera will have a bizarre green cast to it - this is due to the welding glass. The best results for your final image are - I think - to convert them to monotone after processing as normal. The green cast goes away and you can then dodge and burn to your heart's content to get a dramatic effect. It is possible to colour correct for the green, but it's not going to give you the best quality colour image and it's a lot of work - mono is the way to go!
The long exposure has blurred out all the movement in the sea, and retained the static rocks in crisp focus, just as a more expensive 10 stop ND filter would, showing the waves as a smokey ghosted area. The swell wasn't huge in these images, but there was plenty of motion in the water.
There were a couple of things to report in use:
I found that screwing the whole assembly and ring onto the set up camera was too difficult and took to leaving the ring on the lens. This was a bit tricky, as there's a retainer bump on the Cokin style holder to keep it from falling off accidentally and you need to snap this on, which sometimes made me move the camera and I had to start again. I got round this by adapting the holder by carving off the bump with a scalpel - so it slides on easier.
Also, in bright light I found that I got a weird lighter stripe down the right side of the image:
You can see it above on this test image - and at first I couldn't get rid of it. I assumed that some light was getting in at the top of the housing or maybe down the top edge of the glass sheet. Between outings I modified my set up by using black duck tape to tape up all the exposed edges of the glass and also tape over the foam gap just as extra insurance. This worked and reduced the problem by about 90% and I was able to fix the rest in photoshop. I would also try holding a small piece of card above the glass (in the way a lens hood would work) next time I'm out - see if that improves things.
All things considered - it works, it's great fun to experiment with and the images are dramatic! It's really the most basic form of photography (open the shutter - count - close it - see how it looks) - but I found that made it far more creative - almost like using a pinhole camera.
These glass sheets aren't manufactured with optical quality in mind, so the final images are not pro quality, but at the same time, the kit cost under £10 instead of £150 and I can still get a great print off these images. They are a little noisy, but I think that's part due to my camera and the glass does add a lot of fringing along the highlight edges (such as where cliffs meet the sky) so I had to fix this after - but nothing insurmountable.
I'm looking forward to shooting some waterfalls and fast moving rivers with this and will update you in future posts, but for now, if you fancy giving this a go - it's cheap, fun and easy to use! Look back to the previous post for details on making your own rig and get out there and give it a shot yourself!
I'll be posting completed images on my tumblr page, so why not give it a look if you fancy:
www.re-photography-posts.tumblr.com
If you like any of my images - let me know with a like or leave me a message below this post!
Good shooting!
It was around this time last year that I bought my first DSLR and kicked off what, for me has been a really productive creative period. I hadn't really owned or used a decent camera since art school 25 years ago, but the quality and affordability of digital cameras along with their user friendly nature meant I could hit the ground running - and never look back!
Without getting preachy on you, I'd like to share a few insights that I've found have really elevated the quality and creativity levels of my images and can help us all progress towards better photography…
Learn to use your camera's features - they're there to make your images better:
To start with - I really was using only a small percentage of the camera's features. I knew from the outset that shooting on auto wasn't the way to go, and that the in-built flash isn't great, but that was about it.
Your camera is packed with features to make your images come alive and elevate them from snaps to something worth looking at twice. To beginners, the amount of technical information we need to absorb is daunting, but if you take time to practice, refine your technique and knowledge, over time the benefits are invaluable. Photography magazines are great for learning good technique, especially the technical camera related stuff - find one that suits you (there's dozens available) and absorb the good stuff - then practice it yourself. Your images will definitely improve.
Go to an exhibition:
Culture feeds the soul and we should all take time to gorge ourselves. I recently went to a great free exhibition at Southwell Minster - "Masters of Vision" - here's a link to their site:
http://mastersofvision.co.uk/
It's on throughout August and if you have any interest in landscape, nature or travel photography it really is worth a trip.
Seeing the work of accomplished established artists is a sure fire way to stoke up the enthusiasm and get you to think tangentially. I came back with a whole bunch of ideas and things I wanted to try - one of which was - "keep things minimal" - leading to the image above.
Take time over your compositions:
The accessibility and ease of use of digital cameras is the very thing that can ultimately diminish your images to "snaps". I recently read an article written by a photographer who had started out shooting film and was now shooting digitally, who was scathing about the way some photographers now shoot off hundreds of frames to get an image. If they were using film, this approach isn't an option so they would be forced to consider their exposures more to get the shot.
