Different filters and their wonderful uses

It is said that filters are one of the necessary tools for landscape photographers, but in fact, whether you focus on landscape photography or portrait photography, we inevitably need to use different kinds of filters to get the desired effect. By using filters, we can control the mood of the whole photo very conveniently and quickly. From the simplest protective filter to the black-and-white effect filter, for many photographers who are new to the filter system, a wide variety of filters often dazzle them. It is not difficult to go shopping. The hard part is not knowing how to find the right product according to your own needs, or how to ask questions about filters. If sunglasses are compared to filters, filters are like "sunglasses" of lenses. However, water can carry a boat and overturn it, and so can filters. As we all know, if sunglasses are used indoors, the vision will be distorted, and if the filter is used improperly, it will also have a negative impact on the image quality. Let's take a quick look at the different filters and their functions.

Protective mirror:

The only function of protective glasses is to protect your lenses. I highly recommend installing protective glasses for your lenses, which can protect your glasses from dust, fingerprints, rain and other impurities. In addition, if your lens accidentally falls or bumps, the protective lens can also prevent the lens of the lens from being scratched.

Ultraviolet reflector:

UV mirror, also known as ultraviolet filter, is really helpful to neutralize colors, although it will reduce the image quality of the lens, especially the resolution. At the same time, it can also prevent the glare of the lens to a certain extent, and play the same role as protecting the lens.

Polarizer:

A filter that can help us reduce reflection, increase the contrast of the picture and improve the color saturation is called a polarizer. There are two kinds of common polarizers: the first is a linear polarizer, which is usually used in non-SLR cameras; The second type is the familiar circular polarizer, which is often used in SLR cameras. According to our preferences and actual needs, polarizers can obviously improve the visual effect of our photos.

Gray gradient mirror in hard gradient;

The medium gray gradient lens is mainly used to balance the exposure of Gao Fancha scene. This filter can avoid overexposure of the sky or underexposure of the ground when we need to shoot the scenery with bright sky and dark ground. Hard gradient is suitable for scenes with obvious boundaries between heaven and earth, such as shooting a desert with a relatively flat horizon.

Gray gradient mirror in soft gradient

One of my favorite scenes is the mountain scenery, which is also one of the most frequently expressed landscape themes. However, unlike the desert scene, it is usually difficult to completely separate the sky from the earth, and the horizon is not straight. Therefore, here we need to replace the hard gradient filter with the gray gradient mirror in soft gradient to achieve similar effects. While avoiding overexposure or underexposure of the picture, soft gradient will not leave a stiff and obvious dividing line between light and dark in the picture.

Gray gradient mirror in reverse gradient:

Compared with the traditional gradient mirror, the reverse gradient mirror is relatively rare in the market. However, if you are a sunrise or sunset lover, this filter should be a must for you. The color depth of the reverse gradient mirror decreases from the center to the edge, with the deepest color in the center and the lightest color in the edge. This design well deals with the situation that the horizon is brightest and the sky and sea (ground) are relatively dark at sunrise and sunset, which can avoid local overexposure of the picture.

Color filter:

Loving color and everything related to color can be said to be one of the remarkable characteristics of a photographer. Color filter has the functions of color correction, color recombination and color enhancement. Very suitable for photographers who want to correct or add color to images and films.

Hot and cold filter:

Do you like the effect of warm colors? Cold and warm color filters are not only suitable for correcting those unreal colors, but also can be used to change the color temperature of the original image and add cold or warm colors to the picture. While changing the white balance, this filter can also help us change the mood and atmosphere of the photo.

Black and white filter:

Black and white lovers will definitely use this filter to the maximum. Of course, there are many other ways to make photos look black and white. Black and white filters are mainly red, orange, yellow, green and other colors. It mainly achieves a specific black and white effect by letting the light of the same color pass through and filtering out the light of other colors.

The filter mentioned above is only a part of many filters. Of course, with the continuous development of digital imaging technology, people begin to add filter effect to their photos more and more through post-processing. However, there are still some filters, such as UV mirrors or polarizers, which are difficult to simulate by later software, while others, such as black-and-white filters or color filters, have been gradually replaced by later software, unless you are a cinematographer.