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Thread: Who can teach me how to use a Graduated ND filter?

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  1. #1
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    Re: Who can teach me how to use a Graduated ND filter?



    For sunsets and sunrises, you are probably looking for a reverse nd grad filter. It will get the sunrise/sunset near the horizon and not darken up the sky too much.


    I use ND grad filters often. They adjust the difference between the overly bright (blown-out) sky and the landscape shot. Great clouds make the shot always...

  2. #2
    Senior Member alex's Avatar
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    Re: Who can teach me how to use a Graduated ND filter?



    J. Huyer,


    Thanks for the link, that was a great article.


    Does anyone know, if I were to purchase the Cokin "P" series filter holder that is talked about in the article the link goes to, is my B&W circular polarizer compatible with it?


    I would really like to incorporate the Grad ND filter system into my landscape photography, but I
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    Re: Who can teach me how to use a Graduated ND filter?



    Hey there Alex, if you arent out in the freezing cold, there

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    Moderator Steve U's Avatar
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    Re: Who can teach me how to use a Graduated ND filter?



    Beautiful image Erno, I saw an article the other day, where the photographer reversed his lens hood and used to big red rubber bands to hold a welding filter in place for a 40 sec exposure in the middle of the day.


    Have you used this method of holding a filter in place? It is a lot easier if you have a petal type lens hood, the rubber bands just slip over that and stretch to the filter in the front.


    Steve
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  5. #5
    Senior Member alex's Avatar
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    Re: Who can teach me how to use a Graduated ND filter?



    Quote Originally Posted by erno james


    ...if you arent out in the freezing cold, there's always the free option of hand holding the filtersin front of the screwed in CPL. i have been using a CPL with a 3 stop grad and a 2 stop soft handheld, but it is kinda a pain. it works though.



    That's a nice shot, erno! I like the idea. I suppose if I'm just getting into using a ND filter, the bare-handed hold may be the place to start. If it doesn't work, I can always get more stuff, right?


    And as was also pointed out (sorry, I can't remember who, and I searched for 15 minutes and couldn't figure out how to quote more than one person in one post at the same time), a petal-shaped hood and a rubber band might make for a good holder. I have the petal-shaped 17-55mm hood, so that might work fine.


    It seems that a soft-gradient 3-stop ND filter might be where to start.


    Alex
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    70D --- EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 --- EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS --- EF 70-200mm f/4L IS --- EF 85mm f/1.8

  6. #6
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    Re: Who can teach me how to use a Graduated ND filter?



    Yes, your B+W screw on filter will fit behind the cokin-P holder.


    When shooting landscape, my polarizer stays on my lens. I add the cokin-P holder in front and put on a modified cokin-P hood as well. I've even put my ND400 screw-on filter, my B+W deep CPL and the cokin holder and not gotten any vignetting...


    You should start with a 2 stop soft ND grad. If you're just getting into this, the order to purchase these would be...


    1. B+W KSM or Marumi Super DHG CPL


    2. Cokin-P holder (less than $4 on ebay)


    3. Hitech or Singh-Ray 2 stop Soft ND grad (on ebay, used Singh-Ray's are about $75, New Hitech's are about $30)


    4. Hitech or Singh-Ray 2 stop Hard ND grad


    5. Singh-Ray Daryl Benson reverse ND grad 3 stop


    Then, fill in the 2 and 3 stop filters before purchasing the 1 stops...



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    Re: Who can teach me how to use a Graduated ND filter?



    Another repost...

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    Re: Who can teach me how to use a Graduated ND filter?






    This was shot with a 3 stop soft grad filter and a screw-on CPL. I then brought it into lightroom and applied a grad filter and brought it back one stop...








    My histogram ends up being a nicely formed bump right in the middle. This allows me to crank up the contrast. If the shot is kept within a 5 stop range, everything behaves well and it's an easy edit in lightroom...



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    Re: Who can teach me how to use a Graduated ND filter?



    Here

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