Three filters worth carrying
I used to carry eleven filters. Now I carry three, and my photographs got better.
1. A circular polariser
Nothing in software replaces what a polariser does to water and wet leaves. It cuts reflections and lets the colour underneath show. I use it most in forests after rain and at alpine lakes when I want to see the rocks under the surface.
2. A soft-edge graduated ND, two stops
Bracketing handles most high-contrast scenes now. Still, a soft two-stop grad gives me a balanced frame in one exposure when the wind moves the trees between brackets. Soft edges hide the transition behind mountains and treelines.
3. A six-stop ND
Ten stops turns everything to mist. Six stops gives me a one to four second exposure in morning light, which smooths water but keeps its texture. It is the most useful long exposure filter I own.
What I left behind
Hard grads, reverse grads, colour filters, and a ten-stop. Each one solved a rare problem and added weight to every hike. Most of those problems I now solve by changing where I stand.