P#27 Q5B: A Unique Use for a Graduated Neutral Density Filter

A New Spin on the Graduated Neutral Density Filter

Brenda Tharp: There is one thing that I find very interesting with the graduated neutral density filter. Sometimes it's just a corner of the picture that may be brighter than I want it to be. I might look at the scene, step back and say, "There's no way I can use a graduated neutral density filter over the whole top third of this picture."

But that one corner up in the upper right still needs to be darkened down. If I can't eliminate it by recomposing and getting the composition that I'm happy with, I have been known to use the graduated neutral density filter in my hand and put it over that corner and move it while I'm making the exposure.

Typically, in a landscape, I'm going for maximum depth of field so my apertures are going to be somewhere around f11 to f22. That will typically slow the shutter down enough so that when I hold the neutral density filter and move it in and out quickly during my exposure, I am feathering the edge so that you don't see the edge of the filter in the resulting picture.

The process darkens it down, sort of like a darkroom technique where you put your hand in and hold back the light or you hold the light off of everything else and let that one corner burn in. I've just adapted that to the way I use those filters.

It's gotten me around the problem of what often happens when you can't just use the filter the way you traditionally would over the front of the whole lens. It's kind of cool to be able to do that, but it's tricky.

You have to be able to move the graduated neutral density filter fast enough that you're not getting any edge showing. Of course with the LCD display, you can zoom in on that and check and make sure that it worked before you move on to a new photograph altogether.

Audri Lanford: Wow, that is really, really clever. I would never have thought of that in a million years.

Brenda Tharp: You have to get creative when you're in the field. It's like, "I don't want to move from this spot. I really like this composition, this point of view," and sometimes you physically can't move or you'll fall off the cliff, so you have choices. It's like, "How am I going to get this picture?" Using the neutral density filter is what works for me.

In Summary

Sometimes getting the perfect shot takes a bit of creativity, especially when you have to work around nature to get it. Instead of giving up or turning to digital editing to make it work, Brenda suggests getting creative in the field, as she does with her use of a graduated neutral density filter.