Filters for outdoor in bright sunlight?
- This topic has 17 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated Aug 10, 2011 at 9:44 am by
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Playing around last night with the brush filter in Lightroom 3 I got glimpse of how much better my YNP photos would have been with some quality filters.
Before:
After:
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What filters would you recommend I start with?
Nice John. Grad filters can help out quite a bit. As you demonstrated it can also be added in post. I think the problem with doing it in post is the time it can take to get it to look reasonably well. I use both methods.
I would be interested in hearing what others prefer. I love my ND Grads and use them all the time. I also enjoy the post process aspects when dealing with landscapes.
The shot below is a single image from two nights ago. It has an HDR feel to it but it was not bracketed. While I absolutely love the original shot….layering in post with some grads gave this image a dramatic feel to what I had originally envisioned:
You have some beautiful pics. It is a reminder that I need to take my kids their (YSNP) before summer end.
Nice shot! That photo looks like something out of a movie.
After doing research, re-reading this article again ( http://www.naturephotographers.net/dw0502-1.html), and looking back at some of the olders threads on IA I think I will start with a good CP and GND. Hopefully, those 2 filters will help a lot when I am out in bright sunlight taking shots of landscapes and don’t have a choice of the time of day to get the shot.
I think I remember someone said in an post last year about some sort of adapter for filters so you can fit your filters on different diameter lenses. If true, what is that adapter called?
I also swear by a circular polarizer; being that most of my photos are on or around water, I typically just leave the filter on all the time unless the light conditions are getting low.
After doing some further research and shopping around I am looking at buying a “B+W 67mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer Multi-Coated Glass Filter” for my Canon DSLR.
Is B+W a quality filter brand?
Thanks for all the feedback.
John, you’ve already gotten some great advice, and I fully agree with everything that has been said. I have a circular polarizing filter on my camera almost all the time. I use a step-up ring as well, like you asked about. You might want to think carefully about the size of filter you buy, especially if you’re planning to buy new lenses in the future. A 77mm is the “pro standard,” as that is the size of most of the high end lenses. I ended up buying a 77mm filter, and then using step-up rings so that it can fit any of my lenses. That way I can easily (and cheaply) use the same 77mm filter on any of my lenses, especially as I was sure I would be upgrading my glass as money allowed. You can always use a larger filter on a smaller lens….the same is not true for the alternative.
As far as brands, the more experienced guys will no doubt have better advice than I, but I gather that B+W and Hoya are what you hear most about. I have a Hoya and have no complaints.
What others have said.
I personally feel that filters are necessary tools, to me, more important than some of my other accessories. In fact if I was ever forced to go out shooting but had to choose between leaving my tripod or my filters at home. Id leave my tripod.
While a lot can be done in post and there are post tools that mimic grads and CPs, the end result isn’t the same. That said, there’s nothing “wrong’ with either approach, like Jay I do both. Sometimes post treatment can give you an image that striking in it’s own right.
“That” said, there are certain things that filters make possible, that you can’t correct or mimic in post. So the “only’ option to get it right in camera.
Unconventional use of filters.
Taken around 2pm on a bright day.
ISO 50
f2.8 (wide open)
1/15th panned
If Im not mistaken now with Getty and at the least my own agency. Point here is appreciation of the QC it has to pass as a 50mb tiff, where post work shows.
Could I have gotten that without the 3 filters I used?
Nopecould I have shot it and corrected problems in post?
NopeCould I have stopped down to at least reduce my SS (if not balance the ambient)? Yes, but then I’d not have been wide for the separation I wanted and my DoF would been way more than I wanted. You cant really tell in this 800px display image but the only part of the image “in focus”, ciritcally sharp, and within the DoF is my daughters upper body/face. Even the kart is both OOF and subject to motion blur. Id say the effective DoF is about 6 inches, maybe a bit more. Which is what I wanted, only her face sharp.
With regards to brand names Hoya and BW are widely used, no reason you can’t start there
John, awesome photo! I love the separation you achieved. What were the 3 filters you were using? Does it matter the order the filters are in?
24-70mm at f2.8 and 70mm for maximum separation/compression.
Singh Ray Variable ND. Cant recall exactly but somewhere around 6 stops of light reduction. This allowed me to open the lens (also did same shot with 85 f1.2 set at f1.4), yet keep my SS slow enough for good motion blur via panning.
Singh Ray Warming CP. Both to warm the image a bit ( post possible) and provide another stop of light reduction, but mostly to eliminate glare of the asphalt, helmut,kart and chrome (not possible in post)
2 stop soft grad just to try to hold the upper part of the sky back a bit.
