Filters for Special Effects In Photography
Have you seen picture ads in magazines that look so nice that they don't look real at all? Some of them have been edited using photo editing software. But, definitely, most of them have been taken using a camera with a special kind of filter.
There are a wide variety of filters to choose from when adding to your camera equipment. There are filters for either color or black-and-white shots or both. Each filter has its own function, whether it be for enhancing the color contrast, improving sharpness, highlight flares and more. And there are filters for special effects like those photos normally seen in magazines and advertisements.
Here are some examples of filters that can be used to enhance the image by adding special effects to them.
Star and Cross Effect Filters
There are different star effect flares available such as Star-Six and Star-Eight. The Star-Six has six-pointed light flares, while Star-Eight has eight-pointed flares. These flares add more brightness to images. This filter is good when taking pictures of streetlights, theme-parks during the night or sun-reflections on glass structures.
A cross screen filter is similar to star filters except that the flare is four-cross. It also gives a dramatic effect to bright points in the image. It is ideal for taking photos of ladies wearing jewelry.
Spectral cross filter produces cross effects as well as soft-focus effects normally desired for portraits, outdoor shots with direct lighting or back lighting with increased cross effects. It is a filter with two transparent and colorless optical glass in a rotating frame with a black gauze-like fiber in between.
Vario cross filter gives an effect of four rays of light coming out from each light source point. It is a filter consisting of two glasses with parallel lines etched on each glass. The front glass can be rotated separately to modify the angle of the light rays.
Close-up Filters
As the name implies, these filters are for close-up photography which are better than zooms. These filters are available in +1, +2, +3, +4, and +10 diopters with the higher number giving a much closer shot.
Macro close-up filters are good for taking shots of small insects, flowers and other tiny objects at close-up. It has a +10 diopter rating with a 2-element, 2-group construction lens.
Split field filter takes a close-up shot of half of the image while the other half is normal. This is used for keeping in focus both close and far objects at the same time.
Multivision Filters
To create a fantastic effect of repeating an object in a single photo, multivision filters are used. These are available in 3PF, 3F, 5F, 6F, and 6PF where the number determines the number of times the object will be repeated. It works great with dark backgrounds or larger objects.
Multivision filters are made up of optical glass accurately cut into different facets. Color multivision filters add different colors to the image. There are two types available – 3F with three faces in red, green and blue, and 5F with five faces equally divided into orange and green colors.
Misty Spot Filters
This type of filters provides a blurring effect of the background of a clear and sharp central image. There are four types of these kind available.
A breezing filter gives unidirectional streaks of the blurred background. Gradual filter has streaks that seem to originate from the center image. The windmill filter has a blurring background that swirls about the center. The halo filter has blurring streaks that originate from a point at the edge of the field.
Diffusion Filters
Diffusion filters provide a soft focus effect on the image due to an irregular or uneven surface. This kind of filter is specifically used for portraits.
Center Spot Filters
The center of this filter has a clear spot that gives the center image a clear and sharp effect, while the background can have an effect of fog to make it romantic.
These are just some of the special effects filters available for professional and amateur photographers alike. It surely is nice to add even just one or two to your collection with the fabulous effects that it can provide on your shots.
How Do Filters Work?
If you are a professional photographer, you must have a set of filters in your camera equipment. Even if you are just an amateur, you probably have one or two filters. What are filters? Why do photographers buy different filters? How do they work?
Camera filters are transparent optical elements that change light properties entering the camera to improve the recorded image. Filters affect the different properties of an image such as sharpness, contrast, color, highlight flare, and light intensity. It can alter one or a combination of these properties, and can also create various special effects.
Camera filters are connected to the front of the lens. Aside from its features, it also protects the lens from elements such as salt air. Some cameras need lens adapters to be able to use filters.
Filters work the same whether you use them on a digital camera or film. There are just a few differences to be considered. Filters that can reduce excess contrast such as polarizers are helpful in a digital camera because digital is more inclined to blow out highlights. Digital cameras are also known to be less sensitive to ultraviolet light, thus, ordinary UV filters may not be needed. Also, infrared filters are easier to use in digital cameras.
Some Filter Types
There are different kinds of filters for a camera and each has its own purpose.
