B&W Filter: Which One Generally
- Thread starter chgoh
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The use of filters in b/w photography is to enhance contrast of certain subjects, it depends what kind of subjects you photograph most, and select a proper color filter to use.
Yellow filter will cut down certain degree of blue, to give better contrast than not using any filters, so yellow filter are use in general subjects.
Hope this help
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Seldom people use blue filter for B/W, the result is low contrast images, Red (R25), Orange (G)& Yellow (K2), darken blue sky and green vegetation, from strong to mild.
Use Yellow green (XO) & green (X1) for portraits, will give you nice smooth skin tone.
Get a copy of Hoya filter catalogue to know more.
Yellow filter will cut down certain degree of blue, to give better contrast than not using any filters, so yellow filter are use in general subjects.
Hope this help
Previous post
Seldom people use blue filter for B/W, the result is low contrast images, Red (R25), Orange (G)& Yellow (K2), darken blue sky and green vegetation, from strong to mild.
Use Yellow green (XO) & green (X1) for portraits, will give you nice smooth skin tone.
Get a copy of Hoya filter catalogue to know more.
catchlights said:
I think a "general" use of filter, of whatever color, is in my opinion, not something very desirable.
The issue is not the subject of the photography as suggested, but colors. Yellow will block blue and in situations where there are blue and yellow, the contrast can be increased by a yellow color filter. However, it also means that the yellow bananas might turn out to be a sickly white!
The subject might be landscape with sky and field, but if the sky is overcast, with no blue, yellow or orange or red filters will not help, and in fact make the field more "muddy".
Portraits can be "enhanced" by orange filters as it can reduce some blemishes because blemishes tend to have a yellow/orange hue.
I think that in general, filters should not be used. Ralph Gibson, a master of 35 mm Leica rangefinder, do not have a filter on his lens (not even a UV/Skylight!), and his images are spectacular.
But if you want to take a picture of green and red peppers, an appropriate filter might be in order.
chgoh said:
I don't have prints to show the above. Anyway I don't know how to post photos!
But let me explain a little more. What I have been trying to say is this, chose the filters according to the colors of the iamge and how you want to modify it.
As you know, filters (colored) allow its own light to go through and block its opposite light. This is one way to increase contrast in black & white photography. There are many ways to increase contrast in B&W. To name a few:
Slow films have a tendency to higher contrast
Development: increase duration and strength
Using more magenta at the printing stage
Using higher cotrast paper
Lith printing
Burning and dodging
Masking
However all the above cannot increase contrast between two colors if the two are the same in black & white terms
Example: Green and red apples. Tonally it is the same in black & white, and there is nothing you can do (using panchromatic films) to increase the contrast between the two except for burning and dodging (which is going to be very imprecise). Using a red filter will allow the red light to pass through and block green. So the red apples will be lighter and the green apples darker, thereby increasing the contrast between the two types of apples. Of course using a green filter will have the opposite effects on the apples.
Remember though that colors in nature are not all "pure" and there will be some red in green and green in red.
It has long been said that to have a nice facial tone, use an old lens like the leica summarit with an orange filter and the person will love you for it! Anyway these are expensive lenses. But chose a person with freckles or sun spots. Use an orange filter and the spots and freckles will be less. But I like freckles! Less so for sun spots!
In landscape, try to avoid the use of orange or red filters. They can give dramatic sky, but they also make foliage darker (remember the green and red apples?). So a "lot more exposure" is needed to add textures to the fields. As least 3 stops. Ignore what the BW brochure says.
If a landscape has green, a yellow green filter can be logical, because it darkens the sky and lightens foliage at the same time.
In deserts, a yellow-green is inapproriate. A deep yellow is better because it lightens the sand and darkens the shadows (which are mainly blue), and increase contrast.
So what I hope to illustrate is this; Look at the image, look at the contrast and color. You will have to know how colors look like in monochrome. And then decide the final picture before you chose a filter to create the image you want.
student said:
Hi student,
With regards to the usage of yellow green filter, besides in landscapes, I read somewhere that using yellow-green filters gives you a "smoother" or "better" skin tone outdoors.
While I understand that the green in the yellow green filter probably lightens the foliage as mentioned by you, how does it help in rendering the skin a better tone?
What are your views on this statement?
Thanks alot.
eagles_creek said:Hi student,
With regards to the usage of yellow green filter, besides in landscapes, I read somewhere that using yellow-green filters gives you a "smoother" or "better" skin tone outdoors.
While I understand that the green in the yellow green filter probably lightens the foliage as mentioned by you, how does it help in rendering the skin a better tone?
What are your views on this statement?
Thanks alot.
The statement is correct. I think the basic reason is that skin have reddish/warm coloration, and blemishes are generally "warm". Yellow, orange and even red filters will make for a pleasing skin tone. Take a portrait of someone in the midst of foliage with a red filter, and the face will really stand out because the red filter lighten the face but darken the foliage.
Taking the "logic" to its conclusion, infra-red may be even better. Indeed it is true! Blemishes are banished and the skin have a luminous quality. But be prepared to shoot at slow shutter speeds!
Student has covered almost everything that you need to know about filters. I personally don't like to use filters unless there's a real need to coz you'll lose 1-3 stops of light, depending on the coloured filter you use.
There are also street photographers that have a yellow filter on all the time.
However, I personally do like using red filter when I want a really dramatic effect, that would mean that I get very dark folliage and sky. If using a filter can save me the trouble of having to burn in the sky later in the darkroom, I would use it.
Red filter can cut off a bit of haze too and alternatively, a blue filter will make a hazy scene even more hazy. Again, it's a question of what effect you wanna create.
I suppose you could try out the effect using gelatin paper to see what kind of effects it creates.
There are also street photographers that have a yellow filter on all the time.
However, I personally do like using red filter when I want a really dramatic effect, that would mean that I get very dark folliage and sky. If using a filter can save me the trouble of having to burn in the sky later in the darkroom, I would use it.
Red filter can cut off a bit of haze too and alternatively, a blue filter will make a hazy scene even more hazy. Again, it's a question of what effect you wanna create.
I suppose you could try out the effect using gelatin paper to see what kind of effects it creates.
enperienced something sometimes back but don't know if its true.
When I use XP2/TCN, ie C41 kind of emulsion, the colour filters do not provide as much contrast as i thought they should compared to the tradition emulsion such as Tri-X/Fp4/HP5.
to enhance contrast, I usually stick on to the polariser when using C41 black and white emulsion.
anyone with the same experience?
When I use XP2/TCN, ie C41 kind of emulsion, the colour filters do not provide as much contrast as i thought they should compared to the tradition emulsion such as Tri-X/Fp4/HP5.
to enhance contrast, I usually stick on to the polariser when using C41 black and white emulsion.
anyone with the same experience?
and by the way, I am also not for the idea of stick a filter in front of the lens just hoping the photos will turn out nicer.
Imagine I'm using say tri-x and rate it at 200 since I want to pull process it due to a too contrasty scene, I stick on a orange filter, I lose 1.5 stops( approximate), that means I'm working on iso 50. imagine if I start off with a slower iso emulsion!
Imagine I'm using say tri-x and rate it at 200 since I want to pull process it due to a too contrasty scene, I stick on a orange filter, I lose 1.5 stops( approximate), that means I'm working on iso 50. imagine if I start off with a slower iso emulsion!
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