For a significant part of my career, I was vehemently against using any kind of filters. The main reason for this was because I was under the impression that filters degraded image quality. For this reason, I opted instead to use techniques in Photoshop to get the desired effect.
In Photoshop, you can merge multiple layers together to mimic the look of a long exposed image. This prevents the need to buy any expensive filters and allows you to produce a much sharper, cleaner looking image. You can also use this technique to create higher resolution files and for these reasons, I figured I’d never need ND filters.
A friend of mine asked me to keep an open mind and try out filters from a company called NiSi Filters. These filters sit at a relatively higher price bracket compared to many circular filters you can buy. For this reason, I decided it would be a good idea to actually see the difference in the results you can produce, with both methods.
The major benefit of using mean stacking techniques in Photoshop, is that it doesn’t cost anything extra. Filters on the other hand, cost a significant amount; however, savings could be made on the time you spend working on an image.
For architectural photography, many of us already spend a great deal of time trying to perfect each composition. For this reason, any time that we save, can prove to be quite valuable.
Check out the full video linked above to see how each method compares.