Shooting outdoors...how can I have a gorgeous sky but nicely lit ground?

[MatthewC]

I was doing some test footage today outdoors with my new cam, and I have question.

The sky is almost always constantly overexposed, meaning I have to close the Iris or turn on an ND filter to drop it down a bit. This in turn darkens my surroundings around me and makes everything not very bright, like below.
Is there a way to still have gorgeous skies and nice blues but have the ground also looking bright and happy? Is there something I'm missing?

Test footage: http://desktopgamer.com/dvx/flvplayer.html

Images:

 

[MatthewC]

Hmm, very interesting. Those cost a bit of cash though. I'm curious how it's done for movies. How do they handle the sky?

 

[cyclone]

They use grad filters. Clear on the bottom and graduated to different colors on the top (usually orange or blue). Some just graduate to an ND filter on the top.

 

[MatthewC]

That is awesome. How do they do it for moving shots? Just really watch the horizon? Is there any place that you can buy filters cheaper?

 

[KHendrix2]

Graduated neutral density filters are often used to overcome this particular challenge. In big budget films the sky might be composited in post production.

 

[KHendrix2]

For moving shots, the really expensive matte boxes have geared filter stages that can be controlled using a whip extension similar to the ones used on a follow focus.

 

[CineAlta]

Try this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...841&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

 

[Andrew Brinkhaus]

I've always found that a PL filter works great for this.

 

[Noel Evans]

I've always found that a PL filter works great for this.

Id try this option before anything else.

 

[thartley]

ok, what's a PL filter?

 

[MatthewC]

ok, what's a PL filter?

Pretty sure then mean a Polarizer filter.

 

[thartley]

ahhh, gotcha.. thanks.