Filters. Do we need them? What are they good for? How many types are there? Are some better than others? How do you know which one to use and for what?

Lot's of questions. Hopefully, by the time you are done reading this, you'll have a few answers to go along with those questions.

Actually, the most common use of filters is to protect the lens of the camera, some of which are very delicate. Most photographers use either UV, 1A or 1B filter for this purpose. For example, if a delicate lens gets hit with too much sunlight, the UV light can damage the lens. The UV filter keeps that particular light from reaching the lens. It's kind of like the principal of wearing sun glasses so that your eyes don't get damaged by the sun.

But there are also other types of filters that you can use that have nothing to do with protecting your lens but in getting certain types of effects from your photos.

First we have what are called correction filters. There are many different types of correction filters and while we can't possibly go over each type, we'll cover a few just to give you an idea of what they do.

One example of a correction filter is a green filter. This is used for black and white film because this film is less sensitive to red light than the human eye. To correct this we use a light green filter, though a yellow filter can also be used.

There are actually many different color filters depending on the kind of shot that you are going for. If you've ever watched movies with scenes that seemed to be shot to make the scene look like a bright blue, this is done through the use of a color filter. This is one of the most common filters used for photography both in still photos and in movies and television.

Another type of filter that is very common is what is called the temperature filter. These filters are used to produce either a cooling or warming effect. One example of use would be on a photo taken on a very cold snowy winter day. A warming filter would be used to give the shot more of a warm effect in spite of the snow on the ground.

Effects filters are very widely used by photographers who are looking to add some zip to their photos to make them less bland. These effects include things like starbursts and diffusions. Care must be taken when using effects filters as they can become tedious after a while. Combining certain effects can be very effective.

Polarizing filters are used to cut down reflections from various light sources like the sun. These filters actually produce an exaggerated color saturation in images. Therefore they should be used carefully. While taking photos with these filters, they need to be rotated while you observe the image in order to get the desired effect.

These are the most common types of filters, but there are others. By experimenting with each you can get a very good idea of the types of effects that you can get with your camera. Before you know it, you'll be taking photos for NASA.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Photography