ND filters

I'm not sure this is the right place for this topic but here goes.
I am going to the Pacific Northwest in May. There are lots of waterfalls to photograph.

I am not a fan of cotton wool water, but I suspect an ND filter may prove useful. But which one? How many stops should I choose? I don't want cotton wool but can live with a slight silky effect.

I have the Cokin P filter system, but it doesn't have to fit that. Do Cokin do a set like they do for ND grads?

Or can I just use a polariser?

I tend to use a polariser, as it will increase the saturation of the foliage around the falls nicely too. To be honest, most waterfalls tend to be in fairly shady areas anyway, so the problem for you is more likely to be avoiding the cotton wool look if you don't like it.

Where in the Pacific NW are you going? I did Oregon and Vancouver Island some years ago, beautiful scenery and well worth the trip.

Dan

Kood filters fit the Cokin 'P' System 7 Day Shop shocks them in the UK there is an ND2, ND4 and ND8, there may be a more local stockist for you.

Cokin also do ND 'P' filters similar to Kood. I have a set and it depends, as Dan says, on the amount of light available. Depending on the light and the degree of silkiness required I can only suggest experimentation at a particular waterfall using different ND filters. Also a polarised will lose you 2 stops.

Let's see the results when you're back - have a great holiday.

Cheers

John

Thanks every one. I may just use my polariser then, or buy an ND2 to go with it.

We are still at the planning stage for the trip but the idea is to fly into Portland and then tour Oregon and Washington for 3- 4 weeks. The coast obviously forms a major part of that. I really want to drive the Pacific Coast Highway right down to San Diego, but my husband wants to concentrate on just these two states. It is so unusual for him to come up with a holiday destination that I'm not going to argue! We're hoping the immigration queues at Portland will be better than at Seattle, hence flying to Portland. (KLM fly there direct.)
We may go over to Vancouver BC if we have time, but I'd really rather concentrate on OR and WA rather than do a rushed visit over the border. Sadly we will be too early for much of the Cascades - the roads will still be closed, which mean we will miss out on Crater lake for instance.
However I am told that the weather is often very good in May, so I am hopeful of some good photos.

Next problem will be which lenses to take .

Gwynn, I think polariser and an ND4 might be better. An ND2 isn't much really.

I went for a 3 stop ND Cokin (or something) on the basis that at camera iso 100, it will give me the equivalent of iso 12 (3 stops down from iso100); at iso 200 an equiv of iso 25 (2 stops down from iso 100); and iso 400, and equivalent of iso 50 (1 stop down from iso 100).

This on my K10D where camera iso 400 is still fairly noise free!

I hope that makes sense!
Andy

My choice, if I had them would be the Pentax DA 12-24, though around water I might be tempted to take the DA* 16-50! Both are on my shopping list!

We did a short trip to Vancouver Island, flying out of Seattle on a float plane - great views as we went up Puget Sound and across to Victoria (which is a lovely 'city').

I really liked Portland, and we did the coastal drive for a short distance, and visited Silver Falls (was relying on lifts with the friends we were staying with, apart from when we were on V.I.).

I mainly was using a Lubitel 166U at the time, so most of my shots were with a standard lens.

Dan

i've done the float 'plane too... vancouver to victoria, then victoria to seattle. we were the only two at immigration as it's usually just used by 'commuters'.

you can get a bus from seattle centre to the cascades! it goes to North Bend, hope of Twin peaks. also stops at snoqualmie falls, as featured in the series. it's a regular saettle bus, so costs a couple of dollars.

also in seattle, take a ferry out to the islands. great views of the skyline from them. also good views from west seattle/alki beach.

can you fly into Oregon as your first stop? i haven't been for years, but didn't think Portland had international status as an airport, so you wouldn't be able to do immigration there. i'd never encountered big queues when entering at seattle as there's only a couple of international flights from the east (most are from the orient, which is to the west - is that makes sense).

sorry, nothing to do with filters.

Gwynn,

If you are into scenics, could I suggest you give a look at a drive on the Alaska Highway, from the U.S. through Canada and back in the U.S. (Alaska), instead. Some of the most outstanding scenery are on this highway in the Canadian Rockies and then Yukon and finally Alaska. To me, it is worth every penny you could spend on that trip. Whatever you decide, I hope it is going to be to your liking. Good luck in your planning.

Canada is on the list. We have family and friends there, in Newfoundland, the Toronto area and in the Canadian Rockies in some tiny town stuck in the middle of nowhere, so we are hoping and planning eventually to make a really long trip across Canada, probably partly by train, since VIA offers some good ticket deals for seniors (like my other half!). This time we will stick to the US I think. There is enough to see in those two states to fill our three weeks, and a few more weeks besides.

Yes, Portland is an international airport with direct flights from Amsterdam - hence our decision to fly in there rather than Seattle. Sadly an open jaw flight costs a lot more or we may ave flown out of Seattle.

I've ordered a ND4 filter btw.