Strongest ND Grad Filter? 4 stop?

[bshaw]

I'm attempting a shot that requires a very strong ND Grad -  Does anyone know if there are any ND Grads that are stronger than 4-stops?    Are there any 6-stop or higher ND Grads? 

I'm shooting into bright lights on one side of the scene and I have only a slightly lit subject on the other side.  Although I can make this shot as a composite image in Photoshop, I much prefer to do this in camera.  (Or, rather, just in front of the camera).

I'm fairly close to getting this shot right by stacking a few (3) ND Grads, but I get a faint reflection of the bright lights as they bounce between each filter. 

If I could reduce the number of filters in the stack, I think I could make it work perfectly.

Any ideas are welcome.

v/r

b shaw

[StoneNYC]

Do you have control over the lights? Can you increase the light on the other side of the model to compensate then up the shutter speed to compensate for the light increase?

Are the lights in the scene? Or outside of frame? If they are outside frame, just add some ND gels in front of the lights.

[PhotoEcosse]

In the situation you describe, I would probably try to use 2 x 4-stop grads (maybe one hard and one soft) together with a black cloth over the filter holder. I am not aware of anyone making 6 or 8 stop grads.

Don't forget how much you can now do with the Exposure, Highlights and Shadows sliders in the latest versions of Lightroom. Applying those adjustments locally to the Raw file can give a surprising amount of compensation to parts of the image, provided you have exposed so as not to totally blow the highlights.

[bshaw]

In the situation you describe, I would probably try to use 2 x 4-stop grads (maybe one hard and one soft) together with a black cloth over the filter holder. I am not aware of anyone making 6 or 8 stop grads.

Don't forget how much you can now do with the Exposure, Highlights and Shadows sliders in the latest versions of Lightroom. Applying those adjustments locally to the Raw file can give a surprising amount of compensation to parts of the image, provided you have exposed so as not to totally blow the highlights.

PhotoEcosse,

Thanks for the reply.  I like your idea about stacking two 4-stop grads.  I was leaning in that direction if there wasn't anything stronger.  I'm leaning towards a couple of Lee 100x150 1.2 ND Grads, both soft.  I know you suggested one hard, but my scene edge isn't completely straight.  But I'm open to other recommendations.  Do you have a preference?

On a side note, about a month ago or so, Shott (the glass company ) published one of there patents that basically allows someone to print a ND pattern on one of there glass substrates.  That means, you could print to whatever ND attenuation you want.  Importantly, for me, it means I can print ND shapes onto the substrate. 

B.

[bshaw]

Do you have control over the lights? Can you increase the light on the other side of the model to compensate then up the shutter speed to compensate for the light increase?

Are the lights in the scene? Or outside of frame? If they are outside frame, just add some ND gels in front of the lights.

Stone,

Thanks for the reply.  Actually I have no control over the scene - they are time lapses of live street scenes with neon, zippy cars, pedestrians, bright shops, and even pesky delivery vans that stop smack-dab* right in front of the camera.  (*"smack-dab" is a highly technical Latin term meaning, "Dude! Why did you park there?  It's not even a loading zone!  You've blocked my entire frame! grrrr.")  

A couple of times my time lapse featured drunk guys walking straight up to the camera, also standing smack-dab* right in front of the camera and asking what I was photographing.  I so wanted to say "at the moment, I'm photographing your drunk face and at this distance I'm probably shooting a macro of your sinus cavities"   - Alas, I refrained and was polite.  Instead, I merely said "I'm shooting a time lapse series of the street, blah, blah, etc..." Meanwhile, I was also nervously thinking, "please don't vomit on my camera", please don't vomit on my camera, please don't vomit on my camera ..."  (No kidding!)

Anyway, back to the need for strong ND Grads - your name suggests you're familiar with Manhattan, so think Times Square for half the frame and a dark alley in the other half of the frame.    It's actually a time lapse series of long exposures ~30 seconds and my city isn't as remarkable lit as Times Square, but same idea, really bright scene in part of the image, really dark part in another part of the frame.

If it were a single image, I might have a chance at controlling some of the bright parts of the scene and even might be bake to avoid the drunk guys stumbling around my camera.  But it's a time lapse of a street scene, so I don't have much control.  I just stand there and my camera clicks away for a couple of hours.  Although, I've gotten better at playing "Dots" on my phone while waiting for my shutter to click away.

When I get some slightly better results I'll post them.

B.

[Doug Peterson]

If you have the budget to rent a higher end camera you'll gain a couple stops of "effective ND Grad" flexibility in post processing. The IQ250 at ISO100 has truly stunning shadow pushing and highlight recovery characteristics.

[StoneNYC]

Stone,

Thanks for the reply.  Actually I have no control over the scene - they are time lapses of live street scenes with neon, zippy cars, pedestrians, bright shops, and even pesky delivery vans that stop smack-dab* right in front of the camera.  (*"smack-dab" is a highly technical Latin term meaning, "Dude! Why did you park there?  It's not even a loading zone!  You've blocked my entire frame! grrrr.")   

A couple of times my time lapse featured drunk guys walking straight up to the camera, also standing smack-dab* right in front of the camera and asking what I was photographing.  I so wanted to say "at the moment, I'm photographing your drunk face and at this distance I'm probably shooting a macro of your sinus cavities"   - Alas, I refrained and was polite.  Instead, I merely said "I'm shooting a time lapse series of the street, blah, blah, etc..." Meanwhile, I was also nervously thinking, "please don't vomit on my camera", please don't vomit on my camera, please don't vomit on my camera ..."  (No kidding!)

Anyway, back to the need for strong ND Grads - your name suggests you're familiar with Manhattan, so think Times Square for half the frame and a dark alley in the other half of the frame.    It's actually a time lapse series of long exposures ~30 seconds and my city isn't as remarkable lit as Times Square, but same idea, really bright scene in part of the image, really dark part in another part of the frame.

If it were a single image, I might have a chance at controlling some of the bright parts of the scene and even might be bake to avoid the drunk guys stumbling around my camera.  But it's a time lapse of a street scene, so I don't have much control.  I just stand there and my camera clicks away for a couple of hours.  Although, I've gotten better at playing "Dots" on my phone while waiting for my shutter to click away.

When I get some slightly better results I'll post them.

B.

Gotcha,

Well technically I'm in Connecticut believe it or not, but I am very familiar with New York City, and Time Square, I actually don't use many neutral density graduated filters I usually just use the standard neutral density filters for a lot of my work.

Here is an example of stacking three filters on top of each other all neutral density filters that equaled 9 stops...

Edit... Okay nevermind for some reason I'm not allowed to upload images to the forum, is this because I am new or because the form just doesn't allow it?

Anyway stacking good clean glass is fine, but don't use eBay cheap ones use something decent.