Using On-Camera Filters to Create My Photographs

March 23, 2022

One of the things that helps a photographer elevate his or her photos, is the ability to manipulate the light available in a scene to produce a photograph that transforms the scene in a predictable way. When I first began photographing 30 years ago, it was all I could do to make sure my exposure was correct - not too light, not too dark, and the things that I wanted to be in focus, were in focus. As I grew as a photographer, I began to better understand how I could manipulate my settings- aperture, which is the opening in the lens that allows light into the camera, shutter speed, which determines how long that light enters the camera, and ISO, which determines how sensitive the camera is to that light.

A quick little Photo 101 lesson for the uninitiated. I promise I will keep this non-technical, but to understand how I create my images, you have to know some very basic things. In addition to determining the amount of light, aperture also determines how much of your scene is in focus from foreground to background. For instance, in sports photos, if you look, the background is often blurry. While in my landscape photos, everything tends to be sharp. This is known as depth of field. To make everything sharp, I need to set my aperture to a small opening, which limits the amount of light entering the camera. Shutter speed, in addition to determining how long light enters the camera for, also determines the way movement looks in my scene. Ever take a photo of someone with a camera or cell phone, and they were moving and came out blurry? That's a slow shutter speed, too slow to stop the motion of the person in the shot. In contrast, a fast shutter speed is used in sports photography much of the time to freeze the action. Finally, ISO, for me, is a setting that floats. I set my aperture and shutter according to the look I want, and shutter according to the way I want movement to look in my photo. Then I adjust my ISO to whatever it needs to be to make the photograph the proper exposure.

But sometimes, there's more light than I need to make the movement look the way I want. If you look at my seascape images, for instance, you can see that I often don't freeze the water. It often looks painted in. If there's too much light, I can't get that look unless I find a way to reduce the amount of light. This is where filters come in.

A walnut tree on a misty morning in Cades Cove.
Autumn Glow

A walnut tree basks in the early morning mist and sunlight in Cades Cove, part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.

Polarizers

Filters are simply pieces of glass or optical resin that mount in front of your lens and manipulate the light. For the past few years, I've partnered with Lee Filters and have used their filters for just about every photo I've taken since. The first filter in my camera bag is always a circular polarizer. In simple terms, a polarizer cuts down haze and reflected light, making the image clearer. Many people refer to it as "the blue sky filter" because it reduces the amount of scattered light in the atmosphere, allowing the camera to capture the true blue of the sky. You may have noticed the effect yourself when you wear a pair of sunglasses, as those are polarized as well.

A fogbow arches over two lobster boats at anchor in the harbor in Lubec, Maine.
Fogbow

Lobster boats wait at anchor in Lubec Harbor beneath a fogbow on an autumn morning.

Fogbow Without Polarizer
This image is without the polarizer.

"Fogbow" is a perfect example of polarizer use. That morning in Lubec Harbor, there was a layer of fog enveloping the lobster boats. You can see above, the vibrant blue sky, and a very clear and distinct fogbow arcing over the lobster boats. The image to the left, taken several minutes earlier (notice that a couple of boats pulled out between shots), I didn't use a polarizer. The fogbow is less distinct and the sky is less vibrant. The polarizer reduces haze throughout the scene. My finished image does have a touch of contrast added as well, but there's a reason I edited that photograph instead of the one at left, and that is that it's simply clearer because I thought to add the polarizer to my lens.


Maroon Peak rises above the colorful aspens on an autumn day in Colorado.
Maroon Bells II

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Maroon Bells, the iconic peaks near Aspen, Colorado, tower above the Rocky Mountain landscape on a glorious autumn morning. The scene is breathtaking; the rocky foreground gives way to a vibrant golden display of aspen trees, with evergreen conifers rising in the background. The sky is a deep, indigo blue, with a few wispy white cirrus clouds crowing Maroon Peak. In the distance, a winding path delicately snakes through the trees to Crater Lake.

Fine Art Limited Edition of 100 prints. Includes Certificate of Authenticity with serial number, shipped separately.

For photographs with lots of foliage, whether it be green or colorful autumn foliage, polarizers can help that color just pop. Light tends to reflect off of the leaves on trees, which ends up sapping the vibrance of the colors. Adding a polarizer to my lens, and adjusting the filter until I get a look I like. The polarizer really made my photo of Maroon Bells perfect, and below, it made the green on Tumbledown Mountain, as well as the sky, absolutely vibrant.

Tumbledown Pond lies below the summit of Tumbledown Mountain in Weld, Maine.
Tumbledown

Tumbledown Mountain in Weld, Maine is a popular destination for hikers. Just below the summit lies Tumbledown Pond, a pristine alpine lake and popular place to swim and relax for hikers on the trail.

The mountainsides are blanketed with a dense cover of trees, their branches reaching skyward, creating a vibrant canopy of greens and browns. The sun shines down from a indigo blue sky filled with clouds, illuminating the landscape and casting a warm glow over the forest below.


