Back in film days, what, five or six long years ago now, photographers
might have a collection of filters in their gadget bags. These
might include 81A filters for warming a scene, a graduated neutral
density filter, various colored graduated filters - Cokin made
many, a polarizing filter, and, perhaps, a neutral density filter.
Today, with digital and the ability to change the White Balance,
many color filters are unnecessary, graduated ND filters have
limited, or dubious value in some cases, and even one of the prime
uses for polarizing filters - to enhance blue skies - has been
rendered less important via selective RAW color adjustments. So,
does one even need a filter today?
Today, I only carry two. I still use a polarizing filter to enhance
skies and to pop out clouds (although, as stated above, if I forget
the filter I can do almost as good a job with the RAW converter),
but more importantly, a polarizing filter reduces glare and reflections,
and I know of no digital trick that can replicate that effect.
Polarizers, then, can enhance the colors in a fall foliage scene
by removing the waxy glare off leaves or grasses, tree bark, or
shiny rocks, and thus enrich the color and saturation and general
richness of a scene.
A lot of photographers automatically reach for a polarizer
when they are shooting stream or water scenes, as a polarizer
will reduce or totally eliminate glare or reflections of the sky.
This works, but one should use a little prudence when doing so,
because the presence of some reflection may actually help, and
actually create the sense that water is, indeed, present. In a
forest stream scene, for example, if the reflection of a sky is
eliminated you might end up with what looks like a waterless stream
bed strewn with rocks. Reflections in such cases actually adds
to the scene, providing a sense of water that clear, reflection-less
water cannot.
When I am shooting water, I do think about using an entirely different
filter, the Singh-Ray Variable Neutral Density Filter. This filter
operates similarly to a polarizing filter, since the variable
filter rotates and, by doing so, increases or decreases the amount
of neutral density filtration without affecting the color of the
scene. With it, I can use slow shutter speeds even in bright light,
which can be very useful for doing 'angel hair' or 'cotton candy'
like water - ie water that is shot at very slow shutter speeds
so that the current seems to blend.
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LensCoat camera, lens, and tripod covers
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the New Wimberley head worth having?
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Hyperfocal Distance
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Flash and
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a Trip to Antarctica Worth it?
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The truth about Kenya's Tourism--it is SAFE!
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attract insectivorous birds to your feeding stations and bait
sites?
How do you
make things happen in wildlife photography?
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best Car Window Mount?
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contrast and the effect of wind for flower and macro photography?
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Contact us by e-mail: info@hoothollow.com