Spend a bit of time on your images, refining the composition or merely waiting for the right light or cloud formation - to get my image above I spent about an hour, moved about a bit until I was happy with the framing and shot off about 20-25 frames to get the best sky and crop combination. Taking things slower forces you to consider all the factors and your images will benefit. Using a tripod forces you to do this and the act of setting it up and framing your image forces you to consider composition more that you would shooting hand held.
Show your images:
Showing your images to an audience (that isn't your immediate family - who love/tolerate you and are therefore not objective) is great for bolstering your confidence and improving your body of work. You'll get feedback from other enthusiasts and get to compare your work with theirs - always a good acid test.
Start yourself a tumblr or 500px account and get your images out there - if you're interested and have 5 minutes - here's mine:
http://re-photography-posts.tumblr.com/
Have a look - leave me some feedback!
Make time to shoot just for the sake of it:
It's all too easy to take a camera with you wherever you go and shoot off a bunch of frames - and that's great - but making time for your photography and shooting in a structured way is guaranteed to make the final images better.
Before I had a camera, I was definitely in the "anti-snapping" camp - I could never see the point of going to a beautiful place and then spending the whole time just documenting it with a camera or even worse, video camera, strapped to your face. You quickly stop experiencing things and are just recording them - leave that to Google earth. If I go out, with no plan to shoot any images, I rarely take a camera - this flies in the face of advice to shoot everything as practice, but I prefer to plan a shoot and devote that time just to making the pictures. If an image is worth capturing - it'll be so much better with planning than a rushed snap. This obviously depends on your subject - street photography and war coverage can't be tackled this way, but the majority of subjects (landscape / travel/ portraiture / food / nature / even sport) benefit from some forward planning. Do one thing at a time - do it better!
Sell your images as royalty free stock:
This is not for everyone and nothing sucks the fun out of a thing faster than trying to make money from it, but this was a big reason for me buying the equipment in the first place - and I've found the process of getting approved to sell images and having each one scrutinised for imperfections has been a major factor in the elevation in my work.
I have sold vector artworks for a few years and already supplied two libraries, but wanted to add photography to broaden my portfolio. My first submission for approval was in the autumn and was immediately rejected - you get invited to go away, take better pictures and come back in two weeks!
I was pretty depressed by this but instead of re-submitting another set of images right away, I waited 6-8 months and spent that time refining and learning. On the 2nd submission I got the green light, only to then get all my images rejected for a whole bunch of reasons (some valid / some not). Rather than get downcast - I kept plugging away and I now have a growing online portfolio, that is helping fund new lenses and kit - it's a slow build, but I'm in for the long game. The most important aspect of all this is - putting your work in front of a qualified expert will show up it's short-commings in a brutal impersonal fashion, but it will point out where you're going wrong and you will have to improve in order to get an approval.
They may not be the most creative sources and are prone to accepting safe images, but stock libraries will only take an image that comes up to their technical standards and I've found the whole year long process to be fantastically beneficial on my technique. Also, selling your images gives you a great buzz and you get to learn what sells and what doesn't.
If you fancy giving it a go - istock and shutterstock are good places to start from (other royalty free image libraries are available yadda yadda).
So - if you've read all that, you must be bored by now! Go out and take some pictures, then take some more! Show people, get better and succeed! That's my long term plan anyway :-)
Good shooting - here's to the next 12 months
First off - apologies for leaving such a big gap between posts - I've been pretty busy (shooting images) and although my intention has been to post at least weekly, things have slid a bit.
My reasons for coming back to photography were really two fold from the start - a love of the outdoors and capturing landscape images and to make money. I'm not greedy - this is a long term goal and things take time, but in the period between postings, this is where my time has gone.
Making money from your hobby is a tricky and perilous thing! The business can take over and destroy the pleasure - before you know it, the thing you loved to do in your spare time has become the thing you hate to face on monday morning. Or worse - it doesn't take off and leaves only disappointment. There are many ways to make cash from your images, but I'm targeting 2 distinct streams to begin with and starting small. The money I've made has funded equipment purchases which in turn have led to more images - so it seems to be on track.
Landscape photography is difficult to sell - a lot of people are doing it and creating great images but at the same time, the perceived worth of these images is low. Most people can get an interesting image out of their smart phone so they think twice about spending £15 - £25 on a print - they see it as something they can do themselves. In reality, the photographer has driven for 3 hours and slept in the car and walked 4 miles to get that image of a mountain sunrise, then spent an hour processing the RAW file to get it to pop. Looking at the websites of established big names in the landscape genre, even they seem to make the bulk of their living running courses - I guess people are happier to pay to be shown how to do something than to buy images.
