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Category: Camera Filters

Photography Question 

BetterPhoto Member
 

How to Shoot Landscapes and Seascapes


I live in Goa - a land of beaches. I need to know how to use my equipment to get best pictures of landsacpes and seascapes. I do not have any filters for my equipment - Nikon F3 & F90x.

Can you suggest which type of filters I need to keep?


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September 18, 2003

 

Leo Enriquez
  I believe that composing is the key to every single photo, a professional photographer has to know and apply always!...

I think the rule of the thirds have to be considered when taking landscapes of any type!

For filters at the beach I could say a circular polarizer to darken the skies; perhaps a type of a blue, orange or a sepia filter, like the ones from Cokin, that the shade of color gradually goes from top to bottom!


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September 18, 2003

 

Heather K. McFarland
  I agree with Leo... filters are not the first priority in getting great images. But... one more filter that may be useful for beach scenes would be a graduated neutral density filter. Look up some links on this type of filter on the net for how to use it.

But in a nutshell, it has a ND filter on half of the filter allowing you to place it over the sky or brighter portion of the image. Sometimes it is tough to exposure correctly for both the sky/water and shoreline at once and you could get blown out clouds or a too bright sky. A graduated ND will keep the brightness in the sky down allowing a more even exposure.

I probably didn't explain that very well, but you can find tons of info on graduated ND filters on the net.


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September 18, 2003

 

Brenda Tharp
  Heather did a good job of explaining ND filters 'in a nutshell'! They balance the ratio of light from sky to land/water and help slide film record more detail in both the hightlights and shadows. A 2-stop and a 3-stop filter would be good to have, along with a polarizing filter as was mentioned. Remember to not overpolarize some of the newest saturated films! It may look good to the eye, but these films will record a very deep blue sky that often doesn't look natural. I agree with the composition guidelines you received from other members, too - keep that horizon out of the middle of the frame unless you want exact symmetry.

Good luck, and send us up some pictures of Goa!


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September 20, 2003

 
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