MARCH 2021:
PART 2 OF A MONTHLY SERIES – GETTING THE BEST PHOTO:
Camera lens filters are elements added onto the lens to protect the lens, or to enhance/alter the light, as it passes through the lens to expose the film or digital film. By using a filter you are able to utilize a vast array of effects, lens protection, eventuate necessities, take better closeup object shots. Nothing, and I mean nothing– is worse than losing an expensive lens due to scratches, etching, weather related damage, etc. It can happen in a second! A filter can be easily replaced. There is much choice when it comes to purchasing a filter, and sometimes the right combination of using filters can make or break that perfect photo. The use of filters can be for several reasons, sometimes more than one can be used at a time. Here is an article for the proper use of camera lens filters.

• Protection for your lens
• Control, correct and enhance color
• Render Accurate Exposure
• Maximize impact on your photo

Formats of Filters

• Screw-On Filters
• Drop-in Filters
• Square Filters, drop or snap on
  
• Rectangular Filters, drop or snap on

Formats of filters are totally a personal preference. All formats whether they be screw on, drop in don’t exactly cause a difference in effect, but may impede speed between shots, making the choice a factor when it comes to action.

Popular Filter Types

• Ultraviolet and Skylight Filters
• Polarization Filters
• Neutral Density Filters
• Graduated Neutral Density Filters
• Color Correction Filters
• Close-Up Filters
• Special-Effect+ Filters

Lens Filter	Effects	Photography Type
UV/Skylight Filter	Protect lens glass from scratches, etching, fingerprints, and excess wear & tear Keep UV rays out of camera Shield analog film from UV rays	All Type
Polarizing Filter	Reduce reflections Blocking unwanted results of glare Enhance colors and contrast Strengthen, enhance subject	All Type
ND Filter (Neutral Density)	Reduce amount of light entering lens Slower shutter speeds/wider apertures Help create motion or blur	Landscapes  & Flash Photography
Hard Graduated ND Filters	Reduce amount of light entering lens through upper half of filter Provide sharp transition between dark and clear for flat horizons Balance exposure/high contrast on bright midday skies with dark foreground	Landscapes
Soft Graduated ND Filter	Reduce amount of light entering lens through upper half of filter Provide smooth transition between dark and clear so filter doesn’t show Balance exposure/high contrast on bright midday skies with dark foreground without line effect	Landscapes  & Sunsets
Reverse Graduated ND Filter	Reduce amount of light entering lens form the upper middle instead of top Provide smooth transition from dark to less dark starting middle to the top edge More proper exposure of the sun for more clear sunsets and sunrises	Landscapes  & Flash Photography
Colored Filter	Correction of colors for more accurate white balance Enhancing or blocking of one type of color Fluorescent correction * Tungsten/Incandescent correction *	All Type  & B & W  & * = Color Correction
Close-Up Filter	Allowance for closer focusing on subjects Sharper capture shooting close-ups	Macro Photography
Special Effects Filters	Produce multi-point star, effects and sparkles Softening/diffusion of edges for bubble effect/sharp center Creation of multiple copies of a subject, effect or scene Blocking of infrared light and passes visible light Customize the shape and style of lighting	All Type

Exponential Value of Using Filters
The type(s) of filters desired or necessary to make a perfect shot can vary, and multiple filters can make for the best shot. A lot of filters have different densities. The table will show the factor of your filter, and the f/stops reduction involved with using the filter. Using more than one filter always tacks on both filters, and the involved f/stop reduction. Sometimes, more light is not a good thing, so the neutral density filter collection can assist in obtaining the perfect shot.

