Sunsets.... (and filters)

[PVO_Dave]

Going to Turkey in May D) and would like to capture some of the sunsets etc..

I'm completely new to filters, but am thinking that something like an ND filter on my 24-105 would help so I can keep the shutter open for longer, am I barking up the wrong tree?

What would you suggest?

Ta,
Dave.

 

[redhed17]

Your title says 'Sunsets', but you mention ND filters. :shrug:

If you are after sunsets, then Graduated ND filters would be more helpful imho.

The ND Grad will help balance the large exposure difference between the land and the sky. Handy for landscapes, not just at sunset.

The ND filter just reduces the amount of light entering the camera. Useful when you wanted a longer shutter speed than the light conditions let your camera give you. Handy for getting long shutter speeds on a waterfall for example.

 

[PD_BARBS]

no you are spot on, Lee filters are the best to get but tend to be pricy, I use a set of Hi Tech filters which come in at £30 for a set of three and they are pretty good and fit nicely into a Cokin P holder.

 

[Uneducated_Rick]

ND would not help in way what soever as all they would do is give you longer shutter time without altering the exposure.

What you need is what redhed17 said, ND Grad - these will darken the sky allowing you to still expose for sky whilst not crushing the lowlight details in everything else

 

[VMaxPaul]

I was going to ask the same kind of question concerning filters for landscapes,
had already thought of ND Grads, so just to expand the thread slightly do you have to buy a holder of some kind to hold the NDG in front of the lens ?

Am I right in thinking they are square in shape rather than round - as in UV
or polarisers ?

 

[Uneducated_Rick]

I was going to ask the same kind of question concerning filters for landscapes,
had already thought of ND Grads, so just to expand the thread slightly do you have to buy a holder of some kind to hold the NDG in front of the lens ?

Am I right in thinking they are square in shape rather than round - as in UV
or polarisers ?

Holder or not is personal choice. I'd say yes, that way there is no shake or anything, some people like blutac and some just hold it themselves. If you're spending £150ish on a set of Lee NDGs then it seems silly not to get the holder IMO.

I think you can get round screw in NDG but it seems a bit more difficult to use effectively as the line will always be in the same part of the screen and can only rotate rather than move vertically. Essentially the line would dictate your composition.

Polarisers can be either square slot in or round. Depending on what holder set up you use the square can be inserted and rotated independantly, or a round one dropped in and rotated, or a round on on the front which can be rotated within a special polariser ring

 

[HoppyUK]

There's usually no need for any filter for a sunset, but it will likely result in dark foregound and trees etc silhouetted against the sky. This is usually what you want.

But if you want to darken a bright sky and keep some foregound detail, which is very common in general landscape photography, then use a grad (or maybe a polariser). Blue and tobacco colours are popular, but a plain gray neutral density (ND) grad is most generally useful.

The square grads are part of a filter system, which comprises a multiple filter holder and a screw mount adaptor. They can be a bit fiddly to use but that's not a problem if you're taking your time and maybe using a tripod, and they give very good results. In particular, you can move the line of the grad up and down easily.

You can still do this with a regular circular grad, by altering the lens aperture. Small (dark) lens apertures exagerate the effect of the grad as increased depth of field pulls the line down, or you can get subtle effects with wide (bright) apertures. The other thing to note is that with wide-angles the effect of the grad is emphasised, and reduced with longer lenses.

Bottom line is, for sunsets you can probably go commando, for general landscapes an ND grad is very handy, and square ones are more versatile than round.

 

[instamatic]

Hi. A .6ND hard grad and a .9ND hard grad are worth the investment. A circular polar is also quite useful. Sometimes I handhold, but a holder is favourite especially if your using the 6 & 9 at the same time.

 

[Lensflare]

blu tac makes for a useful filter holder....just keep it to the edges out of shot!