 Ellen Finch |
With digital photos, is a graduated lens needed? I just talked to a local photography store, asking about a graduated neutral density lens, and the fellow said that, with digital cameras, most people aren't bothering with those any more because you can do the same or better effect on the computer without much trouble at all. What do people think about that? (I'm a neophyte at filters, so I really don't know.)
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Pete H |
" asking about a graduated neutral density lens" I think you meant graduated ND filter. To put it mildly, the guy at the photo store is misinformed. You might want to ask him this: "Let's say I want to shoot a scene with bright white clouds covering 1/3 of the upper frame..and beautiful fall foliage in the foreground. My meter indicates a 4 stop difference. Can you tell me Mr. Photo store guy, how will a computer program render this properly?"
Pete
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Ellen Finch |
Yup, I meant filter. Thanks for pointing out the relevant question.
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Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Ellen, Most daylight scenes have a brightness range that will exceed the scale of both film and digital. Consider blue sky with white clouds, likely it will be two (2) f/stops too bright. In manual mode you can adjust exposure and favor the sky. As a result, the foreground will record sub-standard. If you adjust for the foreground the sky will record sub-standard. Graduated ND (neutral density) to the rescue: Choose two stops-to-clear (ND value 0.6 = 2 f/stops). Experiment by setting the camera to aperture priority and shoot a series at different apertures. As to correction after the fact: A photo editor can make dramatic adjustments but blown-out areas are lost. Best results are obtained using the filter. Sidebar: The Polarizing screen (filter), and the graduated ND are the most useful filters to have in your gadget bag. The polarizer can darken the sky forcing the clouds to standout. Additionally it subdues reflections from glass, water and metal etc. On as budget? Choose a polarizer first and then the graduated ND.
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Oliver Anderson |
A graduated lens is one that has completed photography school correct???
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