Shooting with Filters…..
I thought I would take a minute of your time and show you a couple of images I took last night after I got my new 3 stop reverse grad filter……Not like a regular grad filter this one is split in half and is the darkest on the horizon….getting lighter as you move towards the top….. For years before I even used grad filters I would always have to underexpose my images so I could retain detail in the sky. Depending on what time of day and the conditions, sometimes it would balance and the images would come out pretty good…other times the foreground would be just too dark….. Well then I got a set of used grad filters from another photographer and practiced and practiced to learn how to hand hold them and move them during the exposure so I could balance the light and dark so the top of my images would not be really dark…..then due to color casting and horrible scratches, I finally ditched them and got another single 3 stop Hi-Tech grad filter that was wonderful….no color cast and no scratches…but still I was finding most of the tops of my images to be a bit dark. One day while shooting sunrise at the coast a big mean nasty wave decided to eat my filter right out of my hand it was never seen again….. Instead of buy another filter of the same sort, I decided to lay down the coin for a Daryl Benson 3 stop reverse grad filter…. Last night the sun broke for a while and cleared off right at sunset so I grabbed the filter and the camera and went outside…..I did a few very quick, non tripod shots and was amazed at what I saw……I thought I would share with you how the filter works by showing you a before and after shot……feel free to ask any questions you may have and I will do my best to answer them…… I will give this filter a really good test this weekend while at the coast….Let me know what you think!!!! Have great weekend!
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Camera Lenses and Filter said this on February 26, 2010 at 2:16 PM |
Wow! That is amazing! I just bought a B+W Kaesemann Polarizer, looks like I have a new filter on my list.
Yep, it’s a handy filter. I haven’t yet moved on to using these filters handheld, in which case you need to take special care with this one that you don’t have anything important crossing the horizon. I’ve had a few situations where I’ve had to leave it in the bag and use the regular ones because of that.
That’s a HUGE difference! I have limited gear and haven’t gotten into filters yet. There’s so much to learn (that’s me whining!) but it’s nice to actually see the difference it can make before you put down the big bucks.
Yowsers!!! You did lay down the coin…. Nice result though.
Hi Darren
Certainly a big difference.
I’ve never used filters as they seem a bit cumbersome to use so usually I make 2 exposures, one for the sky and another for the foreground and then blend them in photoshop.
Is there any advantage in terms of image quality in using filters? Or is it just the fact that it’s more convenient to get the shot in one exposure?
Cheers!