ND Filters

Optical Density	Filter Factor	f stop Reduction
0,3	2	-1
0,6	4	-2
0,9	8	-3
1,2	16	-4
1,5	32	-5
1,8	64	-6
2,1	128	-7
2,4	256	-8
2,7	512	-9
3	1024	-10

Neutral Density Notation Factor

ND-1 Number Notation	ND-1 Decimal Notation	ND Number Notation	f stop Reduction	Transmit Percent	Example Shutter Speed
NONE	NONE	NONE	0	100%	1/1000
ND 101	ND 0.3	ND2	1	50%	1/500
ND 102	ND 0.6	ND4	2	25%	1/250
ND 103	ND 0.9	ND8	3	12.5%	1/125
ND 104	ND 1.2	ND16	4	6.25%	1/60
ND 105	ND 1.5	ND32	5	3.125%	1/30
ND 106	ND 1.8	ND64	6	1.562%	1/15
ND 107	ND 2.1	ND128	7	0.781%	1/8
ND 108	ND 2.4	ND256	8	0.391%	1/4
ND 109	ND 2.7	ND512	9	0.195%	1/2
ND 110	ND 3.0	ND1024	10	0.01%	1
ND 111	ND 3.3	ND2048	11	0.049%	2
ND 112	ND 3.6	ND4096	12	0.024%	4
ND 113	ND 3.9	ND8192	13	0.012%	8

Color Correction to Balance the White Light
Use of different types of film or digital Pseudo-film necessitates a special type of color correction to get the spectrum to balance to render the correct white balance. In other words, using a daylight film, without a flash with incandescent lighting will render yellowed out photos, and using tungsten film outdoors in daylight will render blue photos. Also taking photos in florescent lighting is always a tricky lighting situation. A filter is made to meet the need of any situation. Color balancing can also improve your astronomical photos as well, as the light that twinkles through Earth’s atmosphere can be corrected to yield really stunning photos with the use of the right filter.

White Balancing Filters

Physical Lighting	Film Type	Filter Need	f stop Reduction
Noon Daylight	Tungsten	Yellow 12 or 85	⅓ or 0.33
Daylight	Tungsten	Yellow 85B	½ or 0.5
Astronomy & Tungsten	Daylight	Blue 80A	½ or 0.5
Incandescent	Daylight	Blue 82A	⅓ or 0.33
Fluorescent to Daylight	Daylight	FL-D	⅓ or 0.33
Fluorescent to Tungsten	Tungsten	FL-T	½ or 0.5

The Light Spectrum in Photographer’s Terms

WB Settings	Color Degree	Light Source
10,000°- 15,000°K	🔵	The Blue Sky
6,500°- 8,000°K	☁️	Cloudy or Shaded
6,000°- 7,000°K	☀️	Noon Sunlight
5,500°- 6,500°K	⛅	Average Daylight
6,000°- 5,500°K	⚡✨	Electronic Flash
4,000°- 5,000°K	⌛	Fluorescent Lighting
3,000°- 4,000°K	🌇 🌅	Objects at Sunset-rise
2,500°-3,500°K	💡	Incandescent Lighting
1,500°-2,500°K	🔦	Tungsten Lighting
1,000°- 2,000°K	🎂🔥🌅	Candle-Flame-Sunset

Photos taken at the 1982 Chicago Photo Show at McCormick Place, Chicago, IL

Effects of a Polarizer
Polarizers can make a dramatic effect in the quality of your photos. It can be utitlized for so many types of photos, but is inherently used for outdoor photography including landscapes. The effects as dialed into the filter as you turn the dial on the filter to a different degree gives you minimized and maximized effects. It also doubles up to cause effect on reflection as well, but the factor effect can be off that of glare, due to the same effect light has on lineage as it passes through the water, except it has the mirror effect, so it is actually reverse to the direction of going through the water when it reflects. Dialing in to get the effect you want is a must, when it comes to getting your desired effect with a polarizer. The points in between can give you a more or less desired effect, and I don’t always attest that using maximum effect is always best policy. Sometimes, a polarizer is not a good choice, as in the example below of the Theodore Roosevelt Fountain at Brookfield Zoo, because the polarizer did affect the rainbow, as in omitting it completely from the photo.

