Filters: The Secret to the Most Beautiful Photography Ever

Amateur photographers, even those with 35mm SLR cameras, rarely realize the profound importance of using lens filters when taking pictures. Filters add a range of depth, color, and ultimately beauty to professional photographs, whether they are used by National Geographic photographers or high school portrait photographers.

Cameras by themselves see reality in a very stark manner. They see light as the human eye sees it, and then captures the image without exaggeration. Filters exaggerate the colors in the visible spectrum, allowing the photographer to manipulate the scene and lend a touch of otherworldliness, pathos, or awe-inspiring beauty to any scene. While some of these filters are prohibitively expensive, many are within the budget of the amateur photographer, and are easy to learn how to use.

Manufacturers of photographic filters include B+W, Cokin, Hoya, Lee, and Tiffen. While each claims spectacular results far in excess of what is within the reach of the other manufacturers, the truth is that each provides a high-quality filter which you won't be a bit sorry to own. Prices range between the inexpensive ($10.00) to the sacrilegious ($420.00), but most amateur photographers will find what they need in the $20-$100 range, and generally will be happy with no more than five filters in their camera bag.

A UV filter should be your first choice. They are inexpensive and block out the UV radiation which while invisible, causes blurs in the prints and will cause film to react with a blue tint. Thus, your photographs will come out with a blue-grey cast that will appear almost like a haze, even on a clear day. Next in your camera bag should be a polarizing filter. These filters reduce glare and reflections and can allow you to photograph fish (or your kids) swimming just below the surface of the water. While more expensive, these filters are a fun way to capture imaginative photographs you never thought were possible before.