ND filters or multiple exposures & blend ?

[hania]

Soprry - posted in wrong place - have found answer elsewhere :)

I am trying to decide whether to get ND grad filters or not.

I could do a double exposure (once for land & once for sky) & then blend later in Photoshop.(obviously a cheaper option)

OR I could get filters!

Opinions please ?

PS I'm not too keen on some HDR images as they can look strange if not done properly.
I'm not thinking HDR.

[jeppoy]

If you're good with Photoshop, why not...if money is not an issue, go for it because it will give you greater flexibility in managing your exposure and less time with PS and add light meter while your at it.

[hania]

If you're good with Photoshop, why not...if money is not an issue, go for it because it will give you greater flexibility in managing your exposure and less time with PS and add light meter while your at it.

Yes, the time spent in Photoshop can be huge.

I already have a light meter - but so far have only used it with studio lights- so really now I must learn to use it properly.

We are off to NZ March & I can anticipate 1000's of photos so the more I can nail the photo in camera, the less time I will have to spend on the computer.

Many thanks for this.

[WillOPhotos]

some shots like at the ocean with waves etc you can sit the camera there shooting off 3 shots, I use GNDs most of the time.

[versedmb]

I prefer using ND grad filters whenever possible myself. I use the Hitech 2 and 3 stop ND grads which are relatively inexpensive. For "faster" exposures I often hand hold the filter, sometimes the camera as well. I often use the "ND grad tool" in LR to tweak the end result a bit - much faster then blending in PS.

[weedeath]

Definetly filters =]

[IslandCrow]

I was just about to post the same question, so hania, I hope you don't mind if I continue along this line of questioning. Although Photoshop certainly does take more time than using a GND filter, what do people do for uneven horizons? For example, what if you have mountains in the background, or trees? Do you just resort to Photoshop at that point? I'm guessing there must be some trick since that's really not an option for film.