Ever see a picture like the one above and wonder how the effect of smooth water and blurred clouds was achieved? One of the new trends in photography is using a specialized filter called a 10X neutral density (ND) filter, like the one shown below, to produce these types of results.

When you take pictures during the day, your camera needs just a fraction of a second to record an image. So things like water, clouds, leaves, people, etc. tend to be very sharp and detailed. Trying to take a time exposure lasting several seconds, although something that works well at night, overexposes your image during the day as too much light floods into your camera.

As you can see, the glass on this filter is very dark and it acts like an exceptionally strong pair of sunglasses, allowing just a fraction of the light that would normally hit your camera's sensor to get through (one tenth of the light to be exact). So it becomes possible with the use of a tripod to take longer exposures, typically between 10 - 30 seconds, during the day.  This creates effects like the one shown in the above photo as clouds drift across the sky and the water moves while the camera shutter is open. These types of filters also come in lower strengths that limit the amount of light hitting the sensor to a lesser degree, but the 10X version is best for creating these types of surreal images. It works particularly well for things like landscapes that include waterfalls, lakes and clouds, giving a dreamlike appearance to your pictures.