Filters and Cool (NON-photoshop) affects

Would anyone like to share any cool tricks/tips using Filters.

For the new SLR/DSLR owners the first thing I recomend for them is to pick up a circular polarizer, it has several uses. I like to use it for two things, the first is to darken the blue of the sky, the second and what I think is a much nicer affect is to get rid of the glare from glass windows, I have had it turn windows almost black.

My first filters came in a Kit from Tiffen so look online and you can find individual filters or kits which are a little cheaper.

Now I did recently pick up a red and yellow filter for black and white photography, was diapointed when I couldn't use them on my DSLR because it does not have an option to shoot in pure black/white like my old coolpix 995 did.

I also recently got some Macro filters, three stackable filters that are basically magnifiying glasses. I havent got to use those yet. I will post some photos when I do.

Below is a photo where the glass I was shooting turned almost black.

http://www.charlesmarchese.com/image...9.JPG&size=pre

The 3 basic filters that are great for DSLRs are:
1) Circular Polarizer - it's cut glare off of water, glass and foilage, brings out the blues and greens, and does help a bit on haze.
2) Neutral Density (ND) - they come in several levals of darkness. Basically these allow you to have a longer shutter speed without light blowing out the shot. Great for "flowing water" effects or light streams.
3) Graduated ND - this is great if you have a high contrast shot - like a landscape witha bright sky - you can use this to darken the sky and get a better exposure level.

As for B&W on a DSLR - shoot RAW then do the B&W conversion yourself - you won't need red/yellow/etc filters, as you can adjust those levels in the RAW process. The new Photoshop CS3 has the best B&W conversion (with tons of tweaks) for RAW, and to a limited extent jpg.

Another fun filter, but it does not work with all models of DSLRs, is an IR filter like a Hoya 89a. I had one that worked great on an Olympus CZ4000, but does not work well on a Canon 20D.

I seriously find most "special-effect" filters too expensive to bother buying... especially since you can apply some of the same effects in Photoshop for free!!

The only filters worth buying in my opinion are polarisers and maybe star-burst.

I'll admit that neutral density filter that Steelsun just described sounds good !! To some extent couldn't you just reduce your aperture, though??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shaun(OfTheDead)

I seriously find most "special-effect" filters too expensive to bother buying... especially since you can apply some of the same effects in Photoshop for free!!

The only filters worth buying in my opinion are polarisers and maybe star-burst.

I'll admit that neutral density filter that Steelsun just described sounds good !! To some extent couldn't you just reduce your aperture, though??

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You know I have never paid much for my filters, you can always check ebay, i have found many there, plus Tiffen filters are not all the expensive, you can get some very cheap.

eenteresting... yeees :inspector:

On ND vs. reducing Aperature.

Yes you can, but of course then you get an increased depth of field, and sometimes you don't want that.

Yeah true.

I guess it's best to have everything under individual control, you're right.

If you're broke you have to find the work-arounds, though.

I think I am going to have to find myself some ND filters I have never tried those. hmmmm I think im off to ebay!