Our newest video tutorial is now on YouTube, and this one covers the critical topic of lens filters for landscape photography. There’s a ton of information in this video that you may not have heard before, even if you’re an advanced photographer, so go ahead and take a look!
My goal while creating this video was to cover every important thing that I know about filters. It not only introduces each common type of filter, but also goes into plenty of advanced information along the way. If you never knew why magenta filters may be worthwhile for digital photography, or how aperture and focal length affect which grad filter you should buy, I guarantee you’ll learn something new in this video.
In short, it’s the most comprehensive (and highest production value) video that I’ve made so far. I normally try to prioritize a shorter video length, but sometimes that leaves out valuable information, so I decided to try something different this time. I’m still figuring out whether to make more videos like this, or go back to shorter and simpler videos that I can publish more frequently. I’ll probably end up doing a mix of both.
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Very comprehensive, Spencer and you’re a terrific presenter! I have used a circular polarizing filter in the past, but had run into problems by not seeing when to stop turning. Sometimes on a very sunny day it’s hard to see where to stop. I’ve also found corners of the sky on each side with darker blue areas that are a pain to remove in post. What am I doing wrong?
I like the length of this video as it covers all the necessary info. instead of having to jump from little video to little video. (and having to search for them)
Thanks Nan, good questions. To me, your description sounds like you are seeing a mild case of mechanical vignetting, with the edges of the filter just barely appearing in the corners of your photo. That’s certainly what’s happening if you see it regardless of how you rotate the polarizer, and you don’t see it when you remove the polarizer.
It definitely can be tricky to determine when to stop turning the polarizer. In some scenes, depending on the light and subjects, a polarizer might have no major effect regardless of how you turn it. Other times, if you’re not sure and don’t want to mess it up, you might consider bracketing a few shots with the polarizer turned to slightly different angles.
Very informative. Like the detail
Thanks Anthony! Duly noted, I’ll try to keep this level of detail in at least our main tutorials going forward.
Spencer, Most informative video I’ve seen on filters. Well done! In fact your videos are consistently among the very best photography videos on the Web. I suggest that – within reason – a video’s length should be governed by it’s content. Thanks!!
You’re very welcome, and I really appreciate the kind feedback! I think you’re right; it seems like interest in this video is good so far, despite – or maybe because of – the long length and detail. I’m curious if YouTube will boost or hide it over time, though. Either way, I’m fairly convinced now to keep making longer, detailed videos when possible, at least if it works for the topic at hand.
Spencer, I have experienced the same issue as Nan. I tried to rotate the filter and take a picture every 15 degrees. All the pictures, taken with the filter on, were duller and less vibrant compared to the unfiltered blue sky! I was using a 70mm lens and a high quality circular polarizer. Still can’t figure what I’m doing wrong. Any advice would be appreciated.
Sure thing! That sounds like a different issue than Nan’s to me. This is just a guess, but what do your white balance settings look like in both cases? It’s possible that your camera was using a bluer white balance with the polarizer, which we can see as being more dull, even when it’s not.
If your white balance is the same in both cases, it’s certainly possible that your particular subject appears less vibrant when it has reflections removed. Even though it’s said that polarizers increase saturation (and they sometimes do), I often find that the sky with a strong polarization effect appears a bit less saturated as it gets darker and darker. This doesn’t quite sound like what you’re seeing, since you said that it appears less saturated regardless of how you turn it, but it’s worth mentioning just in case.
The only other thing I can think of is that you may have gotten some veiling flare (i.e. lower contrast) if the sun was shining on your filter at the wrong angle.
Hope this helps!
This was very interesting and informative. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Glad you liked it, thanks, Ron!
Was that a one shot take, Spencer? If so – absolutely awesome presentation! Some new ideas given, thank you a lot for that!
However, I do have issues with videos in a length I would need to read about a subject – and there were not much practical demonstrations which essentially needed video to get the point. You might set some chapter markers for people you like to review the video again, just the topic most interesting for them at the moment.
But that’s just me, I sometimes prefer a good read. The bits about the grad filters were very good and informative, but I have one and used it close to “never”. Here I prefer doing it in post, if there’s no sun appearing as object.
Something I would have appreciated: There are tons of filterholder systems on the market. Nearly no one can take a lenshood, but if so, it would have to be a specifically to the holder and lens combination customized thing. What’s your solution?
Filterholders, screw-in filters and magnetic systems all have their advantages and disadvantages. I tried a couple of systems, I dislike the ones needed for 14-24 Nikkor or Sigma because the holder is big and bulky, and the 150 × 150 filters are not exactly cheap. Solution: Leave this lens at home and use the 14-30 Z instead.
I agree, of all filters, the polarizer is the most versatile one and cannot be simulated by software (although Apple Aperture had a “polarizer” effect which at least darkened the sky, but reflections could not be transformed into transparency.
Thank you, Joachim!
I confess that I don’t have nearly enough talent to do this all in one take. Instead, I planned out strategic full-screen visuals so I could do shorter takes with more careful wording, while still making it *look* seamless.
Like you, I tend to be more interested in reading about long topics rather than watching videos, which is one reason why I was hesitant to publish something that crossed the 25 minute mark. But it seems to have done well so far, so I’ll probably try to do some more like it in the future, if the topic warrants it.
I’ve basically given up on using lens hoods in combination with filters, except for screw-in polarizers. The Lee system hoods are imprecise, large, and expensive, and I have yet to see a filter company that does any better.
I too find the 14-30mm a much better option when using filters. All of the ND sample images in this video are from that lens, since I finally can use an ultra-wide with my 6- and 10-stop filters.
Great video that gave enough detailed information on several topics to whet my interest for some in-depth reading. The length was perfect for the topics covered. And you’re an excellent presenter!
One suggestion is to include, at the end of the video, a list of sources (books, videos, websites, etc.) so viewers who want more info can find it.
Thanks Spencer, you answered a lot of questions I had, including why I’ve been getting flaring patterns in my photos while shooting long exposures. I was using a variable ND filter and turning it completely dark and couldn’t figure out why I was getting these patterns. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Spencer, this was very helpful as a deeper dive, especially with the variety of ND filters. Thank you!
hello Spencer, again a good video but I would like to clarify one point , can we reproduce what we can do with a gradual filter with Lightroom gradual filter ?
regards
Fabrice
If there’s detail in the sky and you haven’t blown out any color channels, you can reproduce it pretty well with a graduated filter in Lightroom. However, if your sky is blown out, an HDR is the only digital way to mimic what a grad filter can do.
Spencer, the longer and more comprehensive format is my preference. Good work!