We were approaching the Black church at Budir on this Winter morning. The weather was cloudy but as we turned the corner, a gap in the clouds allowed some beautiful, Winter light onto the scene. This is a favourite stop on one of our 2 day Photo tours. This was one of those situations where you wish you had a zoom, instead I had to grab this with my 24mm from a distance. Seconds later the sky was very different. The 24mm at least gives intimate detail in the snow clad grass and, I guess it communicates the surroundings and weather better than if I have been able to zoom in.

The Magic Cloth Photography Technique

The Magic Cloth Technique involves restricting the level of exposure to different areas of a scene within an extended exposure. The Magic Cloth technique was born out of the need to get the picture right in the camera but to still boost the dynamic range of a scene. In this photograph, the sky was covered very quickly, while the foreground was given a bit more exposure time. Careful thought! Often, a snow-scape doesn’t need the magic cloth because there is not much shadow to compensate for.

Camera Gear

ND (Neutral-Density) Filters

The ND filter is only to lengthen the exposure. You may get silky waterfalls or wave activity

Dark Material or card (bigger compared to the front of lens and using a straight edge)

Settings

Long shutter speed – around 10 second for routine use, no less than 2 sec. (to attain this you’ve to shoot when it gets dim or use a dark filter.)

Compensate 2 stops over compensation (liveview) or 3 stops over (without live-view).

Magic Cloth Photography

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