Using your smartphone like an ND filter!

[Claire M]

I came across this article which I thought I'd share, so if you haven't your ND filter handy for that beautiful sunset water shot or for any other occasion you're needing one, just use your phone with your camera and you can take a much better photo than what you would without the filter.

Here's the link to show you how:
http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-to-use-your-smartphone-as-a-graduated-neutral-density-filter/

It just goes to show how versatile your phone can be!
Cheers!

[ricktas]

Haven't used my phone, but I have used my hand to do similar.

[arthurking83]

in the old days photogs used to use a card of some sort .. paper/cardboard/etc.

I was 'taught' to use the card method.
You held the card or paper by a corner and had it touching the lens as the cards flexibility wasn't strong enough to move the camera lens to cause vibrations.

taught = some hints and tips from ex father in law.

Tried it once or twice and it seemed to work really well, but as the article says you if you use your phone and touch the lens, you'll cause some vibrations.

When I started using the Cokin filters sets I originally used the holder mounted to the lens, but found that it was cumbersome to set it all up, then pack it all only to set it up again a short while later again at the next location.
In the end I barely used the holder and just held the filter(almost always a grad) by hand in front of the lens. you held the filter within your fingers by the very edges to not smear the filter surfaces.

I moved on from the Cokin set to get larger filters which are way too hard to hold by hand(150mm as opposed to the old 80-ish mm) and just couldn't hold the large filters by hand well enough.

Note that if your exposure is getting into the 10sec range, if you did hit the camera/lens(very slightly), it doesn't cause blur in the image!
There is a critical range of exposures where it would.
Never really tested it properly, but somewhere between 1/60 and about 5sec if you touched the camera you'd get blur.
longer than about 5sec and even if you did accidentally touch the camera .. no (real) blur to affect the image in any significant way!

[Mark L]

Finally a reason to get a mobile phone. Yep this dinosaur doesn't have one yet.
Used to do this with the interior paper from a cigarette box. That was before digital though.
Yeah, luddite went digital, gave up smoking and has a landline for a phone. (thank goodness I figured how to get an email address so I could join AP and post this) If only I could figure layers in PS.