Figuring out filters

To make the most of the landscape photography opportunities during my holiday in Germany, I invested in some filters, mainly to deal with washed out, over-exposed skies. I got a Cokin P filter holder with three graduated neutral density filters (ND2, ND4 and ND8). This is a very affordable kit, not necessarily considered pro, but good enough for me to try this type of filter and holder system. I generally have a screw-in UV filter (Hoya Super HMC PRO-1) attached to my 24-105 lens for protection and also own a 58 mm circular polarising filter for my 50 mm prime. I brought my screw-in Genus Tech solid ND filters as well, because I wanted to get some video footage for a project I'm working on and they're a necessity for allowing large apertures at a shutter speed of 50.

So, I terms of effect, this was what I wanted to experiment with:

• Graduated ND-filters: not losing the sky on low contrast days
• UV-filter: increasing contrast by reducing the amount of uv-light
• Polarising filter: reducing glare reflecting from foliage and reflections on water, but figuring out how to not overdo it either (when I used it before I didn't like the saturation effect it had on skies)
• Solid ND filters: capturing video footage with a shallow depth of field

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM at 73mm, f/16.0, 1/80, ISO 100. Filter: UV.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM at 105mm, f/14.0, 1/100, ISO 125. Filter: Graduated ND2.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM at 105mm, f/16.0, 1/100, ISO 160. Filter: UV.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF50mm f/1.4 USM at 50mm, f/18.0, 1/50, ISO 250. Filter: Polarising.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF50mm f/1.4 USM at 50mm, f/18.0, 1/50, ISO 200. Filter: Polarising.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM at 24mm, f/16.0, 1/50, ISO 100. Filter: UV.