How To Use a VND???

Maybe my search words aren't up to par lately, but I can't seem to find any tutorials and shooting stills with a VND. I know, focus, screw it on, turn it to where you want it, meter and shoot. How hard can that be? Well obviously hard, for me at-least.

Yesterday I went out during the day to shoot these great clouds over the snow capped mountains here. I thought of smoothing the clouds with a long exposure and my LCW Fader MkII.

I set the VND to the point just before vignetting, at 100 iso, and anywhere from f/11 through f-22. My exposure times are what threw me. I started at about 30 seconds and got blown out images, so I back off again and again down to about 2 seconds, where of course now the clouds have barely moved, yet my exposure was correct. I played around with different settings and got frustrated with nothing but garbage for shots.

What am I doing wrong with this filter? I just can't get it to work for me.

Are there any video tutorials that show how to properly use a VND for stills?

Thanks for any help before this filter becomes an expensive Frisbee.

Tony, there are various resources on the net about using them.

Here's one...

http://www.lightstalki​ng.com …-density-filter-portraits

there is a video too, if that's a format you like.

Thanks Rick. I found that tutorial, but it's for portraiture using a flash.

I'm simply using natural day light on a landscape trying to get the clouds to blur. In other situations I'd want to blur water like the image in the comments section of that tutorial, but more dramatic.

I trust you are using a good stable tripod to use a variable density filter to get the "creamy" appearance, hand holding the camera introduces blur of the unwanted variety similar to the way holding a long gun with no bipod or a solid rest can scatter your shots.

If ISO100, f/22, 2s is properly exposed and you want a longer exposure, you need a darker filter. I'm not familiar with that filter. Are you saying that it vignettes at darker levels? If so, you'll either have to live with the vignetting, use a longer focal length, crop, correct the dark corners in the computer, or use a filter that doesn't vignette at at the desired density and focal length. B+W makes a screw-in 10 stop filter. Lee and HiTech make slide in 10 stop filters. I'm sure there's others but those are the ones I know of off the top of my head.

If you go too dark with a Variable ND at wider angles, you get strange cross-shaped black patterns in your images. I suspect that was part of the problem. You probably wanted to go wide, which limited the amount of density you could dial in.

I am trying to find Ben's tutorial. I am assuming that he will be along shortly to post the link.

His photos are really amazing and he is very masterful with his use of filters.

Edit: Found it. http://www.benjacobsen​photo.com …utral-density-filter-faq/

Vari-NDs look like the perfect solution, but they're not. And they're all the same, even the very expensive ones, all using the cross-polarisers idea.

Main problem is the big dark cross that appears when used with wider angle lenses, as you mostly would for landscapes, when they're at higher density levels. Hopeless.

Other problems are difficultly in resetting the exact level of density, as very slight movements at higher densities make big changes. Plus they're not great for image quality - with two glass surfaces there is double the potential for flare and sharpness issues.

I sent mine straight back, and swapped for a normal ND filter.

Thanks for the replies.

Joe, definitely using a tripod.

Mike, Maybe "vignettes" was the wrong word. I actually get the criss-cross pattern when I want to go dark as Taylor points out.

Taylor, You nailed it.

Heath, Thanks, that helped, but he never covered VND's. I'll have to take a look around his site this afternoon. Nice resource.

Hoppy, AGREED. I recently picked up a set of Lee gradual ND's. I'll be giving those a try in the next few days. I couldn't afford the Lee Big Stopper and I already had this LCW VND, so that's why I was trying to get it to work for me. I'll probably sell it and put that towards the Lee BS, which I think is what I really need. When it gets to the frustrating point I know it's not worth it. What bothers me most is that I've seen some great images with this filter on Flickr.

So, due to the limitations already discussed (and because I own a BS) I'd say that the Big Stopper is definitely the route you want to go.

However, the description you're giving is a little weird to me. Did you just start at 30s exposure and push the button, without actually metering the scene first? The difference between 30s and 2s exposure is 4 stops, which is a LOT of light; how strong is your Fader, and how strong are you able to set it without getting the artifacting you're trying to avoid?

I would recommend:
1. Set up for the shot
2. Meter the scene as if you were going to take your shot without the filter
3. Attach the filter
4. Dial in the amount of filter you want to use
5. Reduce your shutter speed by that number of stops (this won't be precise unless the filter has specific markings, but you should be able to guesstimate it fairly well)
6. Check your metering again and readjust if necessary

If that still doesn't let you get down where you want to be, you're probably shooting too early in the day and need to wait until later so there just isn't so much light available.

Thanks Eric.

I had a big explanation typed up, but then withdrew it. I decided to go out again today at one point and sloooowwwly go through your recommendation. I'm a little foggy on exactly how I shot the other day at this point, so better I start from scratch.

Snydremark wrote in post #15373240
5. Reduce your shutter speed by that number of stops (this won't be precise unless the filter has specific markings, but you should be able to guesstimate it fairly well

Ah, if only this was true. Unfortunately, as pointed out by Hoppy, tiny adjustments can result in large changes in the density. It's never possible to figure out if you've dialled in 4 or 6 stops!