Which ND filter?

Bubby

Bubby

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Hey guys

So I'm getting to grips with my D90 :bonk:

I have a slight problem in that I always seem to have the sky blown out when I'm out and about. Its always cloudy here in NI & the white cloud plays havoc with my exposure. Now I had a quick google & I believe that a natural density filter will help?

Is that right - can any one recommend one for my D90?

Oh, 1 other question, would blown out sky cause pics to be oof?

Any help would be appreciated!
 
Unfortunately it's not just the one you'll need if you need to be able to take lots of sky photos :(

They vary in density and soft/hard ness.
Most common one's people buy

Hard ND Grad - 0.3 (1 stop)
Hard ND Grad - 0.6 (2 stops)
Hard ND Grad - 0.9 (3 stops)

Soft ND Grad - 0.3 (1 stop)
Soft ND Grad - 0.6 (2 stops)
Soft ND Grad - 0.9 (3 stops)

Hard - a harsh difference from the black half to the clear half
Soft - a more graduated difference from black half to clear half.

Hope that helps :)
 
Jamie is talking about ND Grads - neutral density graduated filters. They're dark at the top fading to clear.

They are usually square and you have to mount them in a holder so you can slide them up and down to control where the light-dark transition sits in the picture. Cokin (cheaper) and Lee (better quality) are the main brands.

The alternative is to try high dynamic range (HDR) technique which costs nothing but has to be done in post processing.
 
HoppyUK said:
Jamie is talking about ND Grads - neutral density graduated filters. They're dark at the top fading to clear.

They are usually square and you have to mount them in a holder so you can slide them up and down to control where the light-dark transition sits in the picture. Cokin (cheaper) and Lee (better quality) are the main brands.

The alternative is to try high dynamic range (HDR) technique which costs nothing but has to be done in post processing.
Click to expand...

Sorry I should have explained myself a little bit more, just read the thread and assumed he was looking for Grads rather than explaining what they are and what they do :lol:

ND Filters - Are tinted on the whole of the filter, generally used to slow down the shutter speed for long exposure shots, or what a wide aperture is required in bright sunlight. Using these will still keep a white sky problem that you are experiencing as the sky is brighter than the ground.

For this reason you would use an ND Graduated Filter, which is tinted on one half and clear on the other half. You use the clear half on the ground and the tinted half on the sky to make the sky darker (back to the same exposure as the ground) You can do this by using different strength of graduated filters.

Again they are usually in a square filter and require a filter holder (plus an adaptor ring to attach it to your lens)

Sorry I wasn't that clear before
 
Thanks for the help guys.

I was just slightly pee'd of taking pictures of a black dog with the sky in the background & them being blown out. I think Ill just keep messing about?

It is hard/impossible to take a picture of said dog in front of clouds though - is it?
 
Bubby said:
I was just slightly pee'd of taking pictures of a black dog with the sky in the background & them being blown out. I think Ill just keep messing about?

It is hard/impossible to take a picture of said dog in front of clouds though - is it?
Click to expand...

As has been said, possibly try HDR or even use a little fill-in flash?

Because there's no definitive line horizontally across your composition, an ND Grad filter will be relatively useless.
 
Bubby said:
Thanks for the help guys.

I was just slightly pee'd of taking pictures of a black dog with the sky in the background & them being blown out. I think Ill just keep messing about?

It is hard/impossible to take a picture of said dog in front of clouds though - is it?
Click to expand...

This is where HDR would be better I expect. Taking multiple exposures to expose correctly for both the dog, background and the sky and post processing the images to get the desired result. :thumbs:

This is just from what I've read though as I haven't tried it myself.
 
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