Roquefixade and Nisi

[bambleweeney]

This is the Chateau de Roquefixade, a Cathar castle about 30 minutes drive from me. I loaded the sack with a few lenses and my drone and it was just about liftable. When we left home the light was wonderful, a few fluffy clouds in the sky and when we arrived at the village of Roquefixade it was still glorious. There is a big 45 minute climb from the village to the chateau especially if you're carrying a big sack and the ugly truth is that I'm neither as young or fit as I was back in the day. Set up the tripod on arrival and broke out the sandwiches (carried by my wife fortunately), the the light started to fade, lots of cloud cover coming from the Pyrenees. Still I had my new Nisi filter system which I was anxious to try out and I wasn't going to waste the the effort of the climb without pressing the shutter button at least a couple of times. Long story short the Nisi filters are superb, the photographs not so much. A great location albeit with a coronary inducing climb which I photograph regularly, I will return when my legs recover.

Nisi polariser and 3 stop grad.

[Antonio Correia]

Paul... this is a beautiful and fantastic place to visit !
I like best the second image. Haven't you done any without those filters ?
Can we see more photos of this castle ?
Merci d'avoir posté !

[Wavelength]

Great shots; second one has more majestic look....

[bambleweeney]

Thanks guys. The second one was shot into the light and lens flare had to be photoshopped out so the filters really helped on that one. I have a lot of this place one of which I really like, the rest are .... less than perfect. It is a fantastic place, hardly any visitors even in summer and very peaceful, but that bloody climb is a killer. I'll be going there again soon as it's only a short drive away.

[Rufus]

They are both nice photos. The first gives a real sense of the weather and the second a true sense of height and distance.

[Shadowman]

Nice set.

[bambleweeney]

Many thanks John and David. Most people prefer the second shot. The first was taken just after arrival on the summit when my legs were about to give up the ghost, the second shot was taken on the way down when I was in better condition.

[Manfred M]

There are not a lot of GND users out there (the consensus among many users is that this effect is just as easy to apply in post versus dragging the filters around). In my experience (and experimentation) the looks one gets are not identical and I prefer the effect applied in the field.

The downside of these large filters is that they do not have any anti-reflection coating and so are very good at introducing veiling flare and lens flare when used. I tend to not point them toward the sun to avoid the issue.

I've shot Lee, Formatt HiTech and NiSi filters (and in fact the only one I don't own is the NiSi). My personal opinion is that Lee makes the best filter holder of the group and Formatt HiTech make the strongest filter line (and the weakest filter holder).

[bambleweeney]

Agreed Manfred, using a grad in post makes the image look ... kinda degraded, hence the move to the Nisi filters. I love the Nisi polariser and the filters (albeit with quite a small range) are superb but expensive. The Nisi V6 holder is aluminium, robust and has an additional locking screw so I'm happy apart from the extra weight in my sack. I do have a Lee big stopper though as it was significantly cheaper than the Nisi version and I can live with or correct the colour cast.
Lesson learnt regarding shooting into the light, next time I'll use a flashbender or something to shield the filter from the sun.

[rpcrowe]

First off - I love both of these images. They seem magical to me!

Now for the question of flare when using square filters. I have found that a Flex Lens Shade https://www.adorama.com/flsll11.html...hredirect=true can be used to effectively provide some shade and therefore reduce flare when shooting with lenses that are equipped with square filters. Beats the heck out of trying to shade the lens with your hat

The shade, as the name indicated is flexible. It can fit virtually any lens (although there are several sizes available) and can be positioned in just about any manner depending on the direction from which the sun is shining.

I would never had purchased one of these because it seemed like a gimmick. However, when I purchased the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS ii lens from Adorama, they included a free package of goodies which included the Flex Shade. I never used it until I got a set of square filters but, will now use the Flex Shade any time I am shooting with those square filters. It is also handy for lenses without square filters when the sun is shining from an acute angle that it is very difficult to shoot against without flare.

There was one shot of a canyon in the state of Utah that could only be obtained when the sun was at a special angle. It was difficult to compose the image without flare and I used my hat to shade the front element of the lens. I wish that had owned a Flex Shade at that time. It folds totally flat and is so light in weight that I just slip it in the back pocket of my camera bag and never hardly know it is there until I need it.

[bambleweeney]

Thanks Richard for the link. It looks pretty similar to my Rogue Flashbender which I'm (almost) sure I could use in the same manner. Either way I'll have to find something or just shoot on miserable days.

[Manfred M]

Paul - While I normally use the normal filter holder, I also have the Lee wide angle hood and use that in situations where I am concerned with flare. It's also great in rain as it protects the filters from rain drops. Not inexpensive, but a worthwhile solution. The flexible bellows are a great concept.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...Hood_Wide.html

[rpcrowe]

I would assume that a flash bender would work just as well - shade is shade, no matter how you obtain it. Here is a quick video intro to the Flex Shade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeNqQ1sKwOc

[bambleweeney]

Thanks Manfred and Richard. I like the idea behind filter hoods but as you said Richard shade is shade. A small umbrella is starting to appeal and then all bases will be covered :-)

[rpcrowe]

Thanks Manfred and Richard. I like the idea behind filter hoods but as you said Richard shade is shade. A small umbrella is starting to appeal and then all bases will be covered :-)

Take a look at this... https://www.amazon.com/Selens-Camera.../dp/B01F8I4MPM

[Manfred M]

Thanks Manfred and Richard. I like the idea behind filter hoods but as you said Richard shade is shade. A small umbrella is starting to appeal and then all bases will be covered :-)

I've also used my hand (or both hands); especially when shooting with a tripod, as a shade. The key advantage is I always have them along while shooting.

[bambleweeney]

Thanks Richard, a great idea if I can buy it in France and something else to carry.
Manfred I usually leave home with a checklist ... camera, lenses, hands ... check.