How can I get a soft, hazy sky gradient in bright sun?
Asked 6/14/2023
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2 answers
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I’ve seen desert and bright-sun images where a cloudless sky has a very smooth gradient and the sun’s glare looks muted, almost like it’s behind a veil. I assume this could come from shooting conditions, filters, camera settings, or post-processing. Would an ND or CPL filter create this look, or is it mainly caused by lowering contrast in-camera or during raw processing?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
3y ago
2 Answers
1
Reduce contrast. The video frame grab has reduced contrast to try and fit more of the scene's dynamic range into the image. That makes edges between different brightness levels less distinct.
If you're saving to JPEG, do this via the camera settings before you take the shot. This will give much better results than trying to reduce contrast of a JPEG image after the fact.
If you're saving raw image data, you can set it in camera and hope that your raw convertor follows the instruction at the starting point it shows you. Either way, with raw image data you can change it after the fact with no effect on the original data. What you see on your screen is never "THE raw photo", it's only one possible interpretation of the raw image data as determined by your raw conversion application's default settings.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
3y ago
0
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Based on the answers, this look is mainly a low-contrast rendering rather than something a filter specifically creates.
What you’re noticing is reduced contrast, which compresses the scene’s dynamic range so transitions between bright areas are softer and less harsh. That can make the sky gradient look smoother and the sun glare appear more subdued.
If you shoot JPEG, lowering contrast in the camera before taking the photo will usually give better results than trying to reduce contrast later from an already-processed JPEG.
If you shoot raw, you have more flexibility: you can lower contrast during raw conversion without changing the original capture. In-camera picture settings may influence the preview, but the raw file itself retains the underlying image data.
So, from the provided answers, the key factor is contrast control, especially in processing. ND and CPL filters are not identified here as the main cause of this particular effect.
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