on 9/16/02 8:10 AM, w shumaker at rlist@xxxxxxxx wrote:
> I noticed a plethora of B&W filter colors. Can anyone recommend a
> reasonable set of filters for B&W shooting, if one were to get just 2
> or 3? Light yellow, Dark yellow, yellow green...
>
> Thanks, Wayne
>
Wow, I'm noticing a renaissance on B&W film questions... we must all be
turning into artists! <g>
The effect of filters in B&W is to render lighter their own color and darken
their complementary color (think 'on the color wheel') in the print. So a
yellow will lighten yellow objects in the print and darken blue objects (the
color-complement of yellow is blue) in the print...
Traditionally the #1 filter for B&W is a yellow... these come in light,
medium, and darker. These are used to darken a sky which makes the clouds
stand out more. Orange and red filters do this also to a more extreme
degree. Some people use a yellow filter all the time for pictures in B&W.
Another useful filter for B&W is a light-green, sometimes called a
yellow-green. This lightens and differentiates foliage (plants) and darkens
red/orange objects. This is useful in taking pictures of landscapes.
Filters that are useful for both color and B&W are neutral-density and
polarizer. ND filters can be used to widen the range of apertures that you
can use with fast B&W film, to allow you to pick depth of field and pursue
the perfect bokeh...
Polarizers can be used to darken the blue of the sky without lightening the
complementary-color objects as yellow, orange, or red filter would. Other
than filtering polarized light they shouldn't change the relative tonality
of subjects in the print. Polarizers are also useful for reducing glare from
some surfaces, which appears in B&W as washed-out tones, or as white where
it shouldn't be... this is useful.
--
Jim Brokaw
OM-1's, -2's, -4's, (no -3's yet) and no OM-oney...
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