{"id":9891,"date":"2017-09-04T15:15:20","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T15:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/?p=9891"},"modified":"2017-09-04T15:15:20","modified_gmt":"2017-09-04T15:15:20","slug":"fake-nd-grad-filter-lightroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/fake-nd-grad-filter-lightroom\/%20","title":{"rendered":"How to fake an ND Grad filter with LIGHTROOM"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Flash of inspiration<\/h1>\n<p>This technique came to me one night &#8211; just watching sunset on a road bridge and thought about it. It applies to Tilt Shif lenses mainly &#8211; but I&#8217;m sure you can do it with a normal lens, or telephoto. Maybe not an ultrawide 16mm though.<\/p>\n<h1>The Problem<\/h1>\n<p>So you invest \u00a32000 on a 17mm TS lens and realise you can NEVER use an ND grad on it&#8230; the end of the lens is like a tennis ball, you just can&#8217;t fit the darn things on.<\/p>\n<p>So you have to use HDR to get balanced shots, which can mean using 6 or 9 shots once you&#8217;ve done your shifting. The problems are, when shooting with a 5D4&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Masses of hard drive space &#8211; 6 or 9 40Meg RAW files, ouch<\/li>\n<li>Need to use HDR &#8211; can introduce problems if you don&#8217;t know what you&#8217;re doing<\/li>\n<li>Time&#8230; wow, even on a powerful computer you&#8217;re waiting around<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But yeah &#8211; I&#8217;d been doing this ever since I got the 17mm TSe<\/p>\n<h1>The Idea&#8230;.<\/h1>\n<p>It&#8217;s far from genius really.<\/p>\n<p>But I found this whilst shooting light trails over the M62 &#8211; the camera levelled on a tripod.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I could get the whole scene in 2 shots &#8211; a low shot and a high shot<\/li>\n<li>The low shot was dark mainly &#8211; had the road in it<\/li>\n<li>The high shot was bright mainly &#8211; had the sky in it.<\/li>\n<li>I WAS taking HDR brackets at the time then thought&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Would LIGHTROOM stitch 2 shifted shots at different exposures&#8230; and would there be a tide mark?<\/p>\n<h3>The source files<\/h3>\n<p>The first shot is the lower one &#8211; this is 30 seconds, so you get long light trails &#8211; and lots of them<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9892 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/053-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade.jpg\" alt=\"LIGHTROOM Grad - how to fake it using 2 photos in lightroom \" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/053-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/053-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/053-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-75x50.jpg 75w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/053-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-650x434.jpg 650w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Next, I shifted the camera up to get mainly the sky &#8211; but leaving a bit of road for Lightroom to blend with. This was just 6 seconds long so we got a nice dramatic sky.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9893 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-75x50.jpg 75w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-650x434.jpg 650w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So here goes &#8211; highlighted them both and did a Panoramic Blend.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve obviously done a few tweaks with lightroom to get it a bit brighter.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9894 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"956\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg 956w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano-287x300.jpg 287w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano-48x50.jpg 48w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano-650x680.jpg 650w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 956px) 100vw, 956px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So here is the unedited blend<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9895 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano-1.jpg 728w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano-1-287x300.jpg 287w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano-1-48x50.jpg 48w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano-1-650x679.jpg 650w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As you can see &#8211; lightroom just did its thing and got it right!<\/p>\n<h1>A video on how it&#8217;s done<\/h1>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"Faking a perfect sky in seconds, using 2 photos and LIGHTROOM\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9hicjF8zrbA?start=3&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Flash of inspiration This technique came to me one night &#8211; just watching sunset on a road bridge and thought about it. It applies to Tilt Shif lenses mainly &#8211; but I&#8217;m sure you can do it with a normal lens, or telephoto. Maybe not an ultrawide 16mm though. The Problem So you invest \u00a32000 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_22977785_22977785":"","facebook_10157410341118549_123005067715685":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,39,54,9,14,30,311],"tags":[559,558,556,560,557],"class_list":["post-9891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automobiles","category-discussion","category-lightroom","category-photography","category-tips","category-training","category-video-tutorials","tag-clever","tag-hdr-cunning","tag-lightroo","tag-panoramic","tag-stitching"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg",956,1000,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano-287x300.jpg",287,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg",956,1000,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg",956,1000,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg",956,1000,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/054-oakwell-hall-M62-light-trails-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg",956,1000,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"McFade","author_link":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/author\/admin"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Flash of inspiration This technique came to me one night &#8211; just watching sunset on a road bridge and thought about it. It applies to Tilt Shif lenses mainly &#8211; but I&#8217;m sure you can do it with a normal lens, or telephoto. Maybe not an ultrawide 16mm though. The Problem So you invest \u00a32000&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9891"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126151,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9891\/revisions\/126151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}