What is a Camera Filter?
Before digital photography manipulation was possible with Adobe Photoshop and other programs, the photographer still had a great deal of control over the image. This was true both in the darkroom and with the camera itself.
Along with film choice---which had a great deal to do with the final image---photographers often used camera filters to alter the "look and feel" of the photos. These first were colored gels and later glass used in front of the lens.
Types
Basic filters such as UV (ultraviolet) and "haze" filters give a little clarity to the image, but are used primarily to cover the lens to avoid scratches. Pros don't usually recap their lenses between every shot, so they keep the filter on the camera all the time.
Function
Past the basics, there are filters to "warm" or "cool" the image, add contrast or do a variety of other things, including adding special effects such as prism colors.
"Warming" an image means adding a "warmer" color such as light orange or red. "Cooling" means adding a "colder" color such as blue or green. These can be used on both black and white and color photos. In black and white, colored filters will tend to give more or less contrast. Using a dark red filter with black and white images, for example, will give very dramatic effects. A blue sky will become very dark. White areas will be sharply white.
Effects
Other filters include polarizing glass that can enhance contrast and reduce flare. Diffusion filters can give a soft focus effect to photos. There also are star and rainbow effects filters that can add different dimensions to photos.
Effects
On a 35mm single-lens reflex camera or the equivalent digital camera, the lenses have threads for camera filters. The filters also have threads, so they can be used in combination. You can, for example, add a red filter over the UV filter.
Warning
Darker colored filters will change the exposure by decreasing the light coming into the lens. Auto exposure will compensate for this, but if you shoot manually, be aware of the difference.
Benefits
Since most of these effects now can be done in Photoshop, filters are not as popular as they once were. They still have a valid place in photography however, especially for those who like traditional photography and those who like to experiment with images.
Tags: black white, Camera Filter, camera filters, color such, colored filters
