Neutral density filters are like sunglasses for your camera, reducing the total amount of light that reaches the camera sensor through the lens, without affecting the colour rendering. Incorporating ND filters into your workflow has the advantage that you can capture moving elements, such as clouds or waves, with a longer exposure time to highlight the movement smoothly without overexposing the shot.
ND filters are available in various stops, such as ND2, ND8 or ND1000, which indicate the degree of light reduction, and each one serves a specific purpose. ND filters are complemented by the graduated neutral density (GND) filters, which darken only part of the frame, while the rest is unaffected, creating a graduated transition between areas. ND grads are particularly useful in landscape photography, where the sky is…
