ND filter
An example shot of the efficacy of a grad ND filter (gradutated neutral density filter).
As you can see, the bottom of the filter is clear, the same exposure as my foreground grasses and trees. Towards the middle of the filter (graduated), it darkens to a (neutral) gray. The lovely blue sky peeking out is what I wanted, but the foreground is perpetually shadowed by these giant cliffs. Unfortunately, the filter darkens in a straight line and the notch does not. In darkening the sky, it also darkens the lower cliffs to near black, losing all their wonderful color. Now that I am better at combining exposures in PS, I would take the shot with the filter in place to ideally expose the sky and upper cliffs and take a second shot to expose for the middle red cliffs, layering them in to the final shot for the best of both worlds.
I took this both to show the power and the limitations of the grad ND, and find it very effective at doing just that.
Here endeth my Photo Tip o' the Day. :)
Comments and faves
CarlosBravo, KASIACZEK, tarotastic, varohaub, and 558 other people added this photo to their favorites.
toyfoto (81 months ago | reply)
wee cool.
.McCarthy (81 months ago | reply)
I'll go one further.... WEE COOL!
jam-L (81 months ago | reply)
magnifique difference!
[ CK ] (81 months ago | reply)
I love it when photographers experiment.
christyscherrer (81 months ago | reply)
aaaaaahhh, now I get it.
Mark Demeny (81 months ago | reply)
Nicely done - did you have to use a polarizer on your camera to prevent glare/reflection from the filter in your hand?
This shot should be used in tutorials - it really demonstrates the value of a filter.
Machuca (81 months ago | reply)
What a difference that makes!!!
Creative shot.
tarotastic (81 months ago | reply)
Learning with Sara can be fun!! Brilliant demo!
lawatt (81 months ago | reply)
makes everything pretty...
varohaub (81 months ago | reply)
Whoo! Where do I get me one of those? Wait . . . I need a decent camera first. No, I need a camera at all. My little Canon has a broken LCD! :(
*raffaella (81 months ago | reply)
very cool, love the framing... from the thumbnail I was reminded of that brilliant HP ad campaign where the sections of the video footage turned into still images.
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (81 months ago | reply)
lol, you guys are funny...
And I LOVE that HP campaign (tho I cringe to say it, hating ads in general as I do). Fascinating stuff, it is.
fishlamp [deleted] (81 months ago | reply)
seriously... that was a great photo tip! Thanks for sharing!
The Norwegian (81 months ago | reply)
can you show me where i can learn to do that layering stuff? i NEED to learn! hehe
SteveFE (81 months ago | reply)
And you held it steady for 3/5 sec! Go girl, you the best ;-)
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (81 months ago | reply)
Here's a Luminous Landscape tutorial on blending exposures that demonstrates how to use the layer mask. In fact, poke around that site at length, loads of good tutorials there.
grebo guru (81 months ago | reply)
I proclaim this to be one of the most interesting facts I've seen on Flickr!
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (81 months ago | reply)
Steve, I had my hand clamped in a light stand. ;) No, not really. I'm just a cyborg.
Grebo, I'm delighted.
flappingwings (81 months ago | reply)
I knew nothing about the ND filters before. Thanks so much for the tip and the demonstration.
AngelaGilesKlocke [deleted] (81 months ago | reply)
TY for the lesson AND it's an awesome pic all by itself :)
ღWild Lilyღ (81 months ago | reply)
Brilliant :)
Nicole. (81 months ago | reply)
excellent ideea!
Vanhap (81 months ago | reply)
mega ! thx for sharing !!!
looking fwd to the next foto-tip ;-)
tabrandt (81 months ago | reply)
Fun shot.
.Nida (81 months ago | reply)
Great shot and great lesson. Thanks!
Linda's Many Muses (81 months ago | reply)
Thanks Sara.
Can I hire you as my tutor?
(Seriously?)
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (81 months ago | reply)
Linda, I've thought about it. :) There are enough people here locally that I have "tutored" that I keep thinking I should write the tids and bits down somewhere.
Calinago (81 months ago | reply)
Thank you Sara, why don’t you just go on here... ?
-Angela (81 months ago | reply)
What a fabulous example and a great tip of the day!
grebo guru (81 months ago | reply)
Or you could just Photoshop it (if it isn't totally washed-out)
hearman (81 months ago | reply)
Great lesson, thanks, never used one, can see the application, thanks. Great example easy to understand when you see it.
pfong (81 months ago | reply)
Nice to see the filter in action!
emdot (81 months ago | reply)
tutor me! tutor me! i'll buy lunch. ;)
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (81 months ago | reply)
you got a DEAL! ;)
Kyle Jones (81 months ago | reply)
awesome... awesome
Izabug (81 months ago | reply)
you are brilliant! i wish you could teach here, in portland, oregon!
DavidHerd (81 months ago | reply)
Great, very informative.
Scoobymoo (81 months ago | reply)
Useful tip and surreal image. Like a portal into an alternate dimension. Very nice.
jimall (81 months ago | reply)
Brilliant lesson in photo!...thanks!
olympic (81 months ago | reply)
Excellent study photography!I like your explanation!
tychay (81 months ago | reply)
Instead of two exposures, you could always take a single shot in RAW and export two (or more) exposure adjusted images. There will be more digital noise because you have to expose for highlights to avoid clipping, but on the plus side you can handhold it.
I think Adobe Photoshop CS2 has an automatic digital blending feature called "High Dynamic Range". I don’t have CS2 so I can’t comment further.
See this thread.
(I neither have the money nor the discipline required to work with gradient ND filters.)
earth2marsh (81 months ago | reply)
Good lesson! And very well explained. Thank you.
neovoag (81 months ago | reply)
great shot, thanks for the tip!
The Norwegian (81 months ago | reply)
Thank you Sara, i'll definitely dig deeper into this!!! yay! i'll be a pro photographer like you!
c",)
mpg10 (81 months ago | reply)
A good demo of the good and the bad with ND Grads all in one frame. I think this is more effective than the side-by-side shots that most people use to show the difference.
In response to tychay: for the most part, you can really only buy a stop or maybe two with RAW stretching. The HDR stuff seems cool, though it's pretty easy to result in artificial-looking images if you're not careful.
tychay (81 months ago | reply)
mpg10: True, but if you do a -1EV and a +2EV you have three stops of light which is at the most extreme grad ND filters. The +2EV might be a little noisy, but it's nothing a good denoiser (Neat Image or NoiseNinja) can't handle. (I figure you can't really do -2EV safely because of clipping.)
Setting up a grad ND filter requires fine adjustment with a Cokin holder + a DOF button so you get the gradient in the right place. Also you get some unwanted issues (like the canyon in the above shot being entirely in shadow).
Taking two shots in succession requires alignment (usually a tripod) or significant post processing (photomerge) and a non-moving subject.
I guess each has its strengths and weaknesses. :-)
Jacob Cantwell (81 months ago | reply)
now i know what a filter does, thanks for this!
englishaugust (81 months ago | reply)
Amazing.
rskoon (Richard) (81 months ago | reply)
Thank you for the great shot. I have never seen a shot like this before (and I have seen zillions of photo books!). Perfect. an excellent piece of advanced photo education. I lurve it! (... I just read your profile!)
melastmohican (81 months ago | reply)
Great idea, I never tried this with Cokin filter ;-)