Should I get a gray-grad filter?

[SWriverstone]

I've known about graduated-density filters for years...but never had nor used one. I'm curious to get opinions on how important/useful they are when shooting outdoors.

There have certainly been many times when I was shooting a scene with bright sky above and shadowed terrain below...so it seems like that would be the kind of situation these filters are made for.

But are they really that useful? And can I achieve the same results by exposure bracketing?

Thanks,
Scott

PS - If there are different types, what would be a good, general, all-purpose gray-grad to pick up?

[Photo-John]

A graduated neutral density filter is very useful if you're shooting film. But if you've got a digital camera - especially if you're shooting RAW with a digital SLR - you'll get much better results with good post-processing. If you can shoot on a tripod, you can shoot separate exposures for the sky and the foreground and then use masked Photoshop adjustment layers for way better skies then you'd ever get from a graduated filter.

[SWriverstone]

Thanks Photo-John...that's kinda what I was thinking...but wasn't sure.
Scott

[Photo-John]

Thanks Photo-John...that's kinda what I was thinking...but wasn't sure.
Scott

No problem, Scott - and welcome to the site! Digital technology has done away with a lot of challenges we had shooting with film. I used to work at a lab, doing custom color printing. The things I can do now with Photoshop weren't even close to possible in the darkroom. It's very exciting to be a photographer now. The quality and control we have weren't even dreamed of 15 or 20 years ago.

[Cathathome]

No problem, Scott - and welcome to the site! Digital technology has done away with a lot of challenges we had shooting with film. I used to work at a lab, doing custom color printing. The things I can do now with Photoshop weren't even close to possible in the darkroom. It's very exciting to be a photographer now. The quality and control we have weren't even dreamed of 15 or 20 years ago.

I also was curious about the grad filter. And while I agree with you John that it's a great time to be into photography, I'm one of those people who doesn't spend too much time in the digital darkroom. Masks are not in my repetoire. So would you recommend a grad filter for someone like me who doesn't do HDR or other involved post-processing?

Thanks!

[Greg McCary]

I also was curious about the grad filter. And while I agree with you John that it's a great time to be into photography, I'm one of those people who doesn't spend too much time in the digital darkroom. Masks are not in my repetoire. So would you recommend a grad filter for someone like me who doesn't do HDR or other involved post-processing?

Thanks!

I prefer the Cokin system for a couple of reasons. First the way the Cokin fits on a camera you only need cheap adapter rings to fit it from one size lens to another. This saves on the price of two or more filters. Second you can adjust the graduation up or down to fit the horizon. Round threaded ones are split in the middle making following the rule of thirds difficult without a crop. Here is a link to there site. http://www.cokin.com/
I have never had much luck with HDR's and have only tried combining exposures a couple of times. With HDR's the slightest puff of wind and you are going to have motion blur in the shot, or I did anyway. I much prefer the filter system.
Here is a typical shot I used the filter on. You get more detail in the foreground using the graduate filter. I used a two stop one here and I still added a slight amount of fill light in post processing to get more detail in the foreground.

[Jimmy B]

I too use the cokin filter system here is a link to one of my recent shots with the ND8
http://gallery.photographyreview.com...&ppuser=251231
Monday night I scored big time on about $ 300.00 + worth of cokin filters, rings and holders for $ 120.00.
Jimmy B.

[Cathathome]

Very informative! Thanks all

Cath