Christmas day walk

Merry Christmas to one and all - Hope your day is going (or if you're reading this on Dave - was) a great day.

Mine was going swimmingly, until……

I opened my present - a box containing my Lee Filters trio of Soft ND Grads. Having taken each one out carefully, unwrapped the filter from the tissue and carefully cleaned off all the dust that they seem to come with (using the cloth that came with the Lee digital starter kit I got a few weeks ago), I put one (the 0.6 ND grad - the most useful probably) down on the felt pocket that the three filters come in. I then picked it up and slid it back in its pocket. A few minutes later I take it out again and, to my horror, its scratched! A big scratch about 1cm long right in the middle of the filter!!!!

All I did was clean it and put it away for goodness sake. Are Lee filters so soft that they mark as the slightest provocation?

I am not very amused. I hope that Lee will replace said filter. If not, I can hardly recommend them to all the upcoming photographers at the club as the best thing since sliced bread can I.

I did a few test shots, and while it doesn't seem to show, even at smaller apertures unless light falls directly on the front of the filter, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Even so, Its not going to help. I'll know it's there.

This shot is almost a repeat of the image on 22nd December. I wasn't going too much further today.

Anyhow, I'll put my disappointment behind me for the rest of the day and enjoy the food and drink (and chocolates).
Hope you enjoy yours!