Keeping the balance

We are entering an age where some landscape photographers consider software to be of equal importance as the camera system they use to capture their images. With the term HDR becoming more and more prominent throughout the photography universe, some may consider that the use of neutral density graduated filters to balance the exposure range when capturing images is no longer necessary and perhaps something of an antiquated technique in landscape photography.

On paper, the use of HDR (High dynamic range) photography techniques to capture your images should provide the most pleasing results. Essentially HDR photography is undertaken by widely bracketing a number of exposures (ie -2, -1, 0, +1 and +2 f-Stops) which are then combined using specialist software to create an HDR image. So far, so good. Then a technique called Tone Mapping is utilised to reintroduce some contrast into the image and to make it appear more realistic. And this is where the problems begin for a number of photographers using this technique… poor tone mapping can result in an image that simply looks unrealistic, and sometimes quite horrendous.

Another problem with combining multiple exposures to create an HDR shot is movement during the capture of the bracketed sequence. Whilst at first it may appear a calm enough scene, the processing of this shot of the Chalamain Gap in the Cairngorms National Park was made far more difficult by the movement of clouds between the -2 and +2 bracketed exposure. My only option was to blend the exposures using my HDR software (technically not a full HDR shot) and then using Photoshop I manually combined the bracketed shot with the best exposure for the sky and then using a layer mask I removed the underexposed foreground to reveal the 'exposure blended' foreground. It probably took me about an hour to produce this one shot and whilst I am really happy with it, I would have preferred to have captured it in camera using filters. But there was a major problem with using filters in that the horizon was haphazard and the difference in exposure required for the shot was around 5 f-Stops. Basically if I had used neutral density graduated filters to balance the exposure, the evidence of their use would be apparent on the final image.

So whilst it is apparent that there are some definite advantages to combining multiple exposures, I personally found the length of time involved to process the final image is enough for me to only use this technique when there are no other options available. And luckily for the majority of my images, neutral density graduated filters prove to be more than adequate to provide the end results I require.

Whilst it is commonly believed that the 'soft' graduated neutral density filters are easier to use than the 'hard' graduated filters, I personally find that the 'hard' filters are far more useful when they are used in landscape photography. I find that a harder transition can often be placed in such a way that the use of filters is often unapparent to the viewer of the final image, which is what I am always striving to achieve. For the shot above I used a 3-Stop 'Hard' ND graduated filter and a burst of fill-in flash to illuminate the foreground interest. You should never be a afraid to combine a number of techniques in your quest for the perfect landscape photography shot!