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| Mesa Arch is the classic image of Canyonlands |
when you need it all ... the color combo
See the making of this image and much more on the Canyonlands/Arches DVD
Filters are a huge help in landscape photography and I use them a lot. They are also a much discussed topic among those that do landscape photography and I talk about them a lot as well. In recent years I find myself using them more than ever! This comes for me as a much welcomed surprise since I once thought that digital photography needed no filters at all! In fact, filters have actually changed the way I see and work in the field.
Once I did have that change of mind, I began thinking less about using them and more about their actual use in the field. This may seem a little silly but I find I tend to do less thinking about it and more doing of it... the more I do it! The concept may be more of an after thought than anything else but the bottom line for me is that the more I use my filters, the deeper and better I seem to understand their use and place in my images.
A case in point is the image above. This classic image of Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park is a very easy location to access. Although you will most likely find a crowd of like minded people performing the same endeavor, a sunrise visit is a thrill with or without a camera. The seat or place for the show may be a little harder to obtain than the destination but the making of the image can be much more difficult once the opportunity presents itself than anything that precedes it.
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| The Hassleblad X-Pan 45 MM provided the ability to eliminate the foreground and simplify a difficult exposure. |
As I approached this scene I positioned myself with my workshop group realizing that space would be limited and moving around would most likely not be an option. I picked a composition from memory and what I could see in the dark and stuck with it for the next hour or so.
A number of situations were anticipated but one never really knows what nature will present until that presentation is underway. In my mind I thought the early morning pre-dawn glow would be helped with a color intensifier and began there. One of great benefits of this filter is there is very little filter factor involved so shutter exposure is effected little. I gave up only 2/3 of a stop to get the same exposure without the filter.
With light filtered though the clouds on the horizon, the shadows needed help. The sky was now a robust blue and the reflected light in the shadows, had become cold, or blue as well. This was especially true since I was using a reverse graduated neutral filter to hold back the more intense light on the horizon while rendering the sky at it proper exposure. The solution was two-fold but available to me in one filter.
Warming Polarizer
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| A warming polarzier eliminates blue shadows and a reverse ND filer holds the light of the horizon |
I use a polarizer for glare. There are other reasons certainly, but I find that this is my most effective tool for glare and I can't duplicate it's effect in post-processing. I usually run a test by simply holding the filter to the scene and rotating it. If I see the effect I need it goes on the lens, if not, then back in the pocket instead. Their is no use dealing with loss of light in both viewfinder and exposure when not necessary. I ran this test with two filters. A polarizer and the Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer. The latter adds warm tones to the polarized light and I liked the way the blue shadowed area was interpreted and the glare mostly eliminated I attached warming polarizer
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| In the final image a 4 stop grad ND along with the color combo with its built in polarizer was the perfect solution |
Once the light was direct and detail that was now present made all the more intense by the both the reflected light which was now a orange glow, and the angle and direction, a color intensifier again made sense in addition to both warming filter and polarizer. Now, one filter, the Color Combo form Singh-Ray filters was the perfect solution! The colors now jumped. the ledge seemed more prominent and the vast expanse of the scene before me was now clearly visible. rotating the filter, I made sure that the sky was not made too dark and contrast brought down as much as possible.
As I stopped to admire the spectacle that was taking place before us, I noticed that our group had become mysteriously quite. Yes they were all as intense as I had been and surely were going though the same thought and enjoyment processes. My last thought was how fortunate we all were to be there to share this rare treat!
See the making of this shot and many other fascinating locations contained in the DVD series Steve Kossack Photographing the Great American Landscape.
Also see this image on the Singh-Ray Filter Blog.
Check all the current workshops.
View the DVD series Steve Kossack Photographing the Great American Landscape.
Your comments are always welcome. f8andbethere@cableone.net