There is an opinion that it is not technology that makes a photographer, but talent, artistic taste, and the presence of an appropriate education. This is partly true, but one should not neglect such seemingly superfluous "bells and whistles" such as lens filters. Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that they are an indispensable tool in a professional's outfit.
There are many different light filters that differ in their purpose:
- Protective,
- Ultraviolet,
- Polarizing,
- Neutral,
- Gradient,
- Cold and warm
- Multi-colored.
Protective Filters, as the name implies, are essential to protect your lens from dust and scratches.
Ultraviolet (UV) filters are also used for protection, however, they have the advantage of reducing the UV radiation flux. Although a person does not see it, the matrix feels it perfectly. UV filters help to avoid overexposure and cyan tint in the sky.
There are two types of polarizing filters: linear and circular. The latter are a real must-have for most photographers. They help to significantly reduce polarized light and "eat up" reflections and glare, making the final image bluer, water more transparent, green - richer, and so on. As for linear "polarics", as they are popularly called, they cope with their task worse, but they absorb light evenly at any angle.
ND filters are designed to evenly reduce light entering the camera's sensor. They are commonly used for long exposure photography, especially when photographing waterfalls and rivers. They allow you to achieve the effect of motion blur, help to achieve a shallower depth of field in bright light, smooth the movement of water flows.
Gradient filters help to even out exposure when shooting landscapes, especially at sunset when you need to avoid dips in shadows and overexposures.
Cool and warm filters are used to change the white balance. Of course, when shooting in raw format, you can always correct the BB on the computer. However, specific lighting conditions (for example, warm light from lanterns at night or underwater photography) require very serious adjustments - here filters will come to the rescue.
Finally, multicolored filters are essential for flash photography and often even come with them. Red - under warm fluorescent lamps, orange - under warm fluorescent and incandescent lamps, yellow - under incandescent lamps, green and blue - under cold fluorescent lamps.