Doable in post but can be obvious at times.I dont think it matters which order you mount the Variable and a CP but when stacking filters I mount the variable first, then which ever CP I want to use for the shot (I have 3). Then whichever grads Im using (ive stacked grads as well…and when I stack grads I stack darkest to lightest)
Call me crazy (or simply the Devil’s advocate) but I only use filters when I absolutely need them, especially polarizers. The 2+ stop penalty combined with the contrast robbing results of extra glass layers make me think twice about leaving it on full time. Sure, I’ll screw one on when its raining & I want to reduce reflections perhaps, or other times to increase shutter speed/aperture for creative effect, etc (like John Bennet’s excellent example above). Once in a while I’ll use a ND grad (or two) when a little evening-out is required. But only then, really. Outdoor photographer guru Thom Hogan (who rarely uses them) writes: “Filters always rob a bit of light (and in some cases, a lot of light), increase flare tendencies, and add to your equipment cost…”
My advise John S. is to use them but do so selectively, carefully, and ALWAYS use a lens hood. As you know, no amount of filters will turn mid day sun into golden hour light.
my 2cents.
db
Douglas I’m with ya. I don’t keep one on my lens either. Shallow DOF often doesn’t work well with alot of what I shoot outdoors so more often then not I need the light. To me it’s just one more thing to have to think about and with todays camera complexities I already have enough to think about before I open the shutter.
I do always keep one with with me as well as a few ND’s, and one gnd plate. About the only time I use them is when I’ve got plenty of time to frame a shot and plan exactly how I want it to look. Usually I’m shooting from a tripod when I use them.
.. I do always keep one with with me as well as a few ND’s, and one gnd plate…
Good point! Always bring ’em along, (even if not permanently attached). Filters and filter brackets are light and small compared to other non mandatory equipment. Plus, they can make a big difference when least expected.
🙂
Can’t say I disagree Doug. There are times when I won’t consider using a filter. Normally around water I have a CP glued on, however at all other times I add/remove as desired.
As we’ve all said, if they aren’t in your bag though, you don’t have the option. That’s my big thing…I don’t leave home without them, even if I don’t end up using them.
With regards to light loss thats one reason why I eventually made the jump to Singh Ray. The light loss on their CP is 2/3s a stop vs the usual 2 stops. Trying to shoot anything at f8-f11 with a two stop hit in the early or late hours really knee caps your SS…..not fun that.
2 stop soft SR grand ND
SR warming CP (2/3 stop light loss)
Shot very recently, at 1/25th and f18. I could have raised (or lowered) ISO and probably could have shot it without the CP given the suns so low but the minimal light loss (relative) makes it easier to use without fretting about a 2 stop loss
I still have so much to learn about how to use my Canon DSLR camera and lighting effectively. For me it’s a lot of trial and error right now.
Last weekend I went back up to the lake to finish cleaning up some of the downed trees from a bad storm we had a while ago. After I finished the one area the next morning I decided to take a photo of the new lake view from our deck. I tried a Tiffen CP filter that came with one of my lenses and tried to make sure the sun was close to 90 degrees to my len’s point of view.
This is the orginal RAW shot (17 mm, f5.0, ISO 100, at 1/250 sec.) with no editing…,
I felt it was too dark especially in the shadows. So I used LR 3 to lighten it up some…
In the past if I took this shot without any filter and I would have had an all white skyline or a very dark photo. So for me the filter did seem to help with this particular shot.
BTW, I didn’t use a lens cover because I cannot turn the CP filter with a lens cover on. I am doing something else wrong?
Once I get my kids settled back in college I hope to get a couple of better quality filtrers to use.
Nice view, wish it was mine 🙂
John the CP won’t impact your exposure with regards to highlights and shadows. It reduces the light evenly. What it would do in this kind of shot is deepen the blues in the skies and reduce any glare on the water or other reflective surfaces.
Whether you’d blow the skies or clip shadows is more a function of where/how you meter (spot, partial, center weighted,evaluative and where you meter) and then adjusting your settings for a “proper” exposure based on that reading.
If the darker part of the scene over weights the lighter and your settings are based on that you’ll blow the skies. Conversely if the brighter part of the image weighs more than the darked when you meter/adj settings, you’ll expose for the sky but clip the shadows.
Sometimes it’s helpful to do a reading off both sky and foreground (shadows) using spot or partial, note the difference in the reading and than base your settings on that.
Cheers.
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