Neutral Density Filters

Neutral density filters are simpler than polarizers. All they are is dark pieces of glass that reduce the amount of light entering the lens. Think of it as window tinting for your camera! The filters come in different densities, or shades, so you can use just the right amount. These filters are what I use when I want a slower shutter speed, but using such a slow shutter speed would mean the photo would be overexposed because there is too much light. In the image below, "Sunrise on South Beach", I did not use a neutral density filter. You can see that the movement of the water is fairly frozen and thus the water is sharp.

Sunrise on South Beach in Miami, Florida.
Sunrise on South Beach

The sun rises above a cloud bank over the Atlantic Ocean as seen from South Beach in Miami, Florida. First image in a series of three.


In "The Low Country", below, I wanted to show the movement of the water around these stumps on the boneyard beach in South Carolina. At one time, these stumps were mighty oaks before the Atlantic Ocean encroached on them and eventually wore them down. I tend to have a pretty good idea what shutter speed I want, knowing how each shutter speed will render the motion of the water. Neutral density filters (also called ND filters) are rated in stops, so I know how dense each one is. In this case, I didn't need a very dark filter, just enough to slow my shutter speed down to get the motion I wanted. For the photographers out there, I'll normally use a 3-stop neutral density filter as my lightest one.

The Atlantic Ocean flows over the boneyard beach at Botany Bay Plantation on Edisto Island, South Carolina.
The Low Country

The Atlantic Ocean flows over the boneyard beach at Botany Bay Plantation on Edisto Island, South Carolina, at dawn. These husks of wood are all that remains of once mighty oak trees, eroded by wind, sand, and water over time.


I did something similar below with "December Sunrise in Ogunquit". I wanted to slow down the shutter just enough to get that water movement around the rocks. With the sun rising, the light was getting brighter rapidly, so adding the neutral density filter was essential to get the effect I wanted.

The sun rises over the rocky coastline of Ogunquit, Maine along a path known as Marginal Way.
December Sunrise in Ogunquit

The rising sun burns through a marine layer of fog on Marginal Way in the coastal town of Ogunquit, Maine. As the sky above glows with yellows and oranges, a long exposure artistically captures the movement of water around the rocky shoreline as if painted by an artist's hand, showcasing the wondrous natural beauty of the coast of Maine.


With bigger waves the effect can be even more pronounced, as in "Morning Glow on Bailey Island" below. The big waves crashing against the rocks were impressive, but I wanted a more expressive photograph than freezing the splash would have gotten me. Using a 3-stop neutral density filter enabled me to slow the shutter speed down enough to give the wave a painterly feel, while still maintaining the overall shape of the wave. In images like this one, if you use too slow a shutter speed, the shape of the moving object, in this case, the wave, can be lost completely, as we'll see below when I talk about even longer exposures.

Waves crash on the rugged, rocky shoreline on Bailey Island in Harpswell, Maine.
Morning Glow on Bailey Island

The churning waters of Casco Bay relentlessly crash against the rocky shoreline on Bailey Island in Harpswell, Maine. The orange and pink glow in the east from the rising sun contrasts with the gray clouds and blue-green waves pounding the shore. Pinnacle Rock rises prominently above the scene in the background.

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse at sunset.
High Tide at Sunset

The sun sets, painting the clouds with hues of deep red and orange against a blue sky as high tide rolls in ferociously at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in Tremont, Maine. I've photographed at this location many times, but none of them were quite like this one. On this evening, the conditions all came together - clouds in the sky, huge, crashing waves exploding against the rocky shore, and not another soul in sight. I literally had this scene to myself along with a friend. The kind of sunset that refreshes the soul.


Even Longer Exposures

So even though I'm using slower shutter speeds, by using more extreme slow shutter speeds I can create some really cool effects. As I mentioned, a 3-stop neutral density filter is fairly mild in terms of how dark it is. Sometimes, if the conditions are right, I will use a 10-stop neutral density filter to get a REALLY slow shutter speed. To give you an idea, the human eye can't really see through a 10-stop ND filter. It's just black glass. When I say slow shutter speed, I mean two minutes or more. This means anything moving quickly will likely not even register in the photograph, so people passing through the shot, or cars, will be invisible, unless they stop for a few seconds. Waves on water won't register at all, so water takes on a flat look, like ice, or glass.

Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse
Spring Point Ledge Light Station

Spring Point Ledge Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in South Portland, Maine that marks a dangerous obstruction on the west side of the main shipping channel into Portland Harbor. The lighthouse was constructed in 1897 by the government after seven steamship companies stated that many of their vessels ran aground on Spring Point Ledge.


"Spring Point Ledge Light Station", above, is a great example of what can happen when using an extreme slow shutter speed. This exposure was four minutes long, allowing clouds to move through the scene over the lighthouse, and allowing the waters of Portland Harbor to render as smooth as glass. That morning was pretty gray, with flat light, and thus, the scene was kind of uninteresting. But adding the 10-stop neutral density filter allowed me to take a scene that was kind of drab, and create an interesting photograph.

