And polarizers enhance skies, too; pop a polarizer on the front of your lens, and the sky will suddenly become the deepest blue. This is a trick that some street photographers and portrait photographers use to come up with some very cool, through-the-window type shots. Now, a polarizer does come with some drawbacks. For one, modern polarizers reduce the light transmitted through your lens. But for landscape photographers, architectural photographers, and cityscape photographers — who often deal with light reflecting off water and light reflecting off windows, respectively — a polarizer is a must.
But why would you want to darken your lens? You see, a neutral density filter blocks light from hitting the camera sensor, which gives you the freedom to open up certain camera settings. But what if you want to use a long shutter speed to create silky waterfalls? Or streaking clouds? Landscape photographers use neutral density filters all the time, especially when shooting water or dramatic skies. So they put an ND filter over the lens, which blocks light and allows them to shoot at whatever aperture they please.
A 3-stop ND filter lets you increase your shutter speed or widen your aperture by three stops of light, whereas a stop ND filter is far stronger, and gives you ten stops to work with. Neutral density filters are very useful — but they can also be frustrating to work with.
So you often have to focus manually in advance, then screw on the ND filter, before taking your shot. Many anti-filter folks also question whether a filter will truly protect your lens in most situations. Graduated neutral density filters are designed to darken only part of the image — generally the top half, though you can purchase reverse graduated neutral density filters that are darkest toward the middle and get lighter as you move upward.
And this will cause your camera to either blow out the sky or underexpose the foreground unless you take certain steps to compensate. If you slide a GND filter in front of the lens, you can darken the sky while keeping the foreground well-exposed.
Hard graduated neutral density filters have a very rapid transition. They move from dark to light over a short distance, as shown in the photo below:. Whereas soft graduated neutral density filters transition from dark to light more slowly, like this:.
Hard GND filters are great for shooting scenes with flat horizons, such as a sunset over a snowy plain, or a sunrise over the ocean. And soft GND filters are great for shooting scenes with more complex horizons, such as a sunrise over a mountain range or a sunset over a tree-filled field. You can actually achieve the same type of effect using high dynamic range imaging techniques. This involves taking several images at different exposures, then blending them together during post-processing.
In most cases, assuming you have the post-processing know-how, these issues can be overcome. But it can take a lot of effort, not to mention time, which is why some photographers prefer to work with GND filters in the field. They are useful for helping you to balance the exposure across an image, particularly when there is a large section either at the top or bottom of the frame that is prone to overexposing.
Perhaps the most conventional way to use a GND filter is to help balance a bright sky with a darker foreground. This even applies for night photography, when shooting the Aurora Borealis , Milky Way or the stars. When shooting at night at a large aperture and higher ISO , you can use a GND filter to block out the sky while you take a long exposure for the foreground. Then, you can simply remove the GND filter during the last seconds in order to expose for the sky, resulting in a single image without the need for merging two separate exposures to create the same effect.
There are three types of GND filters: soft edge, medium edge and hard edge. While most filter manufacturers produce only soft and hard edge GND filters, more have begun to produce the middle-ground between the two.
Of these, the most common GND filters used in landscape photography are the 3-stop and 4-stop soft or medium edge. This is because they have a softer gradient than a hard edge filter, which is more suitable for shooting objects rising above the horizon line in the landscape, including mountains and trees.
Hard edge GND filters are more useful when there is a flat horizon, such as when shooting directly out to sea. Again, some photographers will say that GND filters have become obsolete with newer camera technology.
However, others believe it is still essential to have a GND filter or two in your kit. For landscape photography, GND filters are an important accessory that will help you to get creative in-field, particularly if you want to produce certain effects in a single shot with minimal post-processing.
