McFade ND Calculator
Mastering Long Exposures: Your Essential Guide
Landscape photography often requires us to slow down time. Whether you’re standing in front of a waterfall in the Yorkshire Dales or capturing the receding tide on the East Coast, a Neutral Density (ND) filter is your best friend. But as every photographer knows, the math can get tricky when you’re losing light fast.
Why Use an ND Filter Calculator?
When you place a thick piece of darkened glass (like a 10-stop “Big Stopper”) in front of your lens, you are drastically reducing the light reaching the sensor. Calculating the new exposure in your head is prone to error, leading to overexposed highlights or “noisy” shadows.
- Precision: Get the exposure right on the first frame.
- Battery Life: Avoid 5-minute “test shots” that drain your battery.
- Focus: Spend more time on composition, less on mental arithmetic.
Understanding the Math
The relationship between light and shutter speed is simple: each “stop” of a filter doubles the amount of time required. The formula is:
New Shutter Speed = Base Speed × 2Stops
For example, if your base speed is 1/60th of a second and you add a 10-stop ND1000 filter, the math looks like this:
1/60 × 1024 = approx. 17 seconds
Common Filter Strengths
| Stops | ND Number | Best Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Stops | ND8 | Slightly blurring moving water. |
| 6 Stops | ND64 | The “Little Stopper”—perfect for Golden Hour. |
| 10 Stops | ND1000 | The “Big Stopper”—streaky clouds in daylight. |
Want to put these techniques into practice? Join us on one of our upcoming Yorkshire Landscape Workshops to master the art of long exposure in person.