When shooting landscapes, the major problem with the image is the amount light difference between land and sky. Most of the time the air part is overexposed or the land part is underexposed. To solve this problem the photographer uses gradient filters. They come in different numbers of grey and can be combined to get the right balance in the picture.
ND stands for neutral density, the picture taken will have no decrease of color richness. It will only reduce the amount of light into the camera. When using these kind of filters the amount of light on the upper half of the image will be reduced while the lower half get no reduction. By combining more filters (up to tree) the light can be reduced from ND2 up to ND14 which sould be enough for almost any condition.
When taking landscapes with the use of gradient filters a tripod is needed. The upper part is darkened by the combination of filters and the exposure time will increase. In some cases the exposure time will be longer than the ability to hold the camera still.
Handle these filters with precaution, they are made from plastics, when cleaning these filters there could be some static electricity. It can lead to more dust on the filter and more ugly spots on the picture.
I use a microfiber tissue in combination with a glass cleaning spray.
Be aware when using all these stuff, it is easy that some may fall on the ground. The cleaning has to be start all over again.
Enough bullshit, now it’s time to discus the picture itself….
The upper half of the image has been tempered with a combination of a ND2 and the ND8 gradient filters. It resulted in a perfect exposed waterpart and a dramatized sky .
No post procces is needed in these conditions.
At last I will warn to avoid the classic blooper…
