My wife Gyda, (www.gyda.is) gave me the Lee starter kit for Christmas. It includes one two stop ND filter and one Hard Grad two stop gradient filter and a holder. Driving off from Akureyri to Myvatnssveit and taking the first stop at Godafoss waterfall it became obvious what these filter systems have to offer. Since there are only two to four hours of light we arrived at half an hour before noon and started shooting. I was using Nikon 16-35 with the Lee starter kit. It took only few frames to see that something was happening in the photos which I had not seen before in my photos. The effect of the Hard Grad filter on the orange sky was dramatic. It kept the control between the ground and the sky in perfect balance.
I know some think at this point that “this guy is new to filters – where has he been!” Sure, I am always learning new things, but the fact is that these filters are doing much more for light control than circular filter ever can. They also explained the massive control of light I have been wondering about in other photographers photos. Sorry to say for you like-minded geeks out there, but gear matters.
Taking photos in snow on Námaskard geothermal mountain my wife had a look at my screen when we were trying to capture the same scene “I want this!” she said.