Gradient ND vs Reverse Gradient ND

[kaashin]

Okay I hope this isn't a dumb question. I'm looking into buying some filters and wasn't entirely sure why there is a gradient ND filter and reverse gradient ND filter. Could you not, just flip the normal gradient ND filter around...to reverse it?

 

[TCampbell]

No.

A gradient ND is clear at bottom, tinted heavily at top (with either a soft or hard transition between the two areas.) A soft edge starts the tinting gently and then ramps up the tint level as you go up.

A REVERSE grad actually has three zones... not two. It's clear on bottom, heavily tinted in the middle, and lightly tinted at top.

The Reverse Grad is almost exclusively for sunset photos. During normal golden our shots, the shadows in the foreground get long, foregrounds can be dark, but the sky is still quite bright. So the difference in exposure between foreground and sky is greater than you want. Hence the Grad ND fixes that. If you are taking photos of the actual sunset (not merely at the golden hour) then you get a different problem... the sun, near the horizon, is the brightest area. The sky above is not as bright. The foreground is VERY dark and in most photos is a silhouette (or very nearly so). So the "reverse" grad puts the strongest tint at the level of the sun, no tint at the bottom, and a weak tint at the top.

Hope that helps.

 

[kaashin]

Awesome. that helps a lot.