- Ultraviolet filters. As the name implies, this type of filter absorbs ultraviolet light. Cameras, especially ones that use film, have high sensitivity to the invisible light known as ultraviolet light. This is common in making outdoor shots, especially in highly elevated places where there is only a thin layer of atmosphere that absorbs the ultraviolet light.
Without UV filters, viewing far images can be difficult because UV causes a haze that diminishes details with farther distance. UV filters are available in various absorption levels measured by the percentage of transmission at 400 nanometers. A filter that transmits 0% is ideal for long distance and aerial shots. For normal situations, a UV filter with 29% transmission is generally good enough.
- Infra-Red filters. These filters are used to reduce visible light. Filters that can totally absorb visible light and transmit only infrared lights are useful for situations like recording heat effects and aerial haze penetration.
- Natural density (ND) filters. ND filters are used when light intensity is high and proper exposure needs to be attained or when a specific lens opening is required for sharpness purposes. This type of filter evenly absorbs light throughout the visible range which alters the exposure effectively without the need to change lens opening or do color shifts.
- Polarizing filters. Polar filters or polarizers enhance contrast, color and reflection control. It has a different optical principle compared to other filter types. Polarizing filters allows light to pass through in just one vibratory direction. Different alignment can produce different effects to the image. If the filter is aligned perpendicularly to the polarized reflected glare, the result would creat stronger colors because true-colored reflection will pass through.
Polarizers are increasingly being used for outdoor shots to improve contrast and color saturation. A blue sky can be darkened by a polarizing filter, but it has to be blue in the first place.
Polarizers can also minimize and control reflections from water or glass surfaces. To get the best results, an angle of 33 degrees incident to the surface is advisable. The effect can be seen by viewing through while the polarizer is rotated. An object in water can appear as an object out of water without having the reflection.
Optical filters can be a good investment for those who want to make a living out of photography. It allows for different kinds of shots with special effects. It also makes an image look more alive by the different features and effects these filters have to offer.
But even when taking pictures just as a hobby, having some of these filters will be necessary to get the image of clarity desired. Taking a shot without a filter is indeed different from a shot with one.
There are just some considerations that need to be thought about before buying filters. Different types of filters are obviously for different purposes. It is best to determine what the main purpose is and what type of situation is commonly encountered.
Have you seen picture ads in magazines that look so nice that they don't look real at all? Some of them have been edited using photo editing software. But, definitely, most of them have been taken using a camera with a special kind of filter.
There are a wide variety of filters to choose from when adding to your camera equipment. There are filters for either color or black-and-white shots or both. Each filter has its own function, whether it be for enhancing the color contrast, improving sharpness, highlight flares and more. And there are filters for special effects like those photos normally seen in magazines and advertisements.
Here are some examples of filters that can be used to enhance the image by adding special effects to them.
Star and Cross Effect Filters
There are different star effect flares available such as Star-Six and Star-Eight. The Star-Six has six-pointed light flares, while Star-Eight has eight-pointed flares. These flares add more brightness to images. This filter is good when taking pictures of streetlights, theme-parks during the night or sun-reflections on glass structures.
A cross screen filter is similar to star filters except that the flare is four-cross. It also gives a dramatic effect to bright points in the image. It is ideal for taking photos of ladies wearing jewelry.
Spectral cross filter produces cross effects as well as soft-focus effects normally desired for portraits, outdoor shots with direct lighting or back lighting with increased cross effects. It is a filter with two transparent and colorless optical glass in a rotating frame with a black gauze-like fiber in between.
Vario cross filter gives an effect of four rays of light coming out from each light source point. It is a filter consisting of two glasses with parallel lines etched on each glass. The front glass can be rotated separately to modify the angle of the light rays.
Close-up Filters
As the name implies, these filters are for close-up photography which are better than zooms. These filters are available in +1, +2, +3, +4, and +10 diopters with the higher number giving a much closer shot.
Macro close-up filters are good for taking shots of small insects, flowers and other tiny objects at close-up. It has a +10 diopter rating with a 2-element, 2-group construction lens.
Split field filter takes a close-up shot of half of the image while the other half is normal. This is used for keeping in focus both close and far objects at the same time.
Multivision Filters
To create a fantastic effect of repeating an object in a single photo, multivision filters are used. These are available in 3PF, 3F, 5F, 6F, and 6PF where the number determines the number of times the object will be repeated. It works great with dark backgrounds or larger objects.
