First ND Landscape

[1192tom]

First of all i don't think the shot is that great, but as i got up the other day the sky looked awesome and though id be able to test my new Cokin Grad ND filters i bought. I used the P.121 S, which i think is a 3 stop reduction, correct me if I'm wrong. My worry is that i still had to claw a lot back in Lightroom. I was in a rush and late for work. I tried to expose for the highlights.

Just wondering if i was doing anything wrong, maybe the ND wasn't strong enough? Ive included the edited and un edited versions for you.

Thank you.

 

[tirediron]

Yes, the 121 is a 3 stop, soft-edge G-ND. The image looks exactly the way I would expect it to.

 

[1192tom]

Yes, the 121 is a 3 stop, soft-edge G-ND. The image looks exactly the way I would expect it to.

I guess i expected more of an equal exposure, would i need to up the ND rating to achieve this? Don't think Cokin make a stronger one?

 

[tirediron]

You might need to stack 2 or 3 together to equal out the exposure; if you look at the original, you've got pretty close to 10 stops of dynamic range, from blown white to nearly solid black. Bear in mind however that if you equalize the exposure between sky and foreground too much it will look un-natural.

 

[MikeFlorendo]

Yes, the 121 is a 3 stop, soft-edge G-ND. The image looks exactly the way I would expect it to.

I guess i expected more of an equal exposure, would i need to up the ND rating to achieve this? Don't think Cokin make a stronger one?

The GND filter only allows for more exposure time. The photo will have the same light/dark areas but perhaps what your looking for in a graduated ND filter to have two types of exposure. Quick 2 second edit with GND in Lightroom.

 

[1192tom]

Yes, the 121 is a 3 stop, soft-edge G-ND. The image looks exactly the way I would expect it to.

I guess i expected more of an equal exposure, would i need to up the ND rating to achieve this? Don't think Cokin make a stronger one?

The GND filter only allows for more exposure time. The photo will have the same light/dark areas but perhaps what your looking for in a graduated ND filter to have two types of exposure. Quick 2 second edit with GND in Lightroom.View attachment 92924

Yes Mike, that is what I was looking for. How did you get that? Where is the GND in Lightroom?


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[MikeFlorendo]

Yes, the 121 is a 3 stop, soft-edge G-ND. The image looks exactly the way I would expect it to.

I guess i expected more of an equal exposure, would i need to up the ND rating to achieve this? Don't think Cokin make a stronger one?

The GND filter only allows for more exposure time. The photo will have the same light/dark areas but perhaps what your looking for in a graduated ND filter to have two types of exposure. Quick 2 second edit with GND in Lightroom.View attachment 92924

Yes Mike, that is what I was looking for. How did you get that? Where is the GND in Lightroom?


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It's on the very top of the adjustment sliders. Its the rectangle. Did you use a GND filter on your lens? I thought you just used a ND filter.

 

[D-B-J]

Good start! Sometimes I use 4 to 6 stops of GND reduction on my images

Jake

 

[1192tom]

Yes, the 121 is a 3 stop, soft-edge G-ND. The image looks exactly the way I would expect it to.

I guess i expected more of an equal exposure, would i need to up the ND rating to achieve this? Don't think Cokin make a stronger one?

The GND filter only allows for more exposure time. The photo will have the same light/dark areas but perhaps what your looking for in a graduated ND filter to have two types of exposure. Quick 2 second edit with GND in Lightroom.View attachment 92924

Yes Mike, that is what I was looking for. How did you get that? Where is the GND in Lightroom?


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It's on the very top of the adjustment sliders. Its the rectangle. Did you use a GND filter on your lens? I thought you just used a ND filter.

I used a GND on the lens.


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[TCampbell]

I wish I could see a naked image to compare. Normally to use a GND you flip the camera to spot metering, meter a point in the sky, and meter a point on the ground... and compare the number of stops of difference to pick which ND to slide in.

I own the same P121 and John is right... it's a "soft" edge 3-stop GND. I don't use the Cokin anymore (now I have Lee 1, 2, & 3 stop GND's in both hard and soft edge), but a hard-edge would have been better here because your transition from dark to bright is rather abrupt.

Looking at the image, I agree that 3 stops was probably not enough.

The image is a bit underexposed. Depending on how you metered, the sun may have thrown the exposure. When metering sunset shot, take the meter reading with the sun out of frame so it doesn't throw the exposure (because otherwise no matter what exposure you set, the sun will always be over exposed.)

 

[D-B-J]

I wish I could see a naked image to compare. Normally to use a GND you flip the camera to spot metering, meter a point in the sky, and meter a point on the ground... and compare the number of stops of difference to pick which ND to slide in.

I own the same P121 and John is right... it's a "soft" edge 3-stop GND. I don't use the Cokin anymore (now I have Lee 1, 2, & 3 stop GND's in both hard and soft edge), but a hard-edge would have been better here because your transition from dark to bright is rather abrupt.

