Filter

[Barney]

Ok , I have read some of the older threads on filters , so please bear with me.


I was thinking about getting an NDx2 or an NDx4 filter for landscape/outdoor/wildlife/fishing photography [on a wide angle zoom]. Which should I get? Should I use one at all?

Any other filter[s] I should be considering?

Thanks,

Barney.

[ricktas]

ND filters darken the scene. For general use, they serve not much of a purpose, ie your fishing photos. Basic photography rules mean that the darken the scene, the longer the exposure needed to get a good photo. Where ND filters come in, is with slow water effects, sweeping clouds etc. So for your landscape photography. I am not sure what point an ND would serve for wildlife, fishing etc, other than to blur the animal or fish due to the longer shutter speeds needed.

If you are looking to get rid of glare, increase contrast, create those rich blue skies, invest in a polariser.

[Barney]

Thanks Rick :th3:

[martycon]

Barney I have thought about graduated ND filters for landscape, which makes sense, but this can be applied in editing. If you go graduated lets hear your comments.

[William W]

Barney I have thought about graduated ND filters for landscape, which makes sense, but this can be applied in editing. If you go graduated lets hear your comments.

The main functionality of a Graduated Neutral Density Filter is the selective attenuation of the brighter areas of the scene: for example the sky area of a landscape scene.

If (for example) the sky area is attenuated (using a GND) and the ground area is NOT attenuated - and - the ground area is, in the majority, in shadow (commonly the situation for sunsets and sunrises), then the use of a GND Filter allows for an INCREASE in the exposure of the shot approximately equivalent to the maximum ND Factor of the GND Filter which is used.

This increase in the exposure of the shot allows for more noiseless SHADOW DETAIL to be recorded and subsequently better Shadow Detail to be rendered by the Post Production Procedure.

The same is NOT possible to achieve by Post Production alone, for all these types of shots, when a GND Filter is NOT used.

***

For example – the image below was made: F/10 @ 1/250th @ ISO200 and the Photographer’s Vision was to have the area below the horizon as silhouette – BUT – if the Photographer required the shadow area of the Landscape to have detail, then, employing an HARD EDGE 3 STOP Graduated Neutral Density Filter would have allowed the shot to be made (for one example) at: F/7.1 @ 1/60th @ ISO 200.

That increase in exposure with regard to the SHADOW AREA of the scene could then be leveraged in Post Production to access more detail and less noise in that particular shadow area of the FINAL IMAGE.

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