From the course: The Practicing Photographer

Unlock this course with a free trial

Join today to access over 22,400 courses taught by industry experts.

Exploring the software equivalent to graduated ND (neutral density) filters

Exploring the software equivalent to graduated ND (neutral density) filters

From the course: The Practicing Photographer

Exploring the software equivalent to graduated ND (neutral density) filters

- Shooting a scene with a lot of dynamic range in it can be tricky because you have to choose whether you're going to expose for either the brightest part of the scene, or the darkest part of the scene. Traditionally, photographers handled this sometimes by using something called a graduated neutral density filter. This was a neutral density filter that screwed on into their lens and had a graduated degree of filtration on it, so that you could darken the top half of the frame and have a smooth ramp into the bottom of the frame. For shooting an image like this, a typical landscape image where the sky is very bright and the horizon is a little bit darker, that was one way to equalize your exposure and pull the scene to within the dynamic range of your camera. This week, on The Practicing Photographer, we're going to look at some software alternatives to doing that. I don't actually work with physical, graduated ND filters. They're hard, they're hard to work with, and having the right…

Contents