Looking at the image, I agree that 3 stops was probably not enough.

The image is a bit underexposed. Depending on how you metered, the sun may have thrown the exposure. When metering sunset shot, take the meter reading with the sun out of frame so it doesn't throw the exposure (because otherwise no matter what exposure you set, the sun will always be over exposed.)

You could do all that metering mumbo-jumbo, but I like to play loose and fast and set it to manual, add what filters I think are necessary, take a test shot, and review the histogram. That's worked quite well for me [emoji106][emoji106]

 

[1192tom]

I wish I could see a naked image to compare. Normally to use a GND you flip the camera to spot metering, meter a point in the sky, and meter a point on the ground... and compare the number of stops of difference to pick which ND to slide in.

I own the same P121 and John is right... it's a "soft" edge 3-stop GND. I don't use the Cokin anymore (now I have Lee 1, 2, & 3 stop GND's in both hard and soft edge), but a hard-edge would have been better here because your transition from dark to bright is rather abrupt.

Looking at the image, I agree that 3 stops was probably not enough.

The image is a bit underexposed. Depending on how you metered, the sun may have thrown the exposure. When metering sunset shot, take the meter reading with the sun out of frame so it doesn't throw the exposure (because otherwise no matter what exposure you set, the sun will always be over exposed.)

TC - not to sound like I don't know what I'm doing but when looking at the spot metering am I looking at the line that has -3 to +3 in my viewfinder for my difference. What happens if it's off the line?


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[TCampbell]

TC - not to sound like I don't know what I'm doing but when looking at the spot metering am I looking at the line that has -3 to +3 in my viewfinder for my difference. What happens if it's off the line?

Assuming a landscape, and using a tripod, you probably want a high-ish f-stop (e.g. f/11 or above) to increase depth of field, would keep the ISO low to eliminate noise (You're on a tripod so why not use ISO 100), and would likely use the shutter speed to alter exposure.

I'll switch the camera to spot metering, point the camera toward the land (below the horizon line to make sure I'm not metering any of the sky) and dial in the exposure I want.

Then I'll put the camera up toward the sky (but avoid the sun) and meter that.

You don't have to use spot metering... you could use a center-weighted average metering or even an evaluative metering (Nikon "matrix metering") - but the point is you want to know your cameras metering modes to make sure you're getting an averaged meter reading for the "foreground" independent of an averaged meter reading of the "sky".

If it's within 3 stops then you'll be able to see it through the viewfinder ... it might show up as +1, +2, or +3. If it's at or above plus three, take note of your current shutter speed, and double it to see if and how much your needle moves on the light meter. Keep doing that until you determine how many stops you really have. After you count the stops, don't forget to take the shutter value back down to the exposure needed for the foreground.

You now know how many stops of ND you need for the sky.

I realize you're using a Cokin filter, but Lee has quite a few good tutorial type videos on their website.

Here's a good primer: Get Started-02
Also this video is worth watching: Get Started-02
(They both show up as "Get Started-02" but the first is a Lee Filter workshop with Jeremy Walker. The second is a Lee filter video by Joe Cornish. So they aren't actually the same video linked in twice.)

 

[1192tom]

TC - not to sound like I don't know what I'm doing but when looking at the spot metering am I looking at the line that has -3 to +3 in my viewfinder for my difference. What happens if it's off the line?

Assuming a landscape, and using a tripod, you probably want a high-ish f-stop (e.g. f/11 or above) to increase depth of field, would keep the ISO low to eliminate noise (You're on a tripod so why not use ISO 100), and would likely use the shutter speed to alter exposure.

I'll switch the camera to spot metering, point the camera toward the land (below the horizon line to make sure I'm not metering any of the sky) and dial in the exposure I want.

Then I'll put the camera up toward the sky (but avoid the sun) and meter that.

You don't have to use spot metering... you could use a center-weighted average metering or even an evaluative metering (Nikon "matrix metering") - but the point is you want to know your cameras metering modes to make sure you're getting an averaged meter reading for the "foreground" independent of an averaged meter reading of the "sky".

If it's within 3 stops then you'll be able to see it through the viewfinder ... it might show up as +1, +2, or +3. If it's at or above plus three, take note of your current shutter speed, and double it to see if and how much your needle moves on the light meter. Keep doing that until you determine how many stops you really have. After you count the stops, don't forget to take the shutter value back down to the exposure needed for the foreground.

You now know how many stops of ND you need for the sky.

I realize you're using a Cokin filter, but Lee has quite a few good tutorial type videos on their website.

Here's a good primer: Get Started-02
Also this video is worth watching: Get Started-02
(They both show up as "Get Started-02" but the first is a Lee Filter workshop with Jeremy Walker. The second is a Lee filter video by Joe Cornish. So they aren't actually the same video linked in twice.)

An amazing reply. Thank you, I'll give them videos a watch and try and find a day to put all that into practice.

Working flat out for the next couple of days but hopefully get some time to have a go.

Again, thank you.


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