Neutral Density Grey

The Single Best Lesson In Landscape Photography

At the time I learned this lesson I was a keen landscape photographer, but something was not quite right with my photographs. They were well composed and the subject matter was perfect, but they lacked impact and appeared to be poor quality. When I looked at similar scenes by professionals they had vibrant colours, stunning sky and lots of detail in the foreground. In comparison, my shots were pretty hit and miss, some worked but the majority didn’t.

Whilst reviewing some my better shots one day it hit me what was going wrong. My best shots were taken using Neutral Density graduated filters or ND Grads. These are the filters that are half neutral grey and half clear. You attach to the front of your lens, placing the dark part over the bright sky and the clear part over the ground to help balance exposure. Often the sky is too bright in comparison to the ground. This results in either a well exposed sky but underexposed foreground or a correctly exposed foreground and a very light sky. Either way your photos just don’t impress.

What really struck me was that I often carried these filters but seldom used them. I was just too lazy to get them out and attach them to the front of my lens. I made a decision that from that point on I would always use a ND Grad unless it was obvious that I didn’t need one.

Now if you have never used ND Grads but want to try them here are a few basics:

• The ND Grad filter comes in two formats, circular which screw on to the front of the lens or square which fit an adapted that you attach to the front of your lens. The square filters are much more versatile as you can move them up and down to position them over the sky. With the circular filters you must move the camera up and down and this can affect your composition.
• Another benefit of the square filter format is that you need only buy adapters to fit the front of your lens. This is much cheaper than buying a new circular filter for each size of lens you have. The downside is that once you a square filter adapter attached to your lens, in most cases the lens cap won’t fit. This is what was putting me off using the filters more as I had to keep removing the adapter rings. I then found out that I could buy separate caps that fitted over the adapter and my problem was solved.
• ND Grads often come in different strengths, the most common being 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9. The 0.3 filter will darken the sky by 1 stop, the 0.6 by 2 stops and the 0.9 by 3 stops. I have found that the 0.6 or two stop filter is the most useful and if I am ever unsure which to use I will start with this one.
• Not all ND Grads are neutral. Some are actually red or purple but you can’t tell until you try them out on your camera. If clouds start to have strange red tint when you use a filter then it’s a fairly safe bet your filter isn’t neutral.

So if you aren’t using ND Grads in your Landscape work think again and watch your photography improve.

About the Author

Robin Whalley is a UK based Landscape Photographer whose work has appeared in magazines such as Canon EOS User, Photography Monthly and Outdoor Photography. His website www.lenscraft.co.uk is packed with photography and tips to help the aspiring photographer.

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