Upside-down ND grad?

Durbs

Durbs

Suspended / Banned
Messages
837
Name
Paul
Edit My Images
Yes
So I'm planning on getting (or at least trying to get) some shots of the meteors tonight. I'm in Epsom, so was going to head up to the downs for the show.
There's a spectacular view here across to the London skyline; Wembley Arch, The Shard, London Eye etc. but obviously London is quite bright.

For star trail shots, either stacked or long-exposure*, is it possible to use an ND grad to darken the city lights whilst keeping the skies dark?
Any reason not too?

Normally I'd just use trial-and-error but I'm not going to get up there before 22:30 so don't want to spend 20 minutes taking a photo which it turns out would never work...

*I usually do 20-min exposures, is there a real risk of sensor over-heating? Surely no more than using a camera in video mode?
 
You can use the grad but you're still gonna get light pollution in the sky, the grad will only shield city lights directly, it can't do anything about reflected light.
The clearer the night the better, if there is even a wisps of low cloud or mist, city lights will give you trouble with long exposures.
Stacking is your best bet probably, even if it is entirely manufactured.
 
I did try an upside down grad on my TP Day 2012 trip up Pen-y-Fan.
I used it on this shot:
20120908-211828-I39A2205-M.jpg


The problem is that even with Lee Grads, when pixel peeping I can see the street lights suffered a reduction in image quality.
Pinpoints of bright light are always going to be a problem with a filter :|
However, I still suggest giving it a go but make sure you take both with and without the grad.
 
Ah wicked - will try with & without then, just involves hanging around in the cold for another 20 mins....

Not looking that clear though, so maybe not at all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top