Multivision filters are made up of optical glass accurately cut into different facets. Color multivision filters add different colors to the image. There are two types available – 3F with three faces in red, green and blue, and 5F with five faces equally divided into orange and green colors.
Misty Spot Filters
This type of filters provides a blurring effect of the background of a clear and sharp central image. There are four types of these kind available.
A breezing filter gives unidirectional streaks of the blurred background. Gradual filter has streaks that seem to originate from the center image. The windmill filter has a blurring background that swirls about the center. The halo filter has blurring streaks that originate from a point at the edge of the field.
Diffusion Filters
Diffusion filters provide a soft focus effect on the image due to an irregular or uneven surface. This kind of filter is specifically used for portraits.
Center Spot Filters
The center of this filter has a clear spot that gives the center image a clear and sharp effect, while the background can have an effect of fog to make it romantic.
These are just some of the special effects filters available for professional and amateur photographers alike. It surely is nice to add even just one or two to your collection with the fabulous effects that it can provide on your shots.
How Do Filters Work?
If you are a professional photographer, you must have a set of filters in your camera equipment. Even if you are just an amateur, you probably have one or two filters. What are filters? Why do photographers buy different filters? How do they work?
Camera filters are transparent optical elements that change light properties entering the camera to improve the recorded image. Filters affect the different properties of an image such as sharpness, contrast, color, highlight flare, and light intensity. It can alter one or a combination of these properties, and can also create various special effects.
Camera filters are connected to the front of the lens. Aside from its features, it also protects the lens from elements such as salt air. Some cameras need lens adapters to be able to use filters.
Filters work the same whether you use them on a digital camera or film. There are just a few differences to be considered. Filters that can reduce excess contrast such as polarizers are helpful in a digital camera because digital is more inclined to blow out highlights. Digital cameras are also known to be less sensitive to ultraviolet light, thus, ordinary UV filters may not be needed. Also, infrared filters are easier to use in digital cameras.
Some Filter Types
There are different kinds of filters for a camera and each has its own purpose.
- Ultraviolet filters. As the name implies, this type of filter absorbs ultraviolet light. Cameras, especially ones that use film, have high sensitivity to the invisible light known as ultraviolet light. This is common in making outdoor shots, especially in highly elevated places where there is only a thin layer of atmosphere that absorbs the ultraviolet light.
Without UV filters, viewing far images can be difficult because UV causes a haze that diminishes details with farther distance. UV filters are available in various absorption levels measured by the percentage of transmission at 400 nanometers. A filter that transmits 0% is ideal for long distance and aerial shots. For normal situations, a UV filter with 29% transmission is generally good enough.
- Infra-Red filters. These filters are used to reduce visible light. Filters that can totally absorb visible light and transmit only infrared lights are useful for situations like recording heat effects and aerial haze penetration.
- Natural density (ND) filters. ND filters are used when light intensity is high and proper exposure needs to be attained or when a specific lens opening is required for sharpness purposes. This type of filter evenly absorbs light throughout the visible range which alters the exposure effectively without the need to change lens opening or do color shifts.
- Polarizing filters. Polar filters or polarizers enhance contrast, color and reflection control. It has a different optical principle compared to other filter types. Polarizing filters allows light to pass through in just one vibratory direction. Different alignment can produce different effects to the image. If the filter is aligned perpendicularly to the polarized reflected glare, the result would creat stronger colors because true-colored reflection will pass through.
Polarizers are increasingly being used for outdoor shots to improve contrast and color saturation. A blue sky can be darkened by a polarizing filter, but it has to be blue in the first place.
Polarizers can also minimize and control reflections from water or glass surfaces. To get the best results, an angle of 33 degrees incident to the surface is advisable. The effect can be seen by viewing through while the polarizer is rotated. An object in water can appear as an object out of water without having the reflection.
Optical filters can be a good investment for those who want to make a living out of photography. It allows for different kinds of shots with special effects. It also makes an image look more alive by the different features and effects these filters have to offer.
But even when taking pictures just as a hobby, having some of these filters will be necessary to get the image of clarity desired. Taking a shot without a filter is indeed different from a shot with one.
There are just some considerations that need to be thought about before buying filters. Different types of filters are obviously for different purposes. It is best to determine what the main purpose is and what type of situation is commonly encountered.
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