What do I need to get started , for such landscape photography ?

[jasonA]

I was just looking at some landscape pictures and reading about ND, GND, etc (confused).

And came across such pictures :








So, what do I need to get started ?

I have a 5D Mark 2 , 17-40mm L USM , a strong tripod. What do I need to get ?


I have a good understanding of long exposure shots, etc .
Just may be I need to know about filters and how to choose them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[RichardTaylor]

If you havn't got it all ready, a remote release.
Other that that an alarm clock, to get up, and torch for for seeing what you are doing, and if is a powerfull one to help focus, before the sun comes up..


Re filters.
You may need

A ND grad for mostly controlling the skies. You will know when you need one when the sky is overexposed and the land correctly exposed.

A ND to allow you to shoot longer exposures when the light is brighter.

A polariser to help control reflections and saturate the colours a little more.

-----------------

The main thing is to pick your times and the weather (light) when you are shooting.

[dakwegmo]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

The main thing is to pick your times and the weather (light) when you are shooting.

This is by far more important than any filter you have. Filters will help you create some cool effects, but if you don't have awesome light to start with, the effects aren't going to do much to help the photo.

[Krusty79]

Tips From a Pro: Creating a Powerful Low-Light Landscape | Popular Photography

Here's a good discussion on filters:
GND filters | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[cyber3d]

Hmmm, those look like 10mm.

[inkista]

2nd and 3rd shots are long exposures to smooth out the water, and were probably done either in very low light with a small aperture, possibly with the addition of an ND filter.

An ND filter is like having sunglasses for your camera. It's a neutral-color (e.g., grey) filter that cuts down the amount of light, so you can use a slower shutter speed in brighter conditions. The longer you want the exposure to be, the darker you need the filter to be. Most ND filters are rated in stops.

A graduated ND filter is a filter that's darker at the top, and lighter at the bottom, and gradually shades between the two areas. You generally adjust the blended area over your horizon, and use the darker part to keep your skies from blowing out, while properly exposing your foreground. You can also, to some degree, achieve this in post with a gradient mask. ACR/Lightroom's "Develop" module, has this as a built-in tool.

You definitely want to be shooting RAW, using a decent tripod, with good technique (cable release or remote, mirror lock-up, etc.), a great scene, great light, and fantastic post-processing skills.

[jasonA]

In the photo,
GND filters | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

It says, 2 stop + 3 stop GND.

What does that 2 + 3 means ?

[RichardTaylor]

Two separate filters
Each stop means reducing the light entering the lens by 1/2.

See this tute on exposure.

Exposure (1) A balancing act

[jasonA]

So, he used 2 filters at once ?

Thats like, attaching a screw filter system onto the lens and putting in 1 ND on one slot and 1 GND on another slot of the filter system ?


I have heard, when you are shooting UW, like 10mm or 12mm , for example 17mm on my 5D , there wil be vignetting, if we use such filter system ?

Whats the solution there ?

[Nicole]

I find that as long as I zoom to about 12mm on my 10-20mm lens, the vignetting goes away for the most part. Below that I tend to get the edges of the holder in the photo. I have one of the 3 filter holders that I use.