graduated filter

Definition: Camera lens filter in which the depth or density of colour changes smoothly from a maximum density to clear or to another colour e.g. top of filter is dark tobacco ranging to transparent at the bottom to simulate sunset colours in the sky with minimal colour to leave the foreground unaffected. * Also know as grads. Fast-track graduation The effectiveness of grads depends considerably on both focal length and aperture. Long focal lengths reduce the appearance of the graduation whereas an ultra-wide angle lens can make even the smoothest transition seem too rapid. By a similar token, small apertures make the transition more rapid than large apertures.

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