Graduated Filter

I have essentially given up on colored filters since going digital. Photoshop handles my issues of color correction to my satisfaction. However, I still feel I need a proper set-up of graduated filters for landscape work, where exposure correction is the key element, and color enhancement is an added benefit.

Any recommendations on graduated filters for my 2.8s woudl be appreciated and if anyone knows of articles on PS work that can meet these same needs I and others would surely be interested.

I thought of getting some graduated filters but the more I thought about it the better I liked the idea of Exposure Bracketing and doing the graduation in Photoshop.

Now, I am not schooled in the "old ways" of photography so I may be missing something. But the advantages I see of using Photoshop are:

1. Cost of the filters and trouble of carrying them

2. Having the filters with you with the situation arises

3. Set up time to get the graduation set in the right place versus shooting two or more shots with different exposures.

4. What if you don't line were you set the graduation

5. You can do graduations of any shape and at any rate with Photoshop adjustment layers.

6. You can even change the camera angle and even focus the camera to create a wider shot with more DoF (if that is the effect you want).

I guess there could be some exceptions to the above, but most of the time I decided I would much rather just exposure bracket.

The Shot below does most of the above. I was shooting a slight panorama (I could not quite fit the whole image without risking cropping. The two shots are 2 F-stops apart since a reflection in water is generally about 2-F-stops darker. The two originals are first followed by the resulting composite. The original shots were hand held and aligned in Photoshop using arbitrary transforms and layer maskes (it would have been easier to composite if the shots were taken on a tripod).

The one "filter effect" that I know of for which there is no digital equivalent is a Polarizer. Thus the only specialty filters I have are Polarizers.

http://www.fototime.com/ {03C8F501-4636-450A-9E0F-A2C5A2C0897C} picture.JPG

http://www.fototime.com/ {AAECEA7C-4172-4AC6-B10C-E29AE24DAA9F} picture.JPG

http://www.fototime.com/ {0BF97977-D518-452C-8F63-4B5CB9A09AB7} picture.JPG

Krik said:

I have essentially given up on colored filters since going digital.
Photoshop handles my issues of color correction to my satisfaction.
However, I still feel I need a proper set-up of graduated filters
for landscape work, where exposure correction is the key element,
and color enhancement is an added benefit.

Any recommendations on graduated filters for my 2.8s woudl be
appreciated and if anyone knows of articles on PS work that can
meet these same needs I and others would surely be interested.

Click to expand...

--Karl

Hi Kirk,
I use these NIK color efex filters, check them out.

http://www.nikmultimedia.com/usa/products/colorefexpro/classicset/classicset.shtml

Jack

Krik said:

I have essentially given up on colored filters since going digital.
Photoshop handles my issues of color correction to my satisfaction.
However, I still feel I need a proper set-up of graduated filters
for landscape work, where exposure correction is the key element,
and color enhancement is an added benefit.

Any recommendations on graduated filters for my 2.8s woudl be
appreciated and if anyone knows of articles on PS work that can
meet these same needs I and others would surely be interested.

Click to expand...

Hi Karlg,

Karl Guttag said:

first followed by the resulting composite. The original shots were
hand held and aligned in Photoshop using arbitrary transforms and
layer maskes (it would have been easier to composite if the shots
were taken on a tripod).

Click to expand...

Would it be possible to use as your two shots raw files coverted as linear and non-linear, or are there likely to be other problems. I ask because I remember a gradual filter simulation being described on Fred Miranda's site using the two outputs from raw file conversion. I tried an example yeasterday, where I combined the two files using a layer mask made from an inverted greyscale version of one of the images. It sort of worked but I wasn't totally happy with the result.

Any advice?

Cheers,

malcolm

Thanks Jack. This looks like a great product, if the examples on their site can be replicated. I don't see any info on file types, however. Do you know if it can work with TIFFs, and in 16 or do I need to convert to 8 bit first.

Thanks again,

Jack O'Neill said:

http://www.nikmultimedia.com/usa/products/colorefexpro/classicset/classicset.shtml

Jack

Krik said:

I have essentially given up on colored filters since going digital.
Photoshop handles my issues of color correction to my satisfaction.
However, I still feel I need a proper set-up of graduated filters
for landscape work, where exposure correction is the key element,
and color enhancement is an added benefit.

