As some of you may know from my previous posts, I am a sucker for any filter that stops down light coming into the camera. Neutral density filters can be used to blend exposures, make ocean waves appear creamy and ethereal, and make daytime clouds look like they're soaring by at hundreds of miles an hour. Recently, however, I discovered another innovative use for these deeply-tinted pieces of glass: making busy city streets appear empty and lifeless.
Lucie & Simon, French and German born photographers respectively, have done just that. By using a super-strong neutral density filter, they took photos of city streets around the world at shutter speeds of minutes or more. Thus, any movement within the frame - cars, people, birds - are completely absent from the photo, since they move so quickly. What results is an eerie look into what our cities would be like without any sort of life to fill them. Interestingly, a few of their photos contain a single person hidden away in the frame, as if they are the lone explorers left to fend for themselves in a suddenly desolate world.
You'll need a good solid tripod, intervalometer (if you need to go beyond the 1/2 hour shutter speed limit on most cameras), and a near pitch-black ND filter for something like this. A good helping of patience will do the trick, too. Anyone care to combine this with rooftopping?
Tim Kauger is a blogger and photographer based in Short Hills, NJ. You can visit his website here.