hand-holding grad-nd

I have read that many photographers like to hand-hold their graduated ND filters, rather than mounting them in a holder. I'm not so much interested in the technical aspects of this, as I am in figuring out how you do this without slightly moving the camera? I have tried this with a tripod-mounted camera and by holding the filter manually up to the lens I almost always 'push' the filter against the lens a bit, thereby inducing a bit of unwanted blur. This is especially problematic during long exposures. Does anyone have any advice?

I use a tripod and don't do long exposures. I do it with 35mm and not 4x5. I also have a very rigid tripod and head compared to the weight of a typical DSLR and WA lens (Gitzo 1349 + AS B1). It's a convenience to do it for Q&D shots when I don't want or feel the need to go ahead and mount the holder.

Thanks for the reply, Hank - I figured that perhaps a heavy tripod / ballhead setup would be advantageous for this. Does anybody do this with an average size DSLR on a tripod setup?

I have gone through phases with handholding my grads, but I always seem to go back to mounting them in a holder. I get less screw-ups (fingers in images, lens being pushed, or less accurate alignment - especially over longer exposures). All things being equal though, I've also been doing more multi-exposures and then blending them in P.S. I get more flexibility with this method and less landscapes with grad lines in them. Too each their own though.

I've started doing this recently with an average DSLR set up, on a tripod, etc. At first I did find that I sometimes pushed against the lens, but I've just gotten more comfortable with it. I also use a remote to trigger the shutter and don't trigger it until I have the filter set.

I've heard some guys use a little tape to hold the filter in place (like the blue tape you use for painting). Might be something to try. I definitely use my ND Grad more this way - too often I didn't bother taking the time to screw on a filter holder.

I went through a phase of hand-holding and have gone back to my Cokin holder setup. This is because I ruined two Singh-Ray grads. I think I was scraping them against the lens too much.

Great replies, thank you all for your input. Ironically, the only time I really use this technique is when I'm handholding the camera in bright light with a relatively fast shutter speed, as I can really press the filter onto the lens without having to worry about inducing blur. I will probably stick with the holder at this point for tripod shots...

I hand hold quite a bit when I don't want to carry extra gear but you do need to be careful of scratching the filters. Holding it away from the lens a bit also helps with not bumping the camera...when it is warm enough I use gaffers tape to hold the filters onto the lens...it makes it easy to stack filters and they are nice and tight against the lens...helps for wide lenses...just be careful using this technique when it is cold as the tape doesn't stick very well and all of a sudden the filters will fall off...ruined a couple of Singh Rays this way... the gaffers tape won't leave any residue on the filters...all the best...nate

Thanks for all your replies, this was very informative for me!

I do handhold for shorter exposures. But for anything more than 10-15 sec, a holder is a better option. But I admit that I have handhold even up to 30 sec - that works well when you are in shade or no flare situation. In such case, you can keep the filter a lil bit away from the lens and it still works - in fact, the little movement in your hand helps blurring the grad line.

I also handhold when I want to move the filters during the exposure - again either to blur the grad line or when the dark-light separation is not a simple line.

There are many problems in using a holder: it's slow to set up (specially during those golden hours when light changes fast), causes vignetting for wider lenses (unless you have a bigger holder) - but I am using the holder more nowadays as it gives more stability and helps eliminating flare problem (when you have sun in your shot or close to your frame)

I handhold my gnd's. That way I can rotate the filter, if/when necessary, when the light/dark line is at an angle or vertical, or in some other compositional way, unusual. Can you do that with holders? Also, the larger size of the filters (i.e., the large rectangular ones) ensures that I don't accidentally miss covering all of the front of the lens. I can stack filters and experiment with offsetting the grad lines, too. I'd never use the gnd if I had to take time to put on the holder… With experience, introducing blur- or not introducing it- can be controlled? But perhaps I am not as picky about the "blur the line" factor? Isn't that at least part of the reason for using a graduated nd as opposed to one with a hard line?
Long story short: I like the versatility factor. Am I missing an important something??