Graduated ND Filter

Setagates

I have a Canon 6D with 24-105mm lens and am thinking about buying a graduated neutral density filter to use for evening out the exposure in sunrise/sunset photos. I was going to get a 3 stop hard edge filter, but some recommend getting a reverse type which allows you to place the darkest part of the filter on the horizon where the sun is at sunrise and sunset. (As far as I know these are only made by Singh-Ray and HiTech.) I would appreciate any comments or recommendations from anyone who has any experience with these filters.

ziggy53

Unless you intend to always have your composition in the same place, I suggest using a tripod and taking two RAW captures at different exposures; one exposure for the sky and another for your other subject matter (typically foreground matter). Then you either manually process each for their specific intended properties and build an image mask to combine the two images (in an image editor using layers), or you can process each through tone blending software to match the different exposures, each for their best properties.

Each of these processes yields different results, but with seperate exposures you have much better choices.

Then again, the Canon 6D, along with Magic Lantern software and its Dual-ISO mode, can yield enough additional dynamic range to allow almost magical results in a single exposure (with appropriate post-processing) (note: Not all of the following images are from a Canon 6D, but they should all be Magic Lantern Dual-ISO images on a Canon dSLR body which supports Magic Lantern firmware overlay):

The Dual-ISO pool at Flickr

denisegoldberg

I have and use both graduated neutral density filters and reverse graduated neutral density filters. For sunrise and sunset I tend to use the reverse graduated filters.

--- Denise