Lee Neutral Density Grad Set (Soft) Filter

The most common use for a single ND grad would be to balance the exposure difference between the sky and the foreground in a landscape image, retaining the natural colours and detail without over-exposing and "burning out" parts of the image.

The Neutral Density set can be used with all standard film types and contains graduated resin filters enabling the photographer to adjust exposure over part of the photograph without affecting the colour balance. Exposure can be controlled by 1, 2 or 3 stops, to suit the individual situation.

For example, when photographing a landscape in which the sky is much brighter than the foreground, placing the neutral density part of the filter onto the sky in the frame will reduce the sky exposure without affecting the foreground. This enables cloud detail to be kept correctly exposed in the picture, and avoids the "white out" effect caused by exposing for the foreground. Even with the advent of digital RAW capture and image manipulation, ND grads remain an important tool, as lost highlight detail (in the same way as a burnt out area in a transparency) cannot be recovered if above the maximum recording threshold.

The maximum density available in Lee Neutral Density graduated filters is 0.9 ND/3 stops, with 1.2ND/4 stops available to special order. For anything that requires a much stronger density, we recommend careful use of 2 grads together.