fbpx
Education Field Instructional

How to Use a Graduated ND Filter for Landscape Images

Chris Gampat
No Comments
10/07/2014
2 Mins read

Last Updated on 10/07/2014 by Chris Gampat

Graduated ND Filter

Graduated ND filters are used by landscape photographers and have been for many years. They let the photographer capture the equivalent of an HDR image in a single photo. So what are they? They’re a piece of glass that starts out very dark at the top to cut down light gathering abilities while the bottom clear. The light transmission becomes greater and greater as you get closer to the bottom. When placed in front of your lens, you can place the top part of the filter over the sky to cut down the light coming in and therefore clearly expose for the shadows.

The most obvious examples of their use are for horizon photos and images shot during the golden hour. When combined with a low ISO and a narrow aperture, they can also allow the photographer to capture long and dreamy exposures. Way before the age of digital photography, film photographers would use graduated ND filters before doing any sort of dodging and burning in the darkroom.

PhotoPlus Mag did a video a while back about how to use a graduated ND filter that does an excellent job of explaining how to use them (sans the slightly boring host). They even show the typical high contrast example where the scene has deep shadows and very bright highlights. In modern day, the best digital camera sensors may probably be able to capture these scenes without needing a filter. However, you’ll need to have a very flat color profile and do a lot of post-production work.

The video is after the jump.



graduated nd filter highlights How to Use a Graduated ND Filter landscape nd filter shadows
Shares
Written by

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
You might also like
Education

So What Exactly is a Petzval Lens?

3 Mins read
07/25/2013

Ever seen portraits that had a fascinating swirl-like bokeh and field curvature, but never knew how it was done? Well it all lies in the Petzval lens design, and we’re sharing some of its storied past.

Pauleth Ip The Phoblographer Sony FE 24mm f1.4 GM Product Image 3 of 5
Education Learn

Can 24mm Prime Lenses be Used for Street Photography Successfully?

2 Mins read
12/14/2018

Many photographers will tell you that the ideal prime lenses for street photography are 35mm lenses, 40mm lenses, and the trusty 50mm lens. These three lenses are considered to be perfect for street photography because they closely replicate what the human eye sees naturally. Usually you’ll find that anything longer than 50mm just won’t capture enough of a scene to tell a story, while anything wider than 35mm can create images that lack intimacy. Recently photographer and YouTuber Pierre. T Lambert decided to try 24mm prime lenses for street photography. After the jump you can watch the video and can see what he found out.

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Fujifilm GFX 50S sample images portraits extras (33 of 56)ISO 1001-250 sec at f - 4.0
Features

Fujifilm: Please Make More Cameras with a Real ISO 100 Setting

3 Mins read
12/17/2018

Though your camera systems are great, I continue to become more and more concerned about where your camera system is going. When I first became enthralled with the Fujifilm system, the promise of full frame performance with an APS-C sensor held true. At the time, my Fujifilm X Pro 1 put my Canon 5D Mk II to shame. The Canon almost never came out with me and instead I’d have the Fujifilm adorned around my shoulder. But today, I can’t always say the same thing.