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Category: Camera Filters

Photography Question 

Paul D. Carter
 

Graduated ND Filters: Use, Purchase, Etc.


I need help buying a graduated neutral-density filter. What type is best: round or rectangular with a holder.
Also, please advise what I need to use a rectangular filter. Which type is best, and how does one use graduated nd filter to properly expose bright and darker foreground photos? Thanks.


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October 20, 2004

 

Bob Cammarata
  The round ones that screw onto the end of your lens are certainly easier and more convenient, but they are not as diverse as the rectangular ones that require a holder. The round, screw-on types have the line of graduation in the middle of the frame so you are pretty much limited compositionally.
With the others, you can position the horizon higher or lower as the need may arise.

To use any graduated ND filter, you should first meter the scene without the filter in place.
Take a reading off the shadow areas (the foreground, if shooting a landscape, which includes a brightly lit sky). Then, attach the filter with the darkest portion covering the brightest part of the scene (the sky), and take the shot.


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October 20, 2004

 
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