The soft ND grad is essential when photographing scenes that don’t feature any sky, but which still require filtration to balance the exposure. A typical example might be a woodland scene that features streams of sunlight coming into the frame from an upper corner. The line of a hard grad would show up on the image, whereas the transition of a soft grad is undetectable. Soft grads are also ideal for scenes in which there is little definition between land and sky, or when large objects protrude into the sky.
Don’t forget, different ND grads can be combined in the same holder, whether it’s to create a staggered gradation effect, at different angles, or to
subtly reduce contrast in differing parts of the frame.
All four types of grad are available in the following strengths:
0.3 (1 stop), 0.45 (1½ stops), 0.6 (2 stops), 0.75 (2½ stops), 0.9 (3 stops) and 1.2 (4 stops)