I have been a contributor to a couple of royalty free stock sites for a few years - initially I produced vector illustrations and uploaded those, but last year I decided to broaden my portfolio to include photographic content. If you're unfamiliar with these library sites, they take uploaded content from their roster of approved contributors and sell it on their site - you get a pre-agreed percentage of the royalty. The plus points with this are that your image copyrights are protected, you can sell an image as many times as possible and the library looks after everything else - you just take your royalty payments. The downside is that they take a fairly hefty percentage cut from your sales for all that, so you need to make a lot of sales to get rich!
Also - to become an approved contributor to these libraries, you have to go through an approval process, submit test images and if these are accepted, you're good to go. I had assumed this would be easy, but in reality, it turned out to take longer than I'd first thought it would. In hind sight, this is as it should be - if anybody could pick up a DSLR, shoot any old thing and get approval, it makes a mockery the skill and craft of people that have spent years refining their art. My fists submissions were batted straight back to me with an invitation to come back with something better!
Instead of re-submitting as soon as the 14 day time limit had elapsed - I decided to wait a while, and work at being a better photographer - I'm no Bailey or Rankin, but I've worked steadily at it and got steadily better. After waiting around 8-9 months from my first submission - the second one was approved within 6 days. It goes to show that if you want to be good at something, time spent going away and just doing it is never wasted.
If you're looking to make some money from your images, the stock library route is a reliable way to go. To start with the sales are slow, but this is a long game and the more images in your online portfolio - the more sales you'll pick up. Eventually the income will build and even out to become more reliable - you just need to find that image that will sell like hot cakes! Also - it's a different discipline to shooting an image just for yourself - many times the image will need to work with text added or be shot on a white background to be cut out - these are not really impulse snaps - they need to be planned for an end use, pin sharp and not over filtered or processed.
So that's what I've been busy with - I've been shooting a lot of food photography and still life images (see chili image above) and not getting out much, but every shoot there's something to learn and it's all interesting. Give it a try yourself - by having your work scrutinized by industry experts forces you to raise your game and your images will definitely improve, which can't be a bad thing - and you may earn some beer tokens!
Now that the weather has finally got better - it's out into the wilderness for a summer of landscape action - watch this space for future postings.
…and about time too!
I don't know about you, but I can't remember a winter that's hung in there so tenaciously - I was beginning to think that this was the new normal now - cold/wet/grim/snow/frost - it's like we only have one season now!
A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a woodland site for a future shoot - I was just hoping that it was dry and maybe I'd get some light shafts between trees - that kind of thing. I parked up and wandered into the gloom and was confronted with a wonderful carpet of early spring blooms - wood anemonies covered the ground and as the tree cover was mixed pines and Beech, the leaf canopy was still bare - plenty of light was filtering in. It was as if Spring had been happening in secret and I'd blundered into it accidentally!
The image above was made up from 2 exposures merged together for the foreground and sky. It was so low down, I had to lie on the floor with my tripod laid over on my camera bag and fired with a cable release.
So - make the most of these fleeting displays - if you're lucky enough to be need a site with bluebells, they'll be in bloom about now and wild garlic will be in flower within the next 2 weeks - blink and you'll miss it. We've all been hunkered down for months - seize the day and get in amongst it for some great spring images!
…or why you need a 50mm prime lens in your life!
About 6 months or so ago, I was thinking about getting a lens upgrade and started reading reviews and articles to see what was available and applicable to my needs. There's a bewildering array of glass out there and for a beginner, it all pretty much looks the same - just more or less expensive!
I'd already researched a wide angle lens that would suit my needs, so I started looking at other focal lengths and time after time I read in articles that a good fast 50mm prime is the must have lens. As this would pretty much replace the longer focal length of my kit zoom and I was planning to get into food photography, this seemed ideal! I had some Amazon vouchers burning a hole - and smacked down an order for a mid range Nikkor f1.8 prime.
The f number is important when it comes to prime lenses as this opens the door to all sorts of creative possibilities with depth of field blur when you use them wide open at their largest aperture. The smaller the f number - the bigger the aperture and so consequently - the bigger the price! At around £150 - the f 1.8G seemed like a good mid range purchase and as the f1.4 was nearly twice the cost - I settled for that.
