For this week's blog I decided to find an article that discusses the use of neutral density (ND) filters in photography. I have seen many people using ND filters on their lenses but I wasn't entirely sure what purpose they served. This article discusses reasons why photographers use ND filters as well as how beginners can use ND filters to improve their photos.
The article describes neutral density filters as being "sunglasses" for your lens. It doesn't entirely block out the light, but it blocks it in a way that causes the light to be less intense (more neutral). When you take a landscape photo without a filter the sensor will be exposed to light for a longer time, so you'll have a faster shutter speed. When you use an ND filter, you are blocking more light from entering the sensor and therefore you have to use longer exposures/slower shutter speeds.
The article then shifts to discussing ND grad filters. Grad filters are used by photographers to darken the skies in pictures and help balance the exposure of brighter subjects. Sometimes you may have taken a great landscape photo but the skyline is the only component of the photo that is over exposed, and that's where ND grad filters come into play.
The most important aspect of ND filters is that they are created in "stops". In photography, the term stop refers to reducing the amount of light in half. For example, if you are trying to take a 2 second exposure shot without a filter, you will need to reduce the amount of light exposed to the sensor by using a 1 stop ND filter. After putting on the 1 stop ND filter, you will have to adjust the exposure/shutter speed to 4 seconds in order to compensate for the loss of light.
This chart helps the beginner photographer like myself delineate which type of ND filter to use in terms of "stops" according to the exposure time required for the shot.
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