Filters, Foliage, and Snow?

[vince_sweeney]

Been trying to get a handle on what filters, if any, I honestly need

to do fall foliage work...most often mentioned is the 81A, but now I'm

hearing the Tiffen 812 is better...compounding the problem is some

just found info that blows off both of these filters in favor of the

81B...

 

What I'm after here is this: Will using any of these filters make a

huge difference, a difference that might bring an "ooh or ahh" where

none would have otherwise occurred???

 

And if I had to pick one to step outside right now and do foliage,

which one would it be???

 

Oh, I did mention snow in the header...so I guess my question extends

to any of these filters making snow shots better...more specifically,

will one of these pieces of glass rid snow shots of that blue tint???

 

Thanks for any help, I do appreciate it immensely...

[kenny_dunn]

Shoot Velvia with a polarizer (yes, it will make a difference if the sun is out) and don't worry about the other filters. The Kodak 100 VS may be good as well, but I have not tried it. The 100S is nice in overcast conditions, but it can't seem to handle the contrast well if you get bright sunlight (although I have gotten some nice snow shots with it). The blue tint on snow seems to happen early in the morning on overcast days when the light is the wrong temperature. I guess it just shows up worse in snow. Some manufactures make an early moring filter that may help. I imagine it would be orange. Have to be careful with snow and filters or the snow will take the color of the filter. I love the first time each year I look at brilliant fall foilage against a blue sky and crank the polarizer around and see it do its thing. It is magical.

[chris_varner1]

Fall foliage under what conditions? An 81A is a weaker version of the 81B. Both are warming filters to counteract the blue light found in the shade on clear blue sky day or under gray overcast sky. I always shoot a warm based film--Velvia and E100SW--so under most shade (not heavy overcast) conditions the 81A filter works fine. (I know nothing about the 812 since I don't shoot skin tones).

 

If it is sunny, a polarizer is great for gaining more color saturation which might otherwise be lost by removing the reflective glare of the sun from the vegetation. (If you are getting blue (dirty gray) snow when the sun is shinning, you aren't metering for the snow.) I personally dislike over-polarized sky (navy blue)so I don't max out the polarizer when the sky is included in the image.

[pete_bowman]

A polarizer rules this time of year!!

[dave_wilson1]

Hi Vince, when I am working my foliage (which will be soon), once I find my scene or "view" I'll shoot the same shot using 1. No Filter, 2. A warming such as 81B or the 812 - both which I like, 3. with a polarizer if the scene has high reflections or other that would be positively affected by the Pol., otherwise I don't bother. This gives me the choice later rather than the regret. Last year the only warming filter I used was the 812 on the Hasselblad and the results were outstanding. Enjoy!

[david_henderson]

This may be heresy to some, but I don't go out shooting landscape without an 81a, an 81b and an 81c. Some respondents seem to be telling you that a polariser is enough, but of course a polariser doesn't warm the image at all; it merely increases saturation in certain conditions. You need the warm-ups for a number of reasons. There are lots of occasions when I wouldn't dream of using a polariser but can and should warm the image; there are lots of circumstances where a polariser won't make any difference apart from acting as a sometimes unwelcome 2 stop neutral density filter. Finally there are many occasions when I want to polarise and warm and then I use two filters. Now I know that a lot of people will say that you shouldn't use two filters, but in my view that's rubbish if the filters and your equipment are high quality. I exhibit and sell prints up to 24" square, albeit from a 6x6 original, and I wouldn't be able to do so if the image was noticably degraded by using filters.

On the other hand I don't use Cokin, and I replace filters when they get significantly marked. Further I clean them every day I use them. I think you'll find that most top landscapers have a full range of warm-ups as well as a polariser and use them together when appropriate. They do it because it does make a difference and in most cases you can see the effect of even a 81a through the lens. Personally I don't want use anything stronger than 81c but there are plenty that do.

And they do it with Velvia. Again you might have got the impression that Velvia is warm enough. Now in my opinion the strongest distinguishing characteristics of Velvia are its sharpness and saturation; not warmth. It isn't warm enough to help when your snow looks blue or with a scene I shot in Germany only this morning which without a warm-up was so blue that I'd have walked away from it.

About your snow question. There will be degrees of blue depending on conditions at the time. There's no pat answer to the "what do I need to get rid of the blue shadows?" question. Part of the answer lies in experience and experimentation. Partly it's a case of looking through the viewfinder with no filter and with a range of filters in place to see what YOU prefer. Sometimes you won't want to take all the blue out of the shadow because to do ,so will be adding a warm cast to the snow itself. It's the same with foliage or anything else. You need to judge at the point of making the photograph what you want the image to look like and filter according to your own standards and preferences.

Overall I reckon that about 30% 0f my photographs use a warm-up and obviously I feel they make a big difference- which of course means that they can make the result a lot worse if you don't get the judgment right.

[michael_moon]

Listen to Mr. Henderson! There is no pat answer to what filter is best for fall foliage or for snow. I carry, and use, graduated ND, polariser, 812, and frequently use two at a time and frequently take the same shot with different combinations of filters or with no filter. (I routinely enlarge 35mm negatives to 12x18 for sale.) I am sure that I use the polariser more than either of the others, but not by much.

[gooseberry]

Foliage? -- go for Enhancing/Intensifier (differend firms call them differently) made of so-called didymium glass, which bumps up reds, oranges, browns, and similar colors with no (or negligible) effect on other colors. It really *does* work!

 

As for snow, especially in mountains, you certainly want a UV filter; and don't forget to overexpose your pictures (relatively to what your camera's meter suggests), or you'll end up with gray, not white, snow.