Let's hear how you meter with your GND.

Pretty much what the title says...for those out there that use a Graduated Neutral Density filter how do you meter the scene.

What's your technique?

Thanks!

I usually meter for the foreground.

generally you would take a reading from the forground, and the sky, work out how many stops difference there is, and choose a ND grad to suit - and then use the settings for the forground. that should give you a perfectly exposed image all across.

I use manual mode and meter off the histogram - I use the foreground as a starting point.

So are all you obviously metering without the GND on?

Yes meter without the GND first. Than do the reading for the sky and foreground and determine the number if stops. If it's apporximately 2 stops, use a 2 stop filter. If it's 3 stops use a 3 stop filter. I usually use a 2 or 3 stop GND most of the time.

Jim G wrote in post #6246231
I use manual mode and meter off the histogram - I use the foreground as a starting point.

Ditto. After a while, you'll get pretty adept at just metering the scene in your head...it becomes second nature.

As far as figuring the number of stops difference between foreground and background, and then selecting a matching filter...be careful when doing this. The sky is always brighter than the foreground...using a 3-stop filter with 3-stops difference will end up with the fore/back looking the same as far as intensity goes. I'll generally pick a filter that's one stop less than the difference to ensure that the sky stays brighter (as long as I don't blow anything out).

argyle wrote in post #6247341
Ditto. After a while, you'll get pretty adept at just metering the scene in your head...it becomes second nature.

As far as figuring the number of stops difference between foreground and background, and then selecting a matching filter...be careful when doing this. The sky is always brighter than the foreground...using a 3-stop filter with 3-stops difference will end up with the fore/back looking the same as far as intensity goes. I'll generally pick a filter that's one stop less than the difference to ensure that the sky stays brighter (as long as I don't blow anything out).

+1

I'll generally pick a filter that's one stop less than the difference to ensure that the sky stays brighter (as long as I don't blow anything out)

- I am learning little things like this as I go along...