What filters should I use?

[jammyhl]

I normally carry a D70 and 18-70mm and shoot scenery and landscape, occassionally people or street stuff. Often though my skies feel flat and I'd like to work out how to bring out a bit more contrast in the pictures. Will filters make a difference?

 

[markta]

neutral density grad (ND Grad) certainly will bring out more detail in the sky, but not sure about contrast.

The main purpose of them is to balance the exposure, as the sky is often 2 stops brighter than the foreground, so the dark element of the Grad is placed over the sky to darken it a little..

Hope that helps

 

[Strangways]

The ND filter will help, but a polarizer will probably be better to get the contrast between the blue sky and the clouds if thats what you are after.

 

[Shadow]

If the skies are blown out then you need ND grads. Hitech ones are relatively cheap but work well.

If the Sky is the right colour but flat then a Circular polarizer will help bring out the colour more.

 

[markta]

Basically a circular polariser will saturate ie. richen the colour of the sky.

It does have other uses as well though, like bringing out more detail of rocks in water and also eliminating/reducing reflections on glass...

Circular polarisers will reduce the light reaching the camera's sensor by one full stop, so can be used in conjunction with neutral density filters, in fooling the camera to select a slower shutter speed. Very useful for creating a milky effect on flowing water for eg.