After days of relentless rain, the local Gloucester River had started spilling over. Time to grab the camera and head to a local park for a photo shoot.
After days of rain, we finally got a break and decided to go to the local Gloucester District Park and see what the river would look like. We knew the water level was going to be elevated, but we didn't expect the river to be this high. What is normally a pleasant, little stream had turned into a fast moving current of water, carrying tree trunks, branches, and other debris along with it. Many of the footpaths in the park had been submerged and a local Parkrun event had been cancelled that morning. And for good reason!
Gloucester has experienced floods in the past, with some being much worse than the current situation. In 2021, large areas of the town and its surroundings were inundated, leading to extensive water damage to homes and shops. Fortunately, the flooding this week was not nearly as severe.
ND Filter or Not?
With the rapid flow of water, experimenting with slow shutter speeds to achieve a dreamy effect, almost like a waterfall moving horizontally, was going to be interesting. However, the light was too bright to stop down my camera enough to get the effect I wanted.
But rather than attaching an NF filter to my lens, my OM-1 camera has a Live ND Mode setting that simulates an ND filter.
You can select from one of 5 different ND steps, from ND2 all the way up to ND64. The camera will record a number of consecutive shots (64 shots when using the ND64 filter setting), and combine them into a single image. The result is saved as a JPEG or RAW file, or both. It's pretty amazing what OM System's computational settings can do. While I have a physical ND filter, it was much more convenient to use the in-camera ND setting. Another advantage is that Live ND Mode can be used when physical filters can't be used on lenses such as my 7-14mm wide angle lens that have highly curved front elements.
The Results
While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I have to say I am very pleased and impressed with the results. Similar to when you use a physical ND filter, you have to be mindful of moving objects - such as tree branches moving in the wind or the water - that may unintentionally become blurry as well (you will notice this with some of the branches in the submerged true in the picture above). The Live ND Mode setting obviously can't defy the laws of physics! But when used sensibly, the results will be amazing and the resulting RAW files can be post-processed just like any other RAW file.
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