ND Grad Filters Advice

[PointnShoot]

I've bought the Cokin P Series filter kit from Amazon to try and improve my landscapes and get better sky exposure and detail.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000A40M22/ref=...

This is taking a step up for me, I literally have been a point and shoot snapper, so I'm trying to broaden my experience.

I would appreciate any tips, advice etc, ie how to use as nothing comes with the kit whatsoever, or is it a case of trial and error? Can it be used in conjunction with a polariser filter?

Thanks

[SamHH]

PointnShoot said:

I've bought the Cokin P Series filter kit from Amazon to try and improve my landscapes and get better sky exposure and detail.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000A40M22/ref=...

This is taking a step up for me, I literally have been a point and shoot snapper, so I'm trying to broaden my experience.

I would appreciate any tips, advice etc, ie how to use as nothing comes with the kit whatsoever, or is it a case of trial and error? Can it be used in conjunction with a polariser filter?

Thanks

Yes, trial and error. But they're very simple to use: you put the dark part of the filter over the part of the scene you want to make darker (usually the sky). Use a hard-transition filter for scenes where the change between light and dark is abrupt; use a soft-transition filter for scenes where the change between light and dark is gradual or doesn't follow a straight line.

They can be used with a polariser.

[Gad-Westy]

PointnShoot said:

I've bought the Cokin P Series filter kit from Amazon to try and improve my landscapes and get better sky exposure and detail.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000A40M22/ref=...

This is taking a step up for me, I literally have been a point and shoot snapper, so I'm trying to broaden my experience.

I would appreciate any tips, advice etc, ie how to use as nothing comes with the kit whatsoever, or is it a case of trial and error? Can it be used in conjunction with a polariser filter?

Thanks

You can certainly use a polariser with them though I understand that ideally you'd have the polarise mounted furthest away from the lens. I usually adjust the polariser before sliding the grad into position.

In terms of usage, your biggest problem can be seeing the graduate transition line in the viewfinder. It's a lot easier to see a hard grad than a soft grad. And the darker the grad, the easier it is to see. I typically use 2.5 stop ones now and they aren't too bad to spot.

A couple of things that can help you. If your camera has depth of field preview, use it as it'll help you see the grad line. You can also use live view for the same result. Also get used to using the histogram to check that your shadows are moving toward the right or your highlights are moving left if that makes sense.

[paul911]

You could guess, but it would be more accurate to point the camera at the sky and take a meter reading, then point to the ground and take a meter reading, the difference between the two is the grad you should use.

[binliner]

As above, it needn't be trial and error if you follow Paul's method.

To add to that, if your camera has live view it makes positioning the filter easier (not to mention composition and focusing)

[tenohfive]

I'm still very much learning myself but am not rushing to buy grad ND's based on the statement that they can almost always be reproduced in PP. How much truth is there to that statement?

[binliner]

tenohfive said:

I'm still very much learning myself but am not rushing to buy grad ND's based on the statement that they can almost always be reproduced in PP. How much truth is there to that statement?

They can be reproduced in PP providing you haven't blown out any detail in the sky. The only way to be sure that doesn't happen is to bracket your shots, exposing for the sky and foreground separately and then combining the two shots in photoshop.

Or you could use grads and get it right in camera... personally I went for the latter. I've nothing against photoshop though and occasionally grads aren't practical and I do the former but I prefer to do as much in camera as possible.

[PointnShoot]

Thanks for the replies. I'll just get out there and see what works. Cheers