ND Grad Filter

[pchidell]

Seeing as there isn't a 'stupid questions' forum, I'll post here...

How, exactly, does the above filter work? For darkening the sky etc. do you twist it like a polarizing filter? Is it a good investment and does it really make a difference to the sky:land brightness/contrast ratio? :shrug:

Basically, I'm having problems with my landscape photos: the sky is always either too bright or the ground too dark. So will one of these filters change/help this?

Sorry about all the nooby questions but it's something I've been wondering about for a while.

Thanks!

 

[68lbs]

How, exactly, does the above filter work?

The image below should be self explanatory...

...dark bit over the bright area, clear bit over the dark area.

 

[nowler]

in short, most folks that use nd grads use the square grad filters that slide up and down in a filder holder that you screw onto the front of the lens. these allow you to slide the grad up and down to place the dark part over the sky and the clear part over the land etc. etc.

they come in different strengths and different types, eg 1,2 or 3 stops of difference and hard grads and soft grads. hard is a shapr jump from dark to light, soft is a gradual blend ......

to solve your problems, you either need to shoot several exposures of the same shot and exposure blend to create a correct image, or you'll need a grad of the suitable strength and get it right in one shot.

good grad filters like lee are pretty expensive, but they are superb. exposure blending will take a tripod and a bit of knowledge with photoshop or similar.........

i use lee grads and like them a lot. they're handy when you don't want to lug tripods up mountains....

hopefully this helps, if you need anything clarified, ask away.

d.

 

[pchidell]

Thanks for the image 68lbs - it was pretty much self explanatory but nowler's explanation made everything else clear - thank you both!

I'm hopeless at HDRing and I've only got Photoshop CS1 so I think I'll go for a ND filter - seems the best solution!

 

[jerry12953]

Thanks for the image 68lbs - it was pretty much self explanatory but nowler's explanation made everything else clear - thank you both!

I'm hopeless at HDRing and I've only got Photoshop CS1 so I think I'll go for a ND filter - seems the best solution!

If you can afford them - get more than one. They come in different strengths of grey (densities). I've got a 1 stop and a 2 stop.

You don't actually need the holder. Especially if you use a tripod, you can just hold the filter firmly against the outer rim of the lens.

And yes, they really do work!

 

[68lbs]

You don't actually need the holder. Especially if you use a tripod, you can just hold the filter firmly against the outer rim of the lens.

I know i've only been into this photography thing for a short period of time, but you nearly always say this when filters are mentioned and I just don't get it.

Surely holding a filter in place is like putting your camera on a tripod, setting it all up nicely, then using your finger to press the shutter. Are you not risking all sorts of movement and camera shake? :shrug:

 

[Scooby Doo]

Absoloutly. My soloution is to use the timer - allows the camera 'movement' to stabalise then all is good.

 

[theMusicMan]

Spot on advice here really. Yes of course you could have such a high shutter speed that movement on the camera won't be noticed, but if you have gone to the trouble to set up a shot with filters, on a tripod, then it is usually better to use a 2sec delay on shutter release I'd say. Why risk spoiling what may have been a great shot.

Here's a 4 shot pano I did the other evening whilst my daughter was at rugby training. I used a tripod, a polariser filter, and an ND4 grad filter on the Oly 11-22mm lens for each shot. Stitched in Autopano pro.

 

[Andysnap]

Also if you use the correct filter holder you can stack them, I sometimes use 3 filters light and medium 1 way up and dark the other. This allows you take those long exposure, soft water shots without having to buy a 10 stop nd filter.

Andy