Uneven Horizons and Grad Filters

[blackcap]

I take a lot of sunrise and sunset photos and use my hard edge GND filters religiously. They balance out the shot very well and minimize the amount of PP I need to do.

Most of the time my horizons are flat, or I don't care about silhouetting part of the foreground that overlaps the sky, but I was wondering what the best way of handling very uneven horizons (without silhouetting) where the sun is on or near the horizon?

For example, take this photo of Adam Barker's: http://galleries.adambarkerphotograp...G_5733.jpg.php

A hard edge GND would leave the mountain tips dark. A soft edge would leave the sun blown out. Would bracketing exposures and blending them have been necessary?

[eddarr]

I am going to guess and say that image is an HDR. The reason I say that is the small amount of sun rays that cross in front of the mountain on the left which I believe is Mt Owen. That can be somewhat hard to do with blended exposures; not impossible but hard.

The other reason is the way the water looks. It has the look of being flattened due to the multiple exposures. I'll bet you could contact the photographer through his website and he may share how the image was taken.

You can also look at a reverse GND but you still have the problem with uneven horizons.

[Laramie]

I'm wondering the same thing. I was recently shooting in Sedona and the rocks presented a problem. Using my GND, the tips of the formations were too dark, but without the filter, the sky was blown.

I guess you can use Scott Kelby's "painting with light" technique and use a layer mask in photoshop, but I don't really like doing a ton of pp.

[eddarr]

I've almost given up on GND's. They are generally more trouble than they are worth for anything other than shots over water. You have more control blending exposures, carry less stuff and save a bunch of money.

[neilwood32]

I havent ever used GND filters - its as easy to do the work in a good PP package merging exposures. The problem as you have noticed is if the horizon is in the slightest uneven, you are left with the choice of under/over exposing parts of the image. That to me isnt a good choice.

Oh and I'm too tight to buy GND's!

[blackcap]

Originally Posted by neilwood32

I havent ever used GND filters - its as easy to do the work in a good PP package merging exposures. The problem as you have noticed is if the horizon is in the slightest uneven, you are left with the choice of under/over exposing parts of the image. That to me isnt a good choice.

Oh and I'm too tight to buy GND's!

I had a look at your Flickr page to see some examples, but it doesn't look like you've got your best shots there. Do you have another site with examples of your exposure blending?

[eddarr]

blackcap

This shot was with a 3 stop soft edge GND with the grey starting at the base of the mountain.



This shot is blended.

[JCH77Yanks]

I use a soft-edge two stop GND, and if I needed, I augment that with Lightroom's graduated filter.

[Laramie]

Originally Posted by JCH77Yanks

I use a soft-edge two stop GND, and if I needed, I augment that with Lightroom's graduated filter.

Is this new in Lightroom 2? Or is this in the original Lightroom as well? I don't remember seeing this feature.

[FlyingPhotog]

Originally Posted by cowboylife

Is this new in Lightroom 2? Or is this in the original Lightroom as well? I don't remember seeing this feature.

IIRC, new in LR Ver2

[Laramie]

Originally Posted by FlyingPhotog

IIRC, new in LR Ver2

Of course...just one more thing they make you pay and upgrade

[blackcap]

Originally Posted by JCH77Yanks

I use a soft-edge two stop GND, and if I needed, I augment that with Lightroom's graduated filter.

But wouldn't you get blown out highlights with a 2 stop if, say, the sun is on the horizon?

[JCH77Yanks]

Originally Posted by blackcap

But wouldn't you get blown out highlights with a 2 stop if, say, the sun is on the horizon?

Yes, in which case I'll either choose to silhouette or just blend exposures.

[FlyingPhotog]

Originally Posted by JCH77Yanks

Yes, in which case I'll either choose to silhouette or just blend exposures.

Or get a reverse grad filter (for $$$$$)

[JCH77Yanks]

Originally Posted by FlyingPhotog

Or get a reverse grad filter (for $$$$$)

I could be wrong, but I think there could be a way to emulate that effect using the LR2 filter. It's definitely not the best way to handle it (the best way will always be to get it right in the camera), but it's a pretty good start...