Landscape is one of my favorite, and anyone plays landscape will sometime got into a will to shoot in slow shutter speed. Probably one of the most common case is shutting water, such as wave, river stream, or waterfall into cotton-like soft image by shooting it in an extremely low shutter speed.

The challenge here is light, because most landscape shoots are taken in daylight, where fast shutter speed is needed to control overcast. Even after you close the aperture down to the smallest size – means largest f-stop mark – you are still running at 1/n speed, whilst desired blur the water movement to cotton soft requires at least 30 seconds or even a few minutes.

The tool to overcome this problem is neutral density filters, widely known as ND. In simple way, usage of ND filters is like using a sun glass to block the light. ND filters work the same way, blocking part of the light from reaching the sensor, making the sensor “feels” and then records the image in darker situation than it actually is. The difference of ND filters is in its optical specification. The glass is designed to block the light without interfering clarity and color.

ND filters are available in various light-blocking capacity, in shops we can find 2, 4, 8 f-stops. These numbers mean that the filter blocks the light by n stop. If you for example use ND-2, then you can shoot two stop slower if you are prioritizing aperture or two stops wider if you are prioritizing speed. As it covers the lens, usage of ND filters is responded correctly by automatic metering system of the camera.

Logically you can stack as many ND filters as you need to get desired light-blocking capacity. However, bear in mind that no mater how high the optical quality is, putting slices of glass in front of the lens compromises image quality. The more you put the filter the worse the effect. Technically the hollow space between filters can bring negative impact too. On the other side, stacking many filters may result in vignetting effect especially when ultra-wide lens is in use.

The catch of using ND filters is practicality. If you have ND-2 attached and you find that you need it darker, you have to either put another ND-2 or replace the ND-2 with ND-4. Vari-ND filter is the solution to this situation. You only need to bring and attach one filter, if you need it lighter or darker, you just need to twist the dial. Unfortunately this luxury is quite expensive. The only brand that I know is offering this product is Singh-Ray sold at about $400 for 77mm thread. I will have to spend at least another $200 to ship it to my country and pay the custom bill.

If I buy three ND filters at different powers of 2,4, and 8, I will only have to spend something between $100-$200 depending on brand, and do not have to pay for shipping and custom as it is available here. But I am interested in owning one and therefore seeking for chance to get one at the most affordable cost.

Although it seems that luxury and elegance play the most essential roles, at the same time these luxury villas for rent are also built environmentally friendly. At a Bali villa you’ll be so close with nature, where you will hear the birds singing, where you can breathe the fresh air, where you can touch the white sandy beaches under the warm sunshine. All the facilities have been prepared by these rental private villas to make you feel at home, full with the happiness and joy that you’ll be hard to find in any other places. At a Bali villa you will find that the opportunity to get fulfilled and entertained is endless.

Being one of the most prestigious places on earth, a Bali villa like The Beach House for example is not just a fine accommodation but also a small wonder in life. Ideal for the special holiday, romantic celebrations, meaningful events, and the other purposes, these rental luxury villas surely will appeal more than just some ordinary accommodation. As the spots for the most relaxing vacation, the private villas for rent show the most impeccable services and friendliness, making anyone addicted in a good way. Now after all that, there’s no excuse not to come and stay at the Bali villa.

Whilst my mind has been firmly locked to trading my Nikon setup with Canon’s full frame, I realized that it would be hard to do, especially as I am not prepared to spend any additional money. I could only afford a trade, I released my current Nikon D200 and lenses ranging from ultra-wide to mid-range telephoto with similar set from Canon.

My Nikon D200 had a vertical grip with an extra battery attached, the brilliant professional lens 80-200mm F/2.8D ED, ultra-lightweight 35-70mm F3.3-4.5, small but razor sharp 50mm F1.4, beautiful ultra-wide Sigma 10-20mm, and a pair of speed-lights.

After weeks of research, I decided to reverse the setup. I had rather cheap ultra-wide and professional telephoto lens. Being focused more to landscape, architecture, and product photography, I only did telephoto like birds, sports, and wave surfing for fun. I expected the new setup to be the opposite way round, professional ultra-wide is essential, cheaper telephoto is acceptable.

Weeks of communication in local photographer forum finally yielded. It was not as complicated as I have thought before. Thinking that I would have to sell each of my stuffs one after another and only can start buying the new stuffs after all the old ones sold out, I got into a very quick triangular arrangement, trading my Nikon setup with a set of Canons which included a full set of 5D body, a professional EF 17-40mm F4 L, a small ultra-fast EF 50mm F1.8, an entry level telephoto zoom EF 75-300mm F4.5-5.6, and a powerful 550EX speed-light. All are used but in good shape coming with all boxes, plastics, books, warranty cards, etc.

Yeah, as I did myself, it was less than what I wanted, but with only adding IDR300,000 – equal to approx. USD33 – it was definitely a fair deal.

Whist it may sounds inferior, width of 17mm on full frame is similar to Canon’s 10mm and Nikon’s 12mm in camera with crop factor, plus an advantage of less distortion.

I lost the mid-range, no replacement for my Nikon 35-70mm, but I do not really need it anyway. The 17-40mm gave me more coverage in standard focal length than my previous Sigma 10-20mm.

I got 50mm F1.8, which was slower than my previous Nikon 50mm F1.4. Nothing more I can say, I do expect the same 1.4 aperture, but seems I have to live with what I got temporarily, otherwise I would have to put at least IDR2,000,000 (approx. $220) into the deal.

The very cheap 75-300mm zoom was among the cheapest lens in the world. I understood that I could not expect to much, especially compared to my previous Nikon pro. But again as always in my life, money matters. As so far I mostly need telephoto only for fun, I have to live with it at least temporarily. Ken Rockwell wrote on his website that even the crappiest lens on full frame works better than professional lens on a crop-factor camera. So I relied on it, hope he was correct, and of course dreaming of professional lenses on full-frame.

Last thing in the package was the high power 550EX speed light firing at the maximum GN of 55. Whilst it has been replaced by the newer more powerful 580EX and then the newest reface version 580EXII, its power and functionalities is better than the cheaper 430EX. To a surprise I got to know that Canon also has wireless capability, but unfortunately unlike my Nikon D200, Canon 5D does not have built in wireless flash commander function.

Shifting my eyes a bit off I saw quite a famous man behind him, Laksmana Sukardi. Holding equipment which most of Canon users could only dream of, his oversize body in bright polo-shirt looked really stand out. I am not a Canon users so I might be wrong. But I think he got Canon EOS 1DS (or just D) Mark III with Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM attached. Later on I saw him replaced his lens into a shorter one. I thought it was a Canon EF 24-70 F2.8L IS USM.

Whilst I heard many mumbled about him being a suspect of a mega-corruption case, I am not seeing it that way. Being a famous person with strategic attributes like successful businessman, ex-minister, ex-member of house of reps, renegade aide of the famous Megawati Soekarnoputri, and suspected as corrupter makes him an extra-ordinary person – not just “someone” like me and most of us. I was definitely a busy man with a lot of different things in mind.

I instead was personally astonished that despite of how busy someone is, hobby is very important, at least as a way to release pressure and keep life in good balance.