Project 49: Graduated Filters

This project was to utilise a graduated filter, both inside & outside. I purchased a graduated filter nearly 18 months ago, but it has barely been used. I also have an ND filter and a polariser. I have occasionally used the filters but I find them a bit of a fiddle, and I was also disappointed with the results from using a graduated filter. I now know this because I set the aperture at f11, resulting in a hard edge which didn't sit right in the scene.

However, using digital graduated filters in Lightroom, well that's another matter. I use this frequently when reviewing my images and doing processing tweaks. The Lightroom grad is particularly useful because you can have any angle and degree of impact. And this brings me onto a burning question. Assuming that you shoot in RAW (which I always do) and you have a tool such as Lightroom where the workflow for tweaking the RAW files is slick, is it better to use a graduated filter pre shutter or post shutter? I should also add that I convert my raw files to a DNG file when importing. I do this because the adjustments are applied directly to the RAW files, and also because it is a universally recognised format so I have less worry about my catalogue becoming obsolete or incompatible with future software. So here is my thoughts on that burning question.

1. Firstly, one of the arguments for doing things post shutter is that it saves you processing time afterwards. However, Lightroom means that applying a graduated filter is a split second job, so provided you are not taking a batch of say 50 photos then it is actually quicker than fiddling around in the backpack for the filter ring and screwing it onto the lens, then finding the filter, getting it in the right position etc. etc.

2. Secondly, I have commented in another blog post that I have recently acquired a high quality Canon L Lens, which one assumes is made of high quality glass. However my graduated filter is made of resin (Cokin P series) and therefore one assumes of an inferior quality to the glass in my lens. Will this affect image quality given that I am in hot pursuit of sharpness? Well maybe.

Therefore my conclusion is that I will probably use Lightroom rather than my physical filter, unless I find myself on a photoshoot of more than 50 landscapes which require a grad. The other time may be when the contrast is so great that the detail would be lost forever in the sky without a grad (using the term "Blinkies" to reflect the bane of digital photography where detail in pixels is lost forever when overexposed unlike in film where a greater dynamic range could be captured). However, a polariser is different in that it produces effects that can't be achieved post processing, and I do find that I use it far more often in the field that my grads.

Answers on a postcard if anyone has any advice on this burning question.

So back to the project brief. This required a shot of a landscape with & without a grad, and then a similar effect inside using the grad on its side. The latter was a bit of a revelation to me, as I would never have thought of using a grad in this way, although I may have resorted to it in Lightroom as an instinctive correction. In this particular case, my 2 stop grad was a bit too extreme for the interior shot as illustrated in the comments.