Okay, I think I am now ready to tackle the ND filters!! That may sound absurd to you, but I have tried to use them, and to no avail!!

What exactly do I do?

What I have been doing is this:

Set camera up as normal - Auto focus, Av priority, live view.

I focus on the sky and look at the reading, I focus on the ground and get the reading. I try to work out how many stops between the two....and end up just guessing because it usually is such a big difference anyway!

I then put into manual focus. I focus on the ground or at least below the horizon.

I slide the Cokin ND filter in but not all the way down. I manually focus again, then I slide down the filter until I THINK it is meeting the horizon. I actually can't tell by looking at the screen/viewfinder!

I take the picutre and it is crap!! LOL

HELP!

Don't know if I am just doing too much or not enough.