February 27, 2007 
In
This eNewsletter:
How-To - Filters
and Digital SLRs
Industry Perspective - Printing Trends
What's New This Month - Olympus, Hasselblad, Fijifilm, and More
How-To - Getting Into Infrared: Another Point of View
Vote! - How you manage and control noise in your shots?
Workshops & Contests - Learn and Show
Shutterbug Forums - Your
Photo & Digital Imaging Source
Filters
and Digital SLRs: Why Color Controls Might Make Most Filters Obsolete
by George Schaub
I
used to own a suitcase filled with filters. I had screw-on filters and
compendium types, the holders that would take slide-in filters with adapters
for a variety of lens diameters. I would use filters to enhance color,
compensate for various light sources, change color contrast with black
and white film and even some special effects filters for soft focus effects.
I even knew quite a few portrait and wedding photographers who would make
their own filters by sandwiching mesh between glass or apply clear nail
polish (and even Vaseline) around the edges to get a soft focus vignette
on their pictures. But with all the color controls, and even with black
and white contrast effects available in-camera these days, one could rightly
question why many of these filters are necessary. Add in custom white
balancing, and the abilities afforded in even the most basic image processing
software, and you might well wonder why any filters are needed at all.
Get The Full Story
The
wonderful thing about photography is that it allows for virtually
every point of view and ability to render the visual world in any
fashion you desire. It can range from “straight” reportage
and documentation to the most fanciful interpretation of color, subject
and perspective. When digital imaging got into the mix that potential
for a different world view expanded even further, with software that
can aid in the process by enhancing the image as if you had a custom
printer at your beck and call. Yes, there are “morphing”
programs that can bend and shape subjects at your whim, but even those
should be seen as “servants” to your artistic vision rather
than masters of the final result.
