ND Filter in portrait photography

Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding ND Filters. I have been reading they are very good for waterfalls; outdoor photos; but I also heard they work well with portrait photography. I have looked up some basic/simple videos explaining how I would used it when taking a picture of someone, but haven't found anything useful. Can someone please share with me how to use an ND filter when taking a portrait?

thanks :)

The best way to fully understand its usefulness in portraiture is to experiment with it. But think of it in terms of having total control of ambient lighting. you can stop down the background really effectively, but maintain a shallow depth of field while using studio lighting or flash to light the subject.

I use ND filters to reduce the light, obviouss right :)

this allows to use the lens wide open, or wider open, where if the filter is not used the correct exposure with the desired wide aperture may force the speed over the maximum possible in your camera

I have also used in combination with flash if ambient takes the exposure speed over 1/250 or whatever sync speed from your camera an ND filter can help get into the speed range the falsh/camera can sync correctly

An example using the ND to get the speed under 1/250 so the flash can sync (triggerred with a Radio)
http://armando-m.smugmug.com/Fashion..._DSC9245-L.jpg
3 stop ND filter
1/160 f/2.8 85mm iso 50 sb700 flash 2m left of the model at about 1/4 power

thank you for your replies :)

that is a great photo, armando!

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