Sometimes I like the effect of long exposures on my seascapes. The two images below have been captured with a Nikon D700 camera and the Nikon 24-120mm. For both images I used a 10 stop ND Neutral Density filter to allow me to use a longer time for the shutter to remain open.

Yamba, New South Wales, Seascape 1

The 10 stop ND filters are very dense I I find it almost impossible to focus the camera with the filter on the camera. I use the filter by switching the camera to manual focus and also setting the exposure without the filter to the manual setting, then make the allowance for the 10 stops by changing the aperture ( increasing the aperture from f/5.6 in this case to f/16) and extending the shutter speed by a total of 10 stops, which was 20 seconds in these images.

The above image was exposed at f/16, 20 seconds at ISO100 and the below image also at the same settings. For images such as these, a tripod is essential and also a remote shutter release to avoid camera shake.

Yamba, New South Wales, Seascape 2

I really like the effect on the blurred water with this type of slow shutter speed image.

Pied Currawong

This Pied Currawong has been photographed at Tweed Heads, Northern, New South Wales. I love the challenge of photographing birds, some birds are quite difficult to get close enough, but these Currawongs are quite easy to capture, being so large and relatively quiet to get close. I liked the positioning of this bird with the ocean in the background and thought it would make a pleasing image. Generally when I set out on a photographic trip I aim for certain subjects and on this trip was not really prepared for birds.

It is relatively easy to get quite close to these Currawongs and for this image I used my Nikon D700 and 24-120mm VR, zoom lens, not really a birding lens as I was really photographing seascapes. For most birding I will use my favourite lens, the 300mm, f/4.0, with a monopod, however the shorter zoom proved to be quite suitable in this case.

The currawong is essentially a bird of the open forest and frequents the Eastern part of Australia.

As I set out to capture a seascape on this trip, I have also included another image from Tweed Heads, as the rocky coastline is beautiful in this area.

Tweed Heads

This image has also been captured with the 24-120mm zoom lens.

Burleigh Heads, Seascape, Gold Coast

An interesting method to enhance your seascape images is to capture the scene with very long exposures. This will cause the water to become very blurred to create a mysterious effect. The water becomes very smooth and can even create reflection from the clouds above.

The above image was set up on a tripod and was exposed with a remote cable at f/22, 30 seconds with a 24mm focal length lens at ISO 100. A Nikon D700 camera was used with a 24-120mm zoom lens.

The secret to achieving such a long exposure is to use a neutral density (ND) filter to limit the amount of light received at the camera sensor. In this case I used a 10 stop ND filter the actual filter used is a 77mm, #110, Neutral Density (ND), 3.0 Filter, by B+W. These filters are available from B+H, New York.

In using a filter like the 10 stop filter I use manual focus and put the filter on after focussing.

The second image below has also been created in a similar way, but in this case a 300mm lens was used to get closer to the rocks. Here  the image was captured at  f/6.3, ISO400, with an exposure time of 13 seconds.

I find this technique a wonderful way to add impact to your images which otherwise would not stand out from a normal exposure at a higher shutter speed.

This technique of using a dense ND filter can also be very effective in capturing moving water in waterfalls and fast flowing streams.

Miami, Seascape, Gold Coast

Illuka Beach

Many bad weather conditions can actually enhance your images, some examples are as follows:

When it is very cloudy, the flat lighting is excellent for photographing people or animals. The flat lighting is very flattering to the subject as the contrast is low.
Foggy and misty conditions can add a moody feeling to your images. Moody foggy lighting can be excellent for landscapes. Foggy conditions can limit the depth of view in the image so it may be better to concentrate on closer subjects.
Water droplets on flowers or on other objects such as a spiders web can add greatly to an image by giving the image some extra sparkle.
Storm situations can create very dramatic lighting with the angle of light on the clouds creating a dramatic scene.
Storm situations with lightning can create extremely dramatic images.