Machu Picchu & graduated neutral density filters

[dougsturgess]

Some have recommended using a graduated ND filter when photographing Machu Picchu. I'm shooting with a 20D & have a circular polarizer. I probably won't take my tripod as it's just too much to manage on this trip in addition to the other equipment.

My question is, is a graduated neutral density filter really necessary or is shooting with a circular polarizer good enough to get good shots? I'm going to experiment with taking hand held HDR shots before I go to see if that's a possibility with a really steady hand.

I'd appreciate any helpful advice, especially anyone that's shot a lot of landscapes or even Machu Picchu.

Thanks.

[jrader]

Some have recommended using a graduated ND filter when photographing Machu Picchu. I'm shooting with a 20D & have a circular polarizer. I probably won't take my tripod as it's just too much to manage on this trip in addition to the other equipment.

My question is, is a graduated neutral density filter really necessary or is shooting with a circular polarizer good enough to get good shots? I'm going to experiment with taking hand held HDR shots before I go to see if that's a possibility with a really steady hand.

I'd appreciate any helpful advice, especially anyone that's shot a lot of landscapes or even Machu Picchu.

Thanks.
Never been to Machu Picchu, but I feel the urge to add my 2 cents. GNDs are, by far, the best tool to have for outdoor photography, with circular polarizer running a close second. The real beauty of it is that you can still do HDR as well with the GND on the camera. With HDR you get details in the shadows and the highlights (as well as a proper exposure) and the software blends to get a higher dynamic range not possible in a single shot. GNDs are used to balance the light between two areas (usually aligned along the horizon of the sky with subject). GNDs can not be used to get the shadow/highlight details that HDR does. But as I said, you can still do HDR with GNDs on. And since you are not taking the tripod, you will be happy to know that there are HDR programs out there that do alignment (although not always successfully).

Summary: take CPL, take (at least) a 3-stop soft GND (and maybe a hard one if you are planning on shooting over the ocean), and take lots of shots.

Have fun on your trip.

John

[dougsturgess]

Never been to Machu Picchu, but I feel the urge to add my 2 cents. GNDs are, by far, the best tool to have for outdoor photography, with circular polarizer running a close second. The real beauty of it is that you can still do HDR as well with the GND on the camera. With HDR you get details in the shadows and the highlights (as well as a proper exposure) and the software blends to get a higher dynamic range not possible in a single shot. GNDs are used to balance the light between two areas (usually aligned along the horizon of the sky with subject). GNDs can not be used to get the shadow/highlight details that HDR does. But as I said, you can still do HDR with GNDs on. And since you are not taking the tripod, you will be happy to know that there are HDR programs out there that do alignment (although not always successfully).

Summary: take CPL, take (at least) a 3-stop soft GND (and maybe a hard one if you are planning on shooting over the ocean), and take lots of shots.

Have fun on your trip.

John


Thanks for your advice John. To follow up, just a few questions.
-There won't be defined horizons at this site. Will the GND still be useful? The landscapes I've seen are very jagged w/mountains, clouds, fog, etc.

-Do you have to take the GND off when shooting non-high contrast images i.e., ruins?

-I have a circular polarizer I'm planning on taking. All my lenses have B+W UV filters. I've heard at that altitude you can get a blue cast if you don't use the right filter. I think they were talking about using a UV filter to take care of it. Does that make sense?

-You wouldn't use the circular polarizer AND the GND filter would you?

-How do you decide when to use the circular polarizer or the GND, particularly for this high altitude site?

Thanks for your advice.

[rustylewis]

Polarizing filters will be valuable, but I doubt you will find much use for GNDs there. I would still take them if you have the room.

The mountains are very tall and irregular. Waynapicchu will stick up higher than the background mountains in most all of the shots you will likely take.

Be sure to get there early and hike to the top of Waynapicchu if you can. The view is spectacular and there will be photo opportunities there that most people do not get. They limit the number of people who can hike to Waynapicchu to around 400 a day and all must start prior to 1:30pm (if I remember correctly).

[dougsturgess]

Polarizing filters will be valuable, but I doubt you will find much use for GNDs there. I would still take them if you have the room.

The mountains are very tall and irregular. Waynapicchu will stick up higher than the background mountains in most all of the shots you will likely take.

