Back in the good old days before digital shooting one of the most useful gadgets the outdoor photographer could buy was the neutral density graduated filter. Designed to reduce the amount of light entering through half of a lens, they brought the scene into balance by controlling contrast, which in turn gave the film a chance to capture a vista more accurately. Any self respecting landscaper had one in his or her bag. I started out using the cheap and cheerful variety, but soon found that in a fairly short period of time the dyes in the filter would fade, the result being skies more akin to those of a nuclear winter rather than the pastoral scene I was trying to record for posterity.
Although I did eventually replace them with something more professional - and continued to use them with digital shooting - once I started editing with Adobe Camera Raw - and later - Adobe Lightroom, they tended to be left behind on photographic sessions. After all, gradients can easily be added in post production, right? Well, yes, but it isn't the same, and the less retouching the better for the quality of the final image. Quite why it was today that I decided to dust-off "the grads" I have no idea, but I'm glad I did as they make life so much easier in the field. I suspect a resurgence.
12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/80 second at f/11. Matrix metering. 0.9 soft graduated Lee ND filter. Monopod. ISO 400
© 2015
2 comments:
I'm with you. I had (still do) a bunch of nice filters for my Cannon 35mm. I thought I was all that when I had some of those shots developed with the amber graduated filter.
Same here, Tim. Nothing dates a photograph like those with the coloured grads over the sky, eh? ;-)
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