danmitchell
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 p.2 #3 · What lens for landscapes with a 1dmkii | |
(The attribution sequence is unclear above, so I'll just put the comment I'm responding to in quotes.)
"Can't you just filter your photos in Photoshop CS3?"
"There's a lot you can do in CS3, and a lot you can't just because certain things can only be done with the camera in the field. Such as ND's, you can't get extremely long exposures any other way without them. CP's - you can't recover harsh reflections and blown out skies without them. Even split gradient filters, it's a lot easier to use them instead of trying to recover a portion of the photo in post."
I'm going to partially agree and partially disagree.
1. It is true that the polarizing effects of polarizing filters cannot really be replicated in Photoshop. I carry one and use it to control reflections (on water, glass, vegetation, etc), to increase contrast in certain subjects (e.g. clouds/sky), and to use as a emergency neutral density filter.
2. Plain neutral density filters can be useful if you do very long exposures in relatively bright conditions. You probably don't need these right out of the gate, but if you eventually hanker for the longer exposures and/or wider aperture possibilities they may be useful.
3. I'm in a different camp on the graduated neutral density ("ND grads") issue. With film essentially the only realistic method for capturing a scene with an extremely wide dynamic range was to use ND grads in the field. One can still do this with DSLRs but it is not necessarily the best choice. I frequently shoot landscape subjects in which the DR is too wide for the camera, but rather than using ND grades I make two or more exposures (from the tripod) a stop or more apart - one exposed for the shadows and the other for the highlights. I combine them in PS using masks to allow the better exposed portions to become visible. (This is _not_ the same as HDR photography.)
Why do this rather than use the ND grad filters? Mainly because it is much more flexible and requires no extra equipment if you are already using a tripod.* A few observations:
- with the ND grads you are limited to whatever f-stop difference is built into the filter. With the multiple exposure method the dark/light exposures can be whatever you need.
- in very complicated situations you can combine more than two exposures - I've used 3 or 4 at times.
- the "dividing line" between the light and dark areas does not have to be a line - you can custom mask the areas to follow whatever shapes the subject dictates.
Dan
* Some photographers forego the use of the tripod for the multiple exposures and let the camera auto bracket (with varying shutter speeds- NOT aperture) in a burst.
Edited on Aug 15, 2008 at 07:20 PM
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