LENGTHEN EXPOSURES

Introduce a sense of movement into your shots and control depth of field

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VARIABLE SUCCESS

A variable ND filter allowed me to select just the right amount of filtration to blur the elements in this scene, while avoiding the strongest eight-stop setting

Another area where hardware filters cannot be replaced with software trickery is in control of exposure duration. Although it is possible to simulate long-exposure effects by combining multiple frames. this is often a computer memory-heavy task when working with large raw files. It also requires the final images to be broken into many component parts, taking up valuable hard drive space and, indirectly, power. Remember that the more files you back up in cloud storage, for example, the more energy is used, which can affect your bank balance and the climate when measured over the course of several years.