The benefits to buying a prime lens are many:
- The focal length is fixed, so you don't get any (or not as much) chromatic lens aberration in comparison with a zoom. As they have to cover a range of focal lengths, zooms tend to suffer a drop in quality as a compromise, so colour fringing and distortion are greater. With less moving parts, the image quality of a prime if far better.
- Primes offer a much lower maximum f number that you are able to get from a zoom at a fraction of the cost. The lowest aperture on my kit zoom was 3.5 but this climbs to 5.6 as you zoom out and if you want a really fast zoom you have to pay well over a grand to get anywhere near f2.5. A 50mm prime gives you a great maximum aperture for a 10th of the cost and it's great quality glass.
- As there's no zoom option - you are forced to think about positioning your camera in order to get the composition you want. This sounds like a massive down side but it's actually quite liberating in practice and is a great way to force you to consider what's in the view finder and how you can improve things.
The f1.8G is a really nicely built lens - it feels solid and professional, and comes with a bayonet fit lens hood and soft pouch, which are nice additions. Controls are minimal - there's a chunky focus ring that feels nice in the hand, a rudimentary focus scale and a manual/AF switch. Other than that, you just fit it and move your feet to zoom in and out. it feels nice in the hand and looks "right" on the camera body - don't know why - just does!
I found the lack of any image stabilization odd at first, and spend a fair while shooting with the lens and getting really disappointing results - I had camera shake every time I shot hand held and due to the crop factor of putting a true 50mm lens an an APS-C body - the focal length I was actually getting on the sensor is 75mm, so the lens is too long to use indoors generally. I began to wonder what all the hype was about and set it aside for a while - at least it was cheap!
Recently, I've been getting into food and ingredients photography, as as subject I could shoot for stock libraries - one of the main reasons I bought a camera in the first place was to broaden my stock image portfolio - I'd already been contributing vector illustrations to i-stock and shutterstock for a few years. As I started planning shots and images, the 50mm lens came into it's own - it's the ideal glass for food imagery, due to the great depth of field blur (or Bokeh) if affords, and shooting from a tripod, camera shake isn't an issue. I've also recently bought a great speedlight flash, and this works great with the prime for all hand held shooting.
What I've found, is I've had to learn how to work with the lens to get a good image rather than just relying on the bolt on lens widgets. Images need to be composed well to begin with as there's no option to zoom in apart from moving the camera closer. I had trouble with the auto focus initially and found that manual focus was easier to use. I've now worked out that the AF option works great but doesn't like the camera to be moving.
It's been a learning curve, but in the end I think this lens has forced me to be a better photographer and maybe that's why we all need one! A 50mm lens offers basic photography in it's most accessible form and when you learn how to use it correctly, you'll love the images it makes - you need one in your life - fact!
As usual - if you're enjoying these posts, do let me know with a comment - I'd love to hear from you! Keep shooting!
…or how to make your own 10 stop ND filter for under one 10th the price of a Lee's filters "Big Stopper"
Off the back of my last post where I discussed Neutral Density filters, I finished by discussing the possibility of making your own 10 (or more) stop filter for a fraction of the cost of a Big Stopper. I'd first seen the idea in a magazine, where the idea of using welding glass was explored as an alternative filter material. It was a great idea, but looked a bit clumsy and difficult to use. It did start me thinking though, and I came up with a more elegant and user friendly version that will be far easier to use in the field, without fear of breaking the glass or cutting yourself.
In the original article, they bought a large sheet of weld lens and attached this to the front of their lens with a filter holder ring, by taping the ring to the glass using duck tape. It definitely worked, but the risk of getting a cut was pretty high and spinning the glass pane onto the filter thread has to be pretty tricky. I set to thinking how this could be done better, and came up with this refinement of the original concept:
You will need the following items:
• 1 pane of glass welding lens (for fitting into a welder's mask)
• 1 Cokin P type filter holder
• 1 adapter ring to fit the end thread diameter of your lens
• 1 roll of black (or dark coloured) self adhesive foam weather stripping from a DIY store
1. The lens glass
This is available in a variety of different darkness strengths to suit the type of welding that you would need it for. In the original article they went for a "10" strength piece. I bought 2 pieces from ebay - one "8" strength and one "13" strength so I can experiment with which works best.
You can get these lenses in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but I got this idea when I found a supplier that had lenses cut with one width of 84mm - the exact size to fit into a Cokin P holder. My 2 lenses were £1.39 each - what a bargain! If you try and look through this glass, it's so dark, you can only make out light sources - so it'll give a really long exposure.
