Advice on Filters

[Kokopeli]

Mornin' Everyone,

I leave in about two weeks for my 7+ day trip to Utah and I'm looking into getting a graduated ND filter (2 stops in a couple different sizes) and I was wondering what brands you all like to use when it comes to the filters you own...

As always, your input is important to me and I would like to say thanks in advance for all that chime in on this one.

~Brian

[Sebastian]

Mornin' Everyone,

I leave in about two weeks for my 7+ day trip to Utah and I'm looking into getting a graduated ND filter (2 stops in a couple different sizes) and I was wondering what brands you all like to use when it comes to the filters you own...

As always, your input is important to me and I would like to say thanks in advance for all that chime in on this one.

~Brian

SAVE YOUR MONEY!!! Yo shoot with the D100 now, take two exposures or more, for the sky and foreground, and blend them in PS. No need spending money on filters and fumbling with them in the field, plus you'll get the best optical quality out of having no filter in front of your lens...

[racingpinarello]

I use the Cokin P filter system, and get several adapter rings for each lens that you have. That way you can buy one filter, and use it on each lens that you have. I have three lenses that need 77mm rings.

I prefer to use in camera editing for landscape shots. If you take two images, one for the sky, and one for the ground, and then delete one of them the shot is lost. I also don't like spending the time to do photoshop because it's not my best skill.

Either way is fine, and if you are comfortable with Photoshop then the two exposure method would be good.

Loren

Mornin' Everyone,

I leave in about two weeks for my 7+ day trip to Utah and I'm looking into getting a graduated ND filter (2 stops in a couple different sizes) and I was wondering what brands you all like to use when it comes to the filters you own...

As always, your input is important to me and I would like to say thanks in advance for all that chime in on this one.

~Brian

[another view]

I use the Cokin P system too - their graduated grey filter isn't too bad at under $20 I think. The next up choice would be the Singh-Ray filters (uses Cokin P system too) for over $100 ea.

The main difference I've heard is that the Cokin has a little bit of a color cast, it's not "neutral grey", it's just "grey". It never bothered me. To get started, buy P-series adapters for the filter sizes you need, a filter holder and the filter.

[dsl712]

Just take Loren's response, copy and paste it in my thread and sign my name to it.

Dennis

[Kokopeli]

SAVE YOUR MONEY!!! Yo shoot with the D100 now, take two exposures or more, for the sky and foreground, and blend them in PS. No need spending money on filters and fumbling with them in the field, plus you'll get the best optical quality out of having no filter in front of your lens...

Your suggestion went into my original decesion making process and was one I was seriously considering, however I, like Loren, am not all that good with PS so I thought the best route would be the ND filter. I now need to rethink this again.. There's nothing wrong with forcing myself to learn something new while increasing my PS knowledge and growing my skills.. Is there????

LOL.. Thanks for making my life that much more complicated! ;)
~Brian

[Asylum Steve]

Brian,

I think many will agree with me when I tell you it is VERY difficult to use graduated filters of any kind in a shot and have it look completely NATURAL. The graduation of tone or color is completely even (even allowing for filter rotation), and a scene that would have a sky to match this perfectly would be fairly boring.

In any other situation, you are bound to get changes in color or tone on areas of the shot that should not get it, hence that "fake" look that often tells the viewer you used one of these filters.

I too think the multiple exposure/photoshop method is the way to go. It's really pretty easy to extract just the darker sky from a pic using selection, then pop it in over your main image and blend it with layer mode or a quick mask.

But, hey, you know what? You don't have to decide this second, do you? Maybe you should pick up the ND filter, try it on your trip, but also bracket your exposures (without the filter) so you have the editing option when you get home.

As for the filters themselves, some of us could argue about this all day. I used Cokin for years and was pretty well satisfied with them, but now (with a little more financial resources) have become a filter snob, and only use Lee/Calumet resin, and as Seb says, only when I absolutely have to. In fact, ND (NOT graduated, btw) is about the only filter I use now.

Maybe it would take a magnifying glass on a print, but a plastic filter is sure to have a more detrimental effect on the quality of an image than optical grade glass or resin in front of your lens.

Mornin' Everyone,

I leave in about two weeks for my 7+ day trip to Utah and I'm looking into getting a graduated ND filter (2 stops in a couple different sizes) and I was wondering what brands you all like to use when it comes to the filters you own...

As always, your input is important to me and I would like to say thanks in advance for all that chime in on this one.

~Brian

[Sean Dempsey]

Hello

Where in Utah are you going? I live in Southwest Utah and have for 22 years, so I know it pretty well. I am basically surrounded by Snow Canyon State Park, Zions National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and numerous other areas around here that are more "locally known" like Cedar Canyon, Pine Valley, Mt. Carmel...

Anyways, if you're in this area, I could make suggestions. Or you going to northern utah or somwhere like Moab or Lake Powell?

[Kokopeli]

Basically, I'm focusing on Southern Utah, though I do plan on making it up to the Arches are as well. A few years ago, I set out on a quest to expose my sons to as many of this great Nation's National Parks and Monuments as I possibly can and Utah is full of beautiful parks.

If all goes according to plan, I'll be driving into the Zion area late Friday night (April 2). The next day will be spent in Zion and we'll head to Ruby's Inn that night so we can get an early start Sunday and take in Bryce. From there, I had planned on working my way north, stopping where ever may catch our eyes. I figure on getting to Arches by day 4 or 5 then working my way back south. I would like to take them down to Lake Powell as well and I'm also considering dropping down to Paige, AZ and hiring a Navajo guide to take us to some of the sandstone canyons located near there.

I would love some tips from a local and I'm open to suggestions. None of our plans are set in stone so I can make any changes needed. Heck, if you have any time open between 4/2 and 4/10, let me know and maybe we could meet up, take some photos and grab a bite to eat. If not, feel free to recommend any place you think we might enjoy. I like to shoot landscapes and wildlife if/when I come across it.

Let me know what you think and thanks for offering up some suggestions!
~Brian

[Sean Dempsey]

Sure, I am only about 30 minutes outside Zion, I zip up there for lunch all the time. I have a friend who is an avid photographer too, so I am sure we could meet you in Zion and show you around (we know the good places to eat, most importantly). The only days I couldn't be there are Tuesdays and Thursdays because of school, but other than that Zions is basically our backyard.

email me at holyoak [at] dungeonstronghold.com (replace the [at] with an @) if you want and you can let me know all the specs. I take pictures in Zions all the time, so if it's a weekend, odds are I would be there anyways.