The sun was out all day and there was a pretty nice moody sky. Sadly from the side window, a lot of that was missed but with a Tripod, I was able to set up a small test composition for the purpose of testing the effects of coloured filters with black & white photography.
All of the following shots were taken at F/8, ISO 100 and 1/5th sec with an exposure bias of +1 to make it a fair test. No increase of contrast was used. I should also note that while it shouldn't be, quality is degraded during the computer to internet transition.
The first shot was taken using the Blue Filter. Because of this being the darkest colour, everything appears dark as a result. I do feel that it makes the setting look more moody but at the same time, can turn a bright sunny day into a boring Sunday afternoon. One thing that does seem to stand out more are the sheep.
The next was using the Green Filter. In this one, everything is a light brighter but at the same time, most areas seem to take on "near" tones with each other. This to me lacks contrast but I think it works well for bringing out features that are otherwise overpowered by green (for example, the tree trunks)
The following is with the Orange Filter. I think in relation to the Green, it's a little darker but also with less contrast. The same cannot be said however for the grass that is further away, which appears to be somewhat lighter. While there isn't a huge difference between the two, the thing that stands out most is the light hitting the branches on the trees, which are clearly more defined.
The next is with the Yellow Filter. This one seems to be a little bit more balanced. The grass is similar in tone, whereas the darker areas remain dark. The lighter colours seem to have been almost drowned out and are harder to separate with the surrounding colours.
Finally, is the Red Filter. The first thing that strikes me with this is how the edge of the clouds has become quite sharp. This didn't make much sense to me so I did actually take another shot to see if it was random, it wasn't. I can't really explain why that would happen but I'm guessing it has something to do with flattening the tones in the sky into one. That seems to be true for the rest of the image in certain areas. The grass looks quite flat and darker tones appear to be more gray and have less contrast. I think a secondary test needs to happen sometime, maybe on a MUCH brighter day.
I think to most people, all of these images will probably look the same and the "why bother?" question may arise. I think it's important to get the exact sort of contrast in an image, without having to depend on later techniques. In todays age of post-processing and RAW images, filters become less useful because any effect they give can be replicated digitally and more often than not, better. For Film Photography, I think they are crucial because apart from editing exposure, you can't really do physically what Photoshop or Lightroom can do digitally.
Here is a comparison of all the different filters side by side, to show just how much of a difference it makes.
Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow and Red.
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