Another ND image of the cypress trees around Lake Bruin. As stated before, I could not find my 10-stop filter but I am still happy with how this came out. I don’t really understand the physics of the process but the long exposures enabled by ND photograph lead to great color saturation. Much the same way low ISOs do, I suppose. A little tweaking with some after effects software and a reasonably interesting image is born.
One thing this image does show is how resolution begins to drop off after f/8-10 or so. The tiny iris causes a good deal of vignetting. At f/22 you do end up with with a near limitless depth of field but less and less light hits the edges of the sensor. Basically, you sacrifice some edge detail (by way of lack of light, not blur) for more center image detail and tremendous depth of field. Also, f/22 gives you longer exposure times that, with an ND filter and tripod, can provide motion blur in full sunlight where it would normally not be possible because the abundant light requires such a fast shutter speed. Thus photography chases its tail.