Filters

There are a lot of useless accessories out there, but, there are also many "must have" items. The trick is knowing which is which. Lens filters are part of the latter list.

When Jerry Wright, my photo business partner, and I started shooting together, it was not long before he realized that I had some items with me that he could not live without... among those was a polarized filter. Once Jerry caught a glimpse of those blue skies in my shots, he was hooked. He wanted that same deep blue heavenly hue.

Polarized filters come in several flavors, but, I have a circular polarizer for every lens I own. They are just too valuable to leave behind. So, when I buy a new lens, if I don't have a polarized filter in that size, I add one to the ticket.

A polarized filter enables you to do several things. You can see through the glare in windows. You can cut through the glare in lakes and streams seeing below the surface. You can greatly reduce the amount of blow-out (areas of stark white where there is no texture or detail) or hot-spots on rocks and fabrics in bright light. As an added bonus, polarizers also increase saturation in landscapes, golf course, and floral shots. This deep blue sky is the result of a polarized filter.

As you turn the ring on a polarized filter, the effect is increased. In the examples above, the church was shot in the same sky as the cottage. In the left example, though, I turned the filter to get maximum polarization. In the right example, I turned the filter just enough to cut the glare and give texture to the building. Click the shots to see them up close.

Two other very valuable filters I use frequently are a red filter which brings out clouds making skies more dramatic when shooting in black and white mode, and 80b filter, which changes color balance making tunsten lamps temperature appear as if it is 5500 (daylight). This is more accurate than the "automatic white balance" in your digital SLR. Once you try one of these, you'll never rely on auto-white-balance again.

Tiffin, Hoya, and ProMaster are all in my collection of filters. I have a lot more than these three types, but, many filters are special use and don't see nearly as much action. I carry a six-point vari-cross (star) filter, close-up, neutral density, sky, and yellow filters. I also find "FL" filters handy for shooting under fluorescent lights, and soft-spot filters are nice for romantic images. No, you won't want to use them every day, but, there is a time and place when you will want them and the more you shoot, the more likely you will need them at some point.

Check out ProMaster's website for some good information about what filters are used for what purpose. They have a brochure that you can download and use for reference.