The first filter I used was on the advice of the friend who helped me to get into photography. He recommended a skylight filter with the dual purpose of improving the photograph in the camera and protecting the lens from damage.
In those days we only dodged, burned, and cropped in black and white. Color was by way of slides which were seldom self processed so there was a much greater focus on getting it right in the camera and using a variety of filters, but I didn’t get further tan a polarising filter.
It seems that in general, filters are not widely used in wildlife photography because they don’t suit the quick shooting that wildlife can require and they take a stop or two of light away where it is sometimes in short supply. But there are definitely filters that would be useful.
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Why do wildlife photographers use filters?
The most common reasons why wildlife photographers use filters include:
To protect their lenses
To reduce glare and enhance colors
To control exposure in bright conditions.
In short, photographic filters help improve image quality, manage reflections, and provide creative control in diverse shooting situations.
Polarising Filter
Most normal light is unpolarised which means the electromagnetic wave form is not organised. However, light from the sky and reflections tend to be linearly polarised. A polarising filter stops this polalarised light from reaching the sensor giving photographs with more vivid skies. less haze and fewer reflections.
This can be important for wildlife views at lakes, rivers or other reflective surfaces and for photographs taken of underwater life viewed from above the water.
The polarising filter is important to the user of digital cameras because unlike other filters its effect can not be applied in post processing as it actually changes the light wave.
Neutral Density (ND) Filters
A wildlife photographer’s first response is probably that we need more light in wildlife photography, to freeze those fast moving animals. But there are times where we want to reduce the light entering the lens.
In bright conditions, a wide angle compositions in wilderness areas are often marred by very distracting backgrounds, The bright light constrains the use of a large aperture to blur the background hiding the distractions.
Very bright outdoor conditions can make the use of long exposures impossible without ND filters. This means panning and emphasis of moving objects can’t be used to create that stand-out photograph.
Skylight, Ultra Violet and Glass Filters
The glass filter has no effect on the light reaching the sensor while the skylight and UV have some effect on haze. These are mainly used to protect the lens from damage. The front lens of a telephoto or other lens can be scratched or cracked by bump or drop. The lens coating can also be damaged by frequent lens cleaning.
Filters That can be Replaced by Post Processing
Other filters can be substituted by post-processing where effects and improvements in a number of areas not possible with filters are also easily achieved.
Color Correcting Filters
Warming and cooling filters are concerned with compensating for the lighting and are used mainly indoor to get a gloomier or a sunnier look. Other filters are designed to bring out selected hues in the scene bring photographed.
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Graduated filters
These allow the filtering action to be applied to a part of the photo with the transition being blended in.
Special Effects Filters
These are simple to use, like the popular starburst filter which automatically adds flares to lights. They include day and night, infrared, diffusion, centre spot, and multivision filters.
These filters are easily replaced with post-processing so the wildlife photographer shouldn’t risk the complexity, inconvenience and dangers of changing filters without a reason. The one case where they should be used is in shooting for competitions where post-processing is disallowed.