Be sure to get there early and hike to the top of Waynapicchu if you can. The view is spectacular and there will be photo opportunities there that most people do not get. They limit the number of people who can hike to Waynu Picchu to around 400 a day and all must start prior to 1:30pm (if I remember correctly).

Thanks for the advice. We're arriving at noon & leaving at 6pm so we'll be there for hopefully some good light toward the end of the day. I hope we can get to Waynu Picchu but not sure if we can with our noon arrival.

[jrader]

Thanks for your advice John. To follow up, just a few questions.
-There won't be defined horizons at this site. Will the GND still be useful? The landscapes I've seen are very jagged w/mountains, clouds, fog, etc.

-Do you have to take the GND off when shooting non-high contrast images i.e., ruins?

-I have a circular polarizer I'm planning on taking. All my lenses have B+W UV filters. I've heard at that altitude you can get a blue cast if you don't use the right filter. I think they were talking about using a UV filter to take care of it. Does that make sense?

-You wouldn't use the circular polarizer AND the GND filter would you?

-How do you decide when to use the circular polarizer or the GND, particularly for this high altitude site?

Thanks for your advice.
Even if you don't have defined horizons, you can still use a soft GND. The transition is not well defined as it is on the hard GND, so you can use it in the case when there are objects (like mountains/trees) on the horizon.

You don't always need to use the GND. I would use it if you include any part of the sky in your shots (if the sky is sufficiently bright).

I'm not sure about UV filter clearing a blue cast. I NEVER use a UV filter, but that's just my choice. Just an extra piece of glass between my subject and the sensor, in my opinion. They might, but I don't think so.

I use my GND and my CPL all the time together. They cause different effects. The GND is used to balance the exposure in which the scene exceeds the dynamic range of the camera sensor. The CPL is used to increase saturation, cut glare and reflections, and can be used to lower the exposure by 1.5 to 2 stops, depending on the CPL.

I personally leave my CPL on almost all of the time. The only time I take it off is to do panoramics (since the color of the sky will be uneven). The GND can be also left on the camera most of the time as well, if shooting a scene in which the sky is included and the sky is bright (which is almost always the case).

Hope this helps.

John

[blipski]

I would take the GND with you, it's only a couple ounces at most?

When you photograph from that famous viewpoint near the shack/house, Huayna Picchu is about the same height as the mountains behind it. If you're photographing at the level of most of the ruins at Machu Picchu, Huayna Picchu will stick far above the surrounding mountains.

Either way, I'd bracket your shots. When I went in May, the winter sun was low in the sky. It may be different now during summer, but when I was there, there was a huge difference in exposure between the sky and the mountains. In some pictures, my skies were blown out while one side of Huayna Picchu was in shadows and bringing any detail out in the shadows was very noisy.

Enjoy the trip. You won't believe your eyes when you're there. Simply amazing.

[dougsturgess]

I would take the GND with you, it's only a couple ounces at most?

When you photograph from that famous viewpoint near the shack/house, Huayna Picchu is about the same height as the mountains behind it. If you're photographing at the level of most of the ruins at Machu Picchu, Huayna Picchu will stick far above the surrounding mountains.

Either way, I'd bracket your shots. When I went in May, the winter sun was low in the sky. It may be different now during summer, but when I was there, there was a huge difference in exposure between the sky and the mountains. In some pictures, my skies were blown out while one side of Huayna Picchu was in shadows and bringing any detail out in the shadows was very noisy.

Enjoy the trip. You won't believe your eyes when you're there. Simply amazing.

Thanks for your response. After much research I've decided not to spring fir the expense of a GND and 1. Keep my fingers crossed that I will be able to get through w/my tripod and 2. Use photomatix to develop HDR images I'll take. If I can't get the tripod in I will go to plan B and shoot hand held HDR as good as I can. I've read more accounts online of people getting in with tripods than not and I'm hoping our guide can help with getting it in. I'm going to keep my gear as inconspicuous as possible.

[dougsturgess]

Ok, I lucked out. I went through the gate at Machupicchu in a group with the Hiram Bingham train & no one even looked for camera gear. I brought my entire camera backpack & tripod without any trouble whatsoever...just sweating til I got in. However, I was there from noon til 530 and I only used the tripod once...for some HDR images of the classic Machupicchu after you first enter, then for a horizontal panoramic shot. Otherwise, I hand held the remaining shots, even the HDR's. The following link has my images I worked on while on the trip. I'm doing them all over here at home. www.flickr.com/dougsturgess