What is a gradient mirror?

Gradient mirror is one of the most important filters in photographic art creation. It can be divided into gradient mirror and gradient diffusion mirror, and can be divided into soft gradient and hard gradient in gradient form. "Soft" means a large transition range, and vice versa, it means a small transition range, which should be chosen according to the creative characteristics. Let's take a closer look.

Most filters are used to average photos, such as the commonly used spin-in PL polarizer, star mirror and ND mirror. , and the whole film is average. The gradient mirror has a gradient effect on the photo, and the filter only works on one side, and the other side has no effect on the photo. According to the purpose, the common gradient lenses are gray gradient lenses, blue gradient lenses, taupe gradient lenses, orange gradient lenses and so on.

Grading mirror grading

Gradient lenses can be divided into gray gradient lenses, various color gradient lenses and so on, and gradient lenses can be divided into screw-in and plug-in designs.

Because the plug-in gradient mirror is easy to change the angle and can change the gradient ratio by moving up and down, it is very popular with photographers. In addition to the gradient mirror, the external filter system also provides average motion filters such as ND and Star Mirror. The plug-in gradient lens can be fixed in front of the lens through a bracket, and multiple filters can be installed on the bracket for use together.

Gray gradient mirror effect

When shooting outdoors, the light difference between the sky and the ground is quite large in many cases. Due to the limited tolerance of the photosensitive element of the camera, it is impossible to take pictures of the sky and the ground at the same time with normal exposure. If the sky is exposed accurately, the ground will be underexposed and turn black; If the ground exposure is accurate, the sky will be overexposed and become dead white. Especially when it is cloudy, sunrise and sunset, the problem of light difference becomes more serious.

In this environment, changing the sensitivity, adjusting the exposure compensation, and even installing a PL polarizer will not help. At this time, as long as the gradient dimming filter is added, the dimming side will go up, and the brightness of the sky will decrease, but the brightness of the ground will not be affected, and the light difference between the sky and the ground will decrease, so that the level of the sky and the ground can be completely reproduced in the photo.

Nowadays, digital cameras are all designed by TTL photometry, and even if a gradient dimming filter is added, no special exposure compensation is needed. In addition to adding a gradient dimming filter when shooting cloudy days, sunrises and sunsets, adding this filter when shooting sunny days can also make the color saturation of the sky higher, make the sky appear bluer and look more relaxed and happy.

Color gradient mirror effect

In addition to gradient dimming filters, you can also add gradient filters of other colors to change the color of the sky and enhance the atmosphere of photos when shooting landscapes. Gradient blue is another commonly used gradient filter. On cloudy and bad days, the gray sky is really a big scene. At this time, you can add a gradient blue filter to restore the sky to blue, and enhance the effect of blue sky and white clouds without affecting the color of the ground. If shooting sunrise and sunset, gradient orange is a very useful filter, which can make the monochrome effect at sunset stronger.

In addition, many photographers will add a brown gradient lens when shooting cloudy and cloudy subjects to express nostalgia and moodiness. You can even use two color gradient filters at the same time to make the upper and lower parts of the photo appear different colors, making the photo more picturesque.