2. The holder
This is a standard plastic Cokin copy holder - the kind with 3 filter slots and the rebate for a polarizing filter at the back. The weld lens grass is a great match for the width - the only problem is, the glass is thicker than a standard perspex filter, so it won't slot straight in - you'll need to do some minor surgery (don't panic - nothing complex). I got this holder for £1 on ebay - nice and cheap!
The holder slots have molded in springs that stop the filters from
slipping out when you slot them in (the curved bits in the centre) so on
each side you need to remove one of the fins from between slots 1 and 2
- to make one double width slot. You can see here, the fin furthest
from the front has been cut out. I
used a scalpel for this and if you're patient, and keep scoring gently,
you'll be able to snap out the fins neatly on both sides, leaving a slot
that is now too big for the glass - that's where the foam comes in.
3. The foam strip
When using a really dark filter to get a super-long exposure, it's important that no light is able to leak around the glass and enter the front of the lens, spoiling the exposure. On a Big Stopper, there is foam attached to the back to stop light leaks, so I've devised a system that takes care of this and ensures that the glass lens stays snug in the holder and doesn't slip out.
By using foam weather stripping - available from all DIY stores, I made a foam rubber gasket, attached to the holder that prevents all light leaks and holds the glass firm - here's how it's done:
The weather stripping comes on a roll like this, and already has the adhesive on one side. I found a black roll as it made more sense bearing in mind it's going to double up as a light barrier. This stuff also comes in brown and white - I'm sure the brown would be fine as well.
I stuck the foam around the entire face of the holder, making sure it was as neat as possible and there were no gaps. You'll need to trim the foam very carefully around the inside circle to make sire none is covering the lens area as this will show in your image. Again - I used a scalpel for this, but if you're not confident with a sharp blade - or just plain cack-handed, you could try cutting the foam to fit with a scissors first and dry fitting it with the backing still on, before fitting. Any doubts - get an adult to help! This is the most expensive item to buy and it was still well under £10 - if you already have some in the shed, even better!
Then all you need to do to finish is slide in the glass carefully, so the foam doesn't tear. Once it's seated nicely the idea is that you leave it in the holder, so it's easy to handle safely and has a degree of protection against accidental breakage.
4. The adapter ring
This is a standard fit adapter ring, easily available online. I bought a 77mm one to fit the diameter of my Nikkor 10-24mm extra wide angle lens - the rings are available to suit all lens sizes, so you just need to source one that suits the lens you'll be using. This one came in at £4 delivered - I could have taken the ring out of my other holder, but for 4 quid, it's easier to just get another one and leave it on this rig.
The ring snaps into place as usual, on the holder back, and that's everything done!
In use, the whole lot can be easily spun on and off the lens front, without you cutting your fingers off and the holder prevents breakage in your bag - here's the lot spun onto the front of my wide angle lens. Also, even with this dark filter in place, you will probably still need an ND grad to balance the sky, so the remaining 2 slots in the filter holder allow for you to slide in a grad in front of the glass!
It's a neat solution and all in cost less than £20. A big stopper with holder and ring is going to run you just under £200 all in, so a significant saving.
There is a slight trade off for the low price - welding lens glass is green, so all your images will have a green colour cast. If you shoot your images in RAW, this can be taken out in processing to achieve a normal white balance, but there's a much simpler and more satisfying route - shoot for mono images. If you set your camera up to shoot mono - or even better, convert your raw files to mono, the green cast is an irrelevance and you'll be able to shoot dramatic long exposure mono exposures all day long for a fraction of the cost!
To use this system, you're going to need a tripod naturally, along with a remote release of some kind – preferably with a lock off on the shutter button to allow you to take really long exposures. At anything over 30 seconds, you'll need to set your camera to manual, dial in your aperture and set the shutter to "BULB". Then with the remote release, you can leave the exposure as long as you need.
With exposures of around 4 minutes, 10 or 15 seconds either way won't be that critical
so to make timing the exposures easier - I bought a super cheap plastic stopwatch so I could time my exposures accurately. It seemed to be the easiest way to make sure your exposures are all the right length - an ordinary watch would do it though - just not as easily.
So there you have it - bargain long exposure fun ahoy!
I'll be posting how I get on using this in the near future, along with the results, so keep an eye out for that and it might convince you to give this a try - at this price there really is nothing to loose - give it a go! If you do - let me know how you got on - I'd love to see your experiments.
As usual - if you're enjoying these posts, do let me know with a comment - I'd love to hear from you! Keep shooting!
