Trying Something Different

[Jay Beckman]

Tried a little experiment today that I think I'm going to use at Coolidge. 

I put .9 (three stop) ND in the drop in filter holder of both my 300mm and 500mm lenses.

Did this for three reasons:
1) Better Subject Isolation (at prop shutter speeds, DOF is way, way too deep)
2) Cleaner Backgrounds (another aspect of ultra deep DOF)
3) Less Visible Dust (the bain of being at f/11 and smaller)

If you'd care to see some test shots I did this afternoon, go here:
http://crosswindimages.com/p684339541/e54128cb8

...and then check out the next six in that gallery.  The titles contain the settings and other info.

Feedback Welcome.

[Joe Copalman]

Jay, I've been considering filters for this very reason.  What brand filters did you get?

[Jay Beckman]

I bought a sheet of .9 ND from Tempe Camera and cut 52mm discs to sandwich in the filter holders that drop into my big lenses.

Here's a nice example.  Instead of being at something like f/8 or f/11, this was at f/4.5.



I'm picturing much cleaner backgrounds behind stuff coming off the runway at Coolidge!