Polarizer

Degree of Rotation	Desired Effect	Outcome
0° & 360°	NO EFFECT	Lose 1 f stop
90°	Maximum	Minimal reflection/Glare & -1 f
180°	NO EFFECT	Lose 1 f stop
270°	Maximum	Minimal reflection/Glare & -1 f

Black and White
Black and white photography has a whole avenue of filtering unseen to the color world, and desired effects can be dramatically enhanced by use of them. Remember complimentary colors match, conflicting colors contrast. You can see by the example below that the red rose is affected completely by the color of the filter used. Also original color matters, so yellow will never be a dark shade of grey, no matter how hard you try. . .

Black & White Filters

Filter Color	Declination f  Stop	Effect  Red Object	Effect Yellow Object	Effect Green Object	Effect Blue Object	Effect Purple Object
Red-25 or 25A	-3.0 f stops >☼<	Light or White	L/M Grey	Midnight Grey	Midnight Grey	Medium Grey
Orange-G or “O”	-2.0 f stops >☼<	Light Grey	L/M Grey	Dark Grey	Midnight Grey	Dark Grey
Orange- Yellow	-1.5 f stops >☼<	L/M Grey	Light or White	Medium Grey	Midnight Grey	Midnight Grey
Yellow-K2 or 12	-1.0 f stop >☼<	Medium Grey	Light or White	Light Grey	Medium Grey	Midnight Grey
Green X1	-2.0 f stops >☼<	Midnight Grey	Light or White	Light or White	L/M Grey	Dark Grey
Blue 82A	-1.2 f stops >☼<	Midnight Grey	Light Grey	Light or White	Light or White	Medium Grey
Blue 80A	-1.33 f stops >☼<	Midnight Grey	L/M Grey	Light Grey	Light or White	L/M Grey
Purple FL-D	-1.33 f stops >☼<	Dark Grey	L/M Grey	L/M Grey	Light Grey	Light or White
Purple FL-T	-1.66 f stops >☼<	Medium Grey	L/M Grey	Medium Grey	L/M Grey	Light or White

Infrared
Infrared photography can be both color and black and white. They both have sharp effects and can be used in industry for definite assets. Infrared photography requires the use of colored filters, no matter which you choose. In the film days, the black and white variety was so high speed, a red filter was always required no matter what! The film was so high speed that infrared and shooting at noon with high ISO black and white films were the only time you really did not need a tripod using a red #25 filter or Wratten filter. It also needed to be transported in a black lid container, and needed to be developed within hours of shooting. The color variety was not as drastic, but still needed a yellow filter. Use of any other color with black and white yielded overexposed rolls of film. Use of other colored filters, other than yellow filters for infrared color film looked like the shots were taken on another planet, and were not properly color balanced, as in the skies being too purple. Also, a polarizer was a definite plus while shooting infrared. So the final table covers shooting infrared.

Infrared Filters

Filter Color	Declination f Stop	Exposure Effect	Infrared Type
Red 25 or 25A	-3.0 f stops >☼<	Great Shots	B&W (FILM=HIE)
Yellow K2 or 12	-1.0 f stop >☼<	Great Shots	COLOR (FILM=SLIDE)
Polarizer	-1.0 f stop >☼<	Refer to Polarizer Chart	ALL

More on the The Spectrum of Light
The wonderful organization PublicLab.org has a photo that I am sharing with you and I offer you the opportunity to donate to PublicLab.org to the great cause they are. They have assisted photographers for many years, and do a lot in the way of assisting those starting out in the field of photography and professionals as well. The graph shows the cause and effect of both the special ultra-violet filter used in labs and the red Wratten #25A (infrared complimentary).

The Spectrum of Light

Don’t forget that the PublicLab.org can be a very, very useful organization for tips and pointers on photography, and offers seminars and other outlets of fine information. Please JOIN today!

Join me back next month with another subject of photography, to assistance in getting a better photograph.

Another monthly aspect of photography next month: A monthly series

Easy Control of Your Camera

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