Live Composite as a poor man's ND filter?

Hi all!

So, as far as I understand, Olympus' Live Composite mode first takes a baseline picture, then continuously keeps shooting with pre-arranged settings and replaces parts of the original image with the parts of the picture that appear brighter in the consequent photos. Is that about correct? I've tried it with light-painting and it works great.

So, my question is: could I use this feature for abstract seascapes like this?


My understanding is that the waves will continue to create white reflections where they break, and eventually replace the original picture of the water with white mist.

Before I go out and make my way to the sea, is there anything I'm not seeing? Has anyone tried this?

I don't see why it wouldn't work, provided there is nothing moving in the scene that one doesn't want blurred -- like trees.

I'll be interested in the responses to your question by people who have tried it, as I have considered the same issue. So far I've only used Live Composite for some star trails and firework shots, but want to experiment with some daylight scenes.

Auf Reisen said:

Hi all!

So, as far as I understand, Olympus' Live Composite mode first takes a baseline picture, then continuously keeps shooting with pre-arranged settings and replaces parts of the original image with the parts of the picture that appear brighter in the consequent photos. Is that about correct?

Click to expand...

Yes, you got it exactly right.

Auf Reisen said:

So, my question is: could I use this feature for abstract seascapes like this?

http://www.alpercukur.com/gallery_211722.html
My understanding is that the waves will continue to create white reflections where they break, and eventually replace the original picture of the water with white mist.

Click to expand...

Yes, but it's not gonna be the same. A lot depends on the scene. How big the waves are, how fast they move around, how bright they are (so lighting conditions), and so on. And of course, on exposure duration. Here's a Live Composite shot at 15 seconds for each frame, and despite that it's still not as smooth as you would expect from the total amount of exposure time (which was probably something about 20 minutes). With a short exposure, like 1/10s for example, I doubt it would work that well.

Auf Reisen said:

Before I go out and make my way to the sea, is there anything I'm not seeing? Has anyone tried this?

Click to expand...

I tried it on clouds. The effect is interesting, but completely different to long exposures.

If you want to simulate long exposure, set your camera to burst mode and lock the shutter button (remote release cable, WiFi, whatever) and keep it shooting for 10, 20, 60, 180 seconds or however long you want. Once you get home, merge the images together with averaging in whatever software is available to you. You will get silky smooth, noiseless image.

You will not get totally smooth results, but it may be even more interesting, depending on your base exposure. If you are shooting in daytime, you will still need an ND filter to get your shutter speed down to 1/2 second or slower, as that is the LC limit.

i've done quite a bit of daytime LC shooting, but have found my best results have been with slow-moving clouds or water.

Forget about my crappy composition but these two shots were done with Live Composite. The clouds don't appear as smooth as the examples you linked.

BTW, ND filters aren't that expensive. B&H prices for a 10 stop 46mm ND: B&W for $67, Tiffen is only $17.

I think the biggest difference to a ND filter is that you don't have full control over the exposure time. LiveComp can provide similar results in shooting situations when it's darker outside. But if you want to shoot let's say the motion of a waterfall in bright daylight you're out of luck because the minimum base exposure time of LiveComp is already too long and results in a overexposed photo.

PatrickZ said:

I think the biggest difference to a ND filter is that you don't have full control over the exposure time. LiveComp can provide similar results in shooting situations when it's darker outside. But if you want to shoot let's say the motion of a waterfall in bright daylight you're out of luck because the minimum base exposure time of LiveComp is already too long and results in a overexposed photo.

Click to expand...

Actually, you can do waterfalls in daylight with Live Composite if you also use an ND filter.





--
Jim Salvas
"You miss 100% of the shots you never take." - Wayne Gretzky

--
Jim Salvas
"You miss 100% of the shots you never take." - Wayne Gretzky

Jim, are you from the New England area? That looks suspiciously like Rockport Harbor in Massachusetts. I myself live in Acton, MA and grew up in Boston.

Louis

Louis Calisi said:

Jim, are you from the New England area? That looks suspiciously like Rockport Harbor in Massachusetts. I myself live in Acton, MA and grew up in Boston.

Louis

Click to expand...

That's Rockport, but I took it on a trip through late last Spring. We loved the area.

Uhm, ya... that's my point... you need an ND filter (and therefore LiveComp is not a replacement for a ND filter in daylight)

Those are some really interesting examples.

From what I gather, LC is no real substitute for an ND filter, but offers some really interesting creative possibilities apart from the obvious (fireworks, light painting). I should definitely fool around with it more!

Thank you all!

That is a great idea! I'm a bit intimidated by the prospect of having to handle so many pictures in PP though.

PatrickZ said:

Uhm, ya... that's my point... you need an ND filter (and therefore LiveComp is not a replacement for a ND filter in daylight)

Click to expand...

Yes. I pointed that out in my first reply.