Idaho BS thread in the PNW

i use the polarized filter since so many of my shots have either water or snow in them and it does help a lot to combat glare. the down side is that i lose some of the definition in the shadows. if you look at some of the pics of my truck my front end is just one big black blob. that's because of the filter. but then i just take pics of my truck for the hell of it and its not a big deal to me. a UV filter will make skies appear bluer and plants greener, more vibrant. its subtle changes.

 

ohhh...and a polarized filter will erase a rainbow. ask me how I know

 

came home from a long weekend in Yelly...started to go through my pics and I had all of these shots of the tree tops and sky. took me a minute to realize that they were supposedto be of a rainbow. to my naked eye I was seeing a rainbow but with the filter on my lens the camera wasn't seeing what I was seeing. live and learn

polarized filters working:






also notice the direction of the shadows in the pics...the sun is always 90* to the camera. think of a "+" with the | being the direction you are pointing the camera and the - being the angle of the sun in relation to the camera.

and shots with a UV filter. notice the brighter blue and green tones

 

read my post above

 

its hard to tell sometimes

gradients? do you mean neutral density filters? http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/neutral-density-filters.htm

 

yes, there are two varieties. first would be a round filter that screws onto the front of your lenses like any other filter. but it has a ring that allows the glass to move freely after being attached to the camera so you can zoom in, focus, then rotate the filter to the appropriate angle, then take your shot. they're a pain unless you're using a tripod. my polarized filter is set up that way.
the other option is that you get a bracket that mounts to your lens and then you slide square filters into it. again its a pain unless you're using a tripod

hush

linky?

those are like the first ones i described up there ^^^

 

then the ND filters work like your polarized filter and you can still rotate the glass once its on the lens.
if I had to choose I would get that kind and not the bracket and square filters since they look like a huge pain to store and pack around...plus you have to worry about finger prints when you're taking them off the bracket...and you can't just leave that bracket on the lens so set up and tear down time would be a PITA. round filters you just screw on and can still use your lens cap...much easier

 

tripods are nice. you just have to be able to set them up properly. i use mine only when I'm either a) maxing out the zoom on my lenses and need a steady shot b) low light/long exposure. I HATE using my tripod in the park because everyone and their busload of friends seems to feel the need to stop you and ask what you're doing. Hard to blend into the crowd when you're lugging a tripod and 6 pounds of camera around.

 

monopods only do so much since you still have to hold it up. I have a monopod but haven't used it in forever. tripod gets used occasionally - I have a full size one and a "tabletop" one that fits in my backpack so I can take it hiking as long as I have a rock or tree stump to set up on it works great. I also put a mounting screw in the handle of one of my trekking poles so I use that as a monopod when I'm snowshoeing.