The sun sets over Barnegat Bay in Lavallette, NJ.
Sunset Over Barnegat Bay

A long wooden dock stretches into Barnegat Bay in Lavalette, New Jersey, at sunset, reaching out into the calm, mirror-like waters. The dark wooden planks contrast starkly with the reflective surface of the bay, while a warm orange glow radiates from the horizon, casting a blanket of light on the sky above. Exquisite streaks of clouds disperse in the sky, illuminated by the intense orange hues of the setting sun, adding a peaceful serenity to the composition. The still, unruffled water gives the photo an ethereal quality, showing the serenity of the landscape, made even more beautiful by the setting sun..


Graduated Neutral Density Filters

A stand of cypress trees on Lake Maurepas with soft early morning light in Louisiana.
Cypress Symmetry

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Five cypress trees are standing tall along the shore of Lake Maurepas in Louisiana, their reflection gently rippling in the still waters as the sky is filled with soft pastel colors of pink, orange, and purple just before sunrise. The lake is illuminated in the peach light of the early morning, seemingly frozen in time while the cypress trees stand tall, silhouetted against the pastel sky. It's a peaceful yet powerful moment of serenity, one that refreshes and restores the viewer's spirit. I count myself lucky to have witnessed this scene, as I waded waist-deep in the waters with my camera and tripod to catch the first light on these cypresses in the swamp.

Offered as a limited edition of 100 prints. All Fine Art Limited Edition Prints will receive a signed certificate of authenticity with serial number, mailed separately.

Graduated Neutral Density Filters
Graduated Neutral Density Filters

Graduated neutral density filters are used to help balance a scene with two areas of differing brightness. As you can see on the left, half of the filter is dark, while the other half is clear, and there is a gradual transition between the two areas. There are soft, medium, and hard transitions, and even reverse grads, where the middle is darkest, depending on the scene and the look you're going for. I find the soft grads tend to be most useful, as they tend not to be obvious. Hard grads and reverse graduated neutral density filters can be easy to spot at times, especially if their placement isn't just right.

These filters are useful when the sky is brighter than the foreground, such as at sunrise or sunset, but can be used in other ways as well, so it's best to keep an open mind for situations where their helpfulness might not be obvious. In "Cypress Symmetry" above, I used a 3-stop soft edge graduated neutral density filter to help keep the sky from being much brighter than the water.

Waves crash over a rocky shoreline at sunrise on Georgetown Island, Maine.
Daybreak

The Atlantic Ocean's relentless pounding of the rocky shoreline contrasts beautifully with the fiery sky, alight with a warm red hue that reflects off the ocean water. The sun, quickly approaching from below the horizon, casts a crimson light over the sky and ocean in this scene that perfectly captures the rugged beauty of Maine's midcoast.


"Daybreak" above, is an example where I was able to use a reverse graduated neutral density filter. With the sun just below the horizon, the brightest spot was right in the middle of the scene, so I placed the middle of the reverse grad on the horizon, to darken that area, and then the density fades as it goes up in the image. The result is that I was able to show more detail in the foreground rocks, which are dark to begin with, because the sky was now not as bright as it would be without the filter.

A sunset over the badlands in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.
Clearing Storm in the Badlands

Limited Edition

The setting sun shines brilliantly through the dispersing clouds from a summer thunderstorm in the badlands of North Dakota at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The lush green grasses are kissed by the warm glow of the sun, while the otherworldly rock formations, their details expertly captured, create a play between light and shadow that invites the viewer to explore more closely.

Offered as a 100-print Limited Edition. A Certificate of Authenticity is included with all limited edition print purchases, and will be sent separately.


I made similar use of a reverse graduated neutral density filter for "Clearing Storm in the Badlands" above. The setting sun against the foreground ridges was especially high contrast. Without the filter, I would either lose detail in the sky, assuming I properly exposed the foreground, or the ridges in the foreground would have been too dark if I had properly exposed the sky. Using a reverse graduated neutral density filter allowed me to properly expose for both.

Sunset at a one-room schoolhouse in Kansas.
Day's End at the Schoolhouse

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The sun sets behind Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse near Strong, Kansas, in Tall Grasses Prairie Preserve.

Fine Art Limited Edition of 100 prints.


You might have noticed, but basically, if anything crosses the horizon line between the foreground and background, I use a soft-edge graduated neutral density filter, because the transition is so gradual that it isn't seen. If I use a hard edge or a reverse grad on a shot like "Day's End at the Schoolhouse", you'd see the hard line across the school building. If I have a clear horizon with nothing crossing it, I can use a hard edge or reverse grad.

That's my use of filters in a nutshell, in the simplest way I can explain. There are other ways to achieve similar results for most of these, especially for the graduated neutral density filters. Because the grads only affect a portion of the image, some photographers will take two images of different exposures and blend them together. On occasion I do that as well, but the issue with that approach is that if anything changes between exposures, if the camera moves slightly, or if something in the scene moves, it can be more difficult to blend. I prefer to get it in one shot if at all possible, as there's less that can go wrong.

I believe my approach works well for me, given that there are very few photos in my galleries that weren't taken with some sort of filter. But every photographer has to choose a way of working that suits them best.