Point 5: ND filters would have only stretched your shutter speed out (or forced you to stop down more) - they would not have altered the scene (with the exception of blurring the water a bit more - which I don't think it needs - or give you more depth-of-field, which I don't think it needs) I didn't state that correctly - an ND filter would stretch your shutter speed out - or force you to OPEN UP the aperture - which is going to give you LESS depth-of-field (I said stop down giving more DOF- which is wrong) Sorry for the mix-up (but I was having quite a few that night :) ) The point is that the ONLY thing ND filters do is allow you to vary your shutter speed / aperture combination (either letting you shoot with a slower shutter speed at any given aperture, or shooting at a larger aperture for less depth of field at any given shutter speed. ND filters DO NOT saturate or darken any portion of the image (unless you don't make the exposure adjustment when using them - but then what you have is an underexposed image.) As to what Misha stated about "Perhaps (s)he thought the sky was blue, but washed out?" - could be (but I doubt it).