Why ND grad filters are essential for landscape photography

When I was out last weekend, I took a couple of photos with the intention of showing the benefits of graduated neutral density filters, which are arguably the most important thing in my camera bag. They’re so important to me, in fact, that I’d rather carry my filter pouch than an extra lens if I had to make that choice.

Generally speaking, the best light for landscape photography is either very early in the day or very late, because that’s when the sun’s low position in the sky starts to add depth to a landscape. The problem is that, at this time, a scene’s contrast can be beyond what your camera is able to record in a single frame.

The last thing you want in most landscape photographs is either a blown out sky or an underexposed foreground – it’s important to make a balanced composition and exposure. With that in mind, there are a few options that you can take as a photographer – the first is to use a HDR, or high-dynamic range, technique where you make multiple exposures for key parts of the scene. This has the benefit of massive dynamic range, but it often results in a final image that looks fake.

Personally, I prefer to preserve the beauty of the landscape and make photographs that capture the moment as I saw it through the camera lens. That pushed me towards using a slot-in filter system, which enables me to reduce the contrast of an image, while maintaining detail in both the highlights and the shadows.

The two photos below were taken about 1 1/2 hours before sunset during ‘the golden hour’ (as it’s often known), for reference purposes. I’ve also done a minimal amount of post processing – they’re virtually straight out of the camera.

No ND grad filter left, 0.6 (2 stop) ND grad filter right

Notice how the foreground is underexposed and the clouds are overexposed in the unfiltered photograph. I’m sure you can see the difference quite clearly, but it’s important to note how the whole scene is much better exposed and there is good cloud definition in the sky. The colours are also much more vibrant as a result, too.