Any recommendations on graduated filters for my 2.8s woudl be
appreciated and if anyone knows of articles on PS work that can
meet these same needs I and others would surely be interested.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Aloha
I have the filter set myself
they do not work in 16 bit
(at least for me they do not ??)
they have demos on there site
the one that does work in 16 bit is found at:
http://www.theimagingfactory.com/
they to have demos
and it is only $19.95
as far as comparison of noise etc.. I have not done this ????
might be somethign I should do
hehhehehe

I do know that some of the Nik filters I have are very noisy and I find that the output is kind of so so
for me they work fine for web stuff but would not use them for print purpose ???
that is me others may have dif results
I would say go out grab both demos and try em out for yourself
the imaging factory is a much much better price

Krik said:

Thanks again,

Jack O'Neill said:

http://www.nikmultimedia.com/usa/products/colorefexpro/classicset/classicset.shtml

Jack

Krik said:

I have essentially given up on colored filters since going digital.
Photoshop handles my issues of color correction to my satisfaction.
However, I still feel I need a proper set-up of graduated filters
for landscape work, where exposure correction is the key element,
and color enhancement is an added benefit.

Any recommendations on graduated filters for my 2.8s woudl be
appreciated and if anyone knows of articles on PS work that can
meet these same needs I and others would surely be interested.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--Chad Dwww.panotools.comwww.happyfish.com

The Linear trick does work to some degree but from my limited tests it is only good for less than 1 stop of over exposure (A refection in water will be about 2 F-Stops).

I don't totally follow what you are doing, but is sounds like your are ending up with grey scale "compression" and a loss in contrast. You may want to try using a Gradient fill of the layer masked followed by some touch up.

Furthermore, I would be a bit scared to depend on it. I would hate to get back home and find some of the image blown out. I might take a chance on a single shot but I would back it up with exposure bracketing.

I also had a problem that from the postion I could take the shot, I needed wider than 17mm to get the entire reflection. So I was stuck doing a panorama anyway if I wanted all the reflection.

Karl

Malcolml said:

Malcolml said:

first followed by the resulting composite. The original shots were
hand held and aligned in Photoshop using arbitrary transforms and
layer maskes (it would have been easier to composite if the shots
were taken on a tripod).

Click to expand...

Would it be possible to use as your two shots raw files coverted as
linear and non-linear, or are there likely to be other problems. I
ask because I remember a gradual filter simulation being described
on Fred Miranda's site using the two outputs from raw file
conversion. I tried an example yeasterday, where I combined the
two files using a layer mask made from an inverted greyscale
version of one of the images. It sort of worked but I wasn't
totally happy with the result.

Any advice?

Cheers,

malcolm

Click to expand...

--Karl

Hi Kirk, They will work on tiffs, but only in 8 bit mode.

I do all my 16 bit editing then use them after converting to 8 bit. I think the results are great, you just have to play with a bit just like any new software.

Jack

Krik said:

Thanks again,

Jack O'Neill said:

http://www.nikmultimedia.com/usa/products/colorefexpro/classicset/classicset.shtml

Jack

Krik said:

I have essentially given up on colored filters since going digital.
Photoshop handles my issues of color correction to my satisfaction.
However, I still feel I need a proper set-up of graduated filters
for landscape work, where exposure correction is the key element,
and color enhancement is an added benefit.

Any recommendations on graduated filters for my 2.8s woudl be
appreciated and if anyone knows of articles on PS work that can
meet these same needs I and others would surely be interested.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Thats a perfect example of what can be done with exposure bracketing and photoshop! Well done mate !!

Nicholas

Karlg said:

I thought of getting some graduated filters but the more I thought
about it the better I liked the idea of Exposure Bracketing and
doing the graduation in Photoshop.

Now, I am not schooled in the "old ways" of photography so I may be
missing something. But the advantages I see of using Photoshop are:

1. Cost of the filters and trouble of carrying them

2. Having the filters with you with the situation arises

3. Set up time to get the graduation set in the right place versus
shooting two or more shots with different exposures.

4. What if you don't line were you set the graduation

5. You can do graduations of any shape and at any rate with
Photoshop adjustment layers.

6. You can even change the camera angle and even focus the camera
to create a wider shot with more DoF (if that is the effect you
want).

I guess there could be some exceptions to the above, but most of
the time I decided I would much rather just exposure bracket.

The Shot below does most of the above. I was shooting a slight
panorama (I could not quite fit the whole image without risking
cropping. The two shots are 2 F-stops apart since a reflection in
water is generally about 2-F-stops darker. The two originals are
first followed by the resulting composite. The original shots were
hand held and aligned in Photoshop using arbitrary transforms and
layer maskes (it would have been easier to composite if the shots
were taken on a tripod).

The one "filter effect" that I know of for which there is no
digital equivalent is a Polarizer. Thus the only specialty filters
I have are Polarizers.

Click to expand...