which nd filters for fashion photography

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tonyphoto

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tony
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I've already got some 85mm grad filters for the cokin p series holder for landscape photography, but i'm interested in shooting some editorial style fashion photographs outdoors in bright light using a couple of flash heads.

I know i'll need some plain nd filters so that i don't have to shoot at f20 or similar to underexpose the sky, but i've no idea what strength nd filter i'll need?

Rather than buy a full set(i've been spending too much recently) i was wondering if anyone has any experience with this kind of photography, and if so how many stop nd filters do the pro's tend use for fashion photography?

I was thinking something around 3-4 stop for a bright day.

Cheers, Tony
 
Using a wide aperture on a bright day will need a shutter speed well in excess of the cameras flash sync speed. I tried shooting at f1.4 in bright winter sun and, from memory, was still overexposed at my max shutter speed of 1/4000.
If I'm thinking right, 3 stop would bring that down to 1/500 and 4 stop to 1/250?
 
Thanks, i was thinking along these lines. I'll be shooting at f2.8(or trying to), so if i use a 4 stop i should be at around the correct shutter speed of 1/250, also i want to be at least 1 stop under so if i get an nd 4 stop, i can always close down the lens as well if needed.
 
Andy_S said:
Using a wide aperture on a bright day will need a shutter speed well in excess of the cameras flash sync speed. I tried shooting at f1.4 in bright winter sun and, from memory, was still overexposed at my max shutter speed of 1/4000.
If I'm thinking right, 3 stop would bring that down to 1/500 and 4 stop to 1/250?
Click to expand...

Depends which flash you are using. My 430EX will sync to 1/8000s (my camera's fastest shutter speed) when I set it to high-speed sync.

PS by Sunny 16 rule, you would be able to use f/2.8 and ISO 100 in sunny conditions with a shutter speed of around 1/3200.
 
Last edited:
DoctorBob said:
Depends which flash you are using. My 430EX will sync to 1/8000s (my camera's fastest shutter speed) when I set it to high-speed sync.

PS by Sunny 16 rule, you would be able to use f/2.8 and ISO 100 in sunny conditions with a shutter speed of around 1/3200.
Click to expand...

Thanks, i'll bear that in mind as i use a sometimes use my 580EX (never tried using it with a high speed sync yet), but most of the time i'll be using flash heads with a max sync speed of 1/250.
 
Remember that the high speed sync doesn't freeze the subject, as it is lots of quick pulses, rather than one main flash.
 
Interesting, I must confess to not knowing how HSS works at all. But presumably, if you're using it you're shooting at faster than 1/250, in which case the subject should be frozen anyway :)
 
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