While it is possible to reproduce a GND filter effect using Lightroom , Photoshop or some other type of post-processing software by using the graduated filter tool, the effect that you will achieve may not be the same in terms of quality. Sometimes, it may not seem as realistic as a physical GND filter used in-field. Rather than being darker at the top of the filter and graduating to clear in the bottom half, a reverse GND filter has a gradient extending outwards from the middle of the filter, gradually reducing in darkness as it nears the top of the filter.
As with regular GND filters, reverse GND filters feature a bottom half which is clear, so that light in the foreground will not be restricted from reaching the sensor. This is meant to help you achieve a well-balanced exposure across the entire frame of your image. The reverse GND filter is something that a lot of photographers overlook the need for when first starting out in landscape photography. However, these are specially-designed filters for shooting in situations when there may be a lot of luminance on the horizon line, such as during sunrises and sunsets.
Reverse GND filters are great for bringing back the detail in the horizon during bright lighting situations. You can even stack a reverse GND with a regular GND to darken the sky and draw the eye inwards towards the centre of your shot, while the sun and the horizon line will be properly exposed, retaining all of the lovely details in the distance.
However, using a reverse GND filter is not suitable in all cases. If you have an object that begins below the horizon line and extends above it, such as a lighthouse, an animal, a mountain or a tree, then it will darken the top of the subject but not the bottom.
If applied correctly, it can drastically improve your landscape photography. While it is possible to bracket your images and to process them later on with software in order to achieve a similar effect, reverse GND filters may be more versatile in landscape photography situations when you have something moving below or above the horizon line, such as people, wildlife or birds.
If this appeals to you, then it is worthwhile to carry one of these filters in your camera bag. A circular polariser is a filter that you can use in a variety of different situations. This type of filter only allows light travelling within a single direction to enter the lens, whilst blocking light of other polarisations.
The result is that it will reduce glare and reflections in the landscape, such as water or on rocks. In doing so, the vividness of colours and contrasts in your frame increase. As such, you can use a circular polariser to darken skies, enhance autumn colours and green foliage, as well as to increase the details of clouds. Circular polarisers also allow your camera to see through bodies of water, like lakes, puddles or rock pools, into the depths below.
The result can be highly interesting, making your landscape photos appear to be much more dynamic. Circular polarising filters. Given that circular polarisers reduce the amount of light entering the lens, you can also use them when you want to shoot with a slower shutter speed.
For example, shooting with a circular polariser in a situation where there is a waterfall surrounded by lush green forest will really make the colours pop, while creating that silky, dreamy water effect for a look that is truly enchanting.
Using a circular polariser is quite easy — you simply have to screw one on to the front of your lens and rotate it until the polarising effect suits your taste. To disengage the polarising effect, simply rotate it back the other way.
Remember me. I find that I hear new photographers talk about buying cameras, lenses, and tripods, but seldom do I hear them discuss what filters to buy. That's a shame because filters can make a significant difference in how your images turn out. As a result, I put a good collection of filters as a must-have for any photographer. First, a polarizer reduces glare off of non-metallic surfaces. So when you're out photographing a landscape, a polarizer comes in handy when there's water in the shot.
Second, polarizers increase the contrast of the sky, making the blue areas deeper and more robust and making the white clouds pop against that backdrop. Lastly, a polarizing filter helps reduce atmospheric haze. That means that instead of hazy conditions obstructing the view of a distant mountain range, with a polarizer, you get a much clearer view. Polarizing filters, like the Firecrest Circular Polarizer by Formatt-Hitech shown above, are housed in a circular mount that screws onto the end of your lens.
That means that once you add the filter, you simply need to frame up the shot to get the composition you want. Then, because polarizers rotate, you need to turn the filter to see the effect it has on your image. Doing this while using Live View will make this process easier. Sometimes the effect of a polarizer is quite subtle, so you might need to rotate the filter a couple of times to identify the position that's ideal for the shot you want.
Bear in mind as well that polarizers usually have the most impact when the sun is at a right angle to the camera. And that's it! Just a few simple turns of the filter and you'll have a photo that's got less haze, better contrast, and no glare.
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