Neutral Density Filters

We've spent quite a bit of time shooting landscapes (our primary subject because it doesn't move!) and have learned some tricks as we went along to improve our shots. The number one investment (next to our lens) is our graduated neutral density filter and holder.

The grad ND allows us to shoot landscapes where the sky is super bright and the foreground is only so so. This contrast usually means you'll blow out the sky or the foreground will be too dark. With the grad you can try to even the light out so that you don't lose the detail in the whites of the sky and not have to compromise the lighting on the foreground.

The grad generally looks like a 3 x 4in sheet of plastic (or glass if you want to shell out the bucks) that is dark on half and clear on the bottom for which you'll have to buy a mounting bracket that screws into your lens. You can find round ND's but I wouldn't recommend them, the square sheet ones are more versatile (although a bit more expensive I think).

Within the graduated ND, you have a number of different variations - 1, 2, and 3 stops generally and then a hard and a soft edge. The higher the "stops" the more drastic the color change between the dark and the clear parts of the filter. It also means you can deal with a higher degree of light difference (take a sunset for example - bright sun, dark water/land as it sets). The hard edge means there's an abrupt change between the dark and the clear parts of the filter. The soft edge shows a much more graduated color change.

Below are two examples of pictures from our camera. The top was without using and ND filter. You can see that we lost any detail in the sky. But the bottom one uses the grad which allowed us to keep the cloud detail as well as the detail in the foreground.

The grad that we use now is a 2 stop hard edge ND and it's suited us well. Generally the 2 stop soft edge would be a better choice for an all purpose ND but we liked the hard edge because we always had lots of horizons in our shots (sunset shots etc..).

Bottom line, when it comes to these filter, quality does matter. Plastic ones will scratch easier and may not be truly colorless (although they may look like it). The good ones are almost always the most expensive but you'll also find that if properly cared for, they'll last you a lifetime.