Enhance Your Landscapes: Essential Filters for Landscape Photography
“Dawn of a New Day” | 3-Stop Reverse Graduated ND Filter
I know, I know, another boring, dry post about photography filters. But as someone who transitioned from film to digital and used more filters than an early Instagram post, I feel like I can speak knowledgeably on the subject. And as a workshop leader, I often get asked “What filters should I buy?”. I also work part-time at a large camera store and often see people buying filters they don’t need or know how to use. And while digital editing tools have advanced significantly, using physical filters remains indispensable for achieving certain effects directly in-camera. Whether you’re capturing serene seascapes, rugged mountain vistas, or an immersive abstract, the right filters can make a meaningful difference in your final images.
Understanding the Types of Filters
“Merced Rapids in Spring” | Circular Polarizer (CPL)
“Asilomar Morning” | 6-Stop (ND64) Neutral Density (ND) Filter
Filters for landscape photography come in various types, each serving a specific purpose. Below is a list of common filters with my thoughts on each:
1. Circular Polarizing Filter: This filter enhances colors and reduces reflections, particularly useful for saturating skies and managing glare from wet surfaces and foliage. These are difficult if not impossible to mimic with software and therefore should be in every landscape photographer’s bag (or better yet on their lens). They work best 90 degrees to the sun so you won’t see much of an effect with the sun directly in front of you or behind. Note: wide angle lenses see such a broad angle of view that if you have large portions of blue sky, uneven polarization will occur which can be challenging to make look natural. Be mindful of this. Also, CPLs tend to block about 3 stops of light. This is normal, but higher quality filters tend to reduce less light, up to 2/3-1 full stop more light can get through. This makes high end filters more useful in low light situations. Keep this knowledge in mind next time you need to darken your scene as well. While ND filters are most often used when wanting a slower shutter speed, a CPL can also work.
Buying Tip: These are most commonly found as stand alone circular filters. You can also find them incorporated into a system with a holder for square NDs and rectangular GNDs. If you go the stand alone route, consider getting one that is as large or larger than your biggest filter thread, so 77mm or 82mm. Get stepping rings to adapter down to your smaller 72mm, 67mm, etc. lenses.
2. Neutral Density (ND) Filter: ND filters reduce the amount of light entering the lens without affecting color (thus the work neutral), allowing for longer exposures even in bright conditions. Low grade filters will, however, not be so neutral and will introduce a color cast which will need to be corrected in post-processing. ND filters are essential for capturing motion blur in waterfalls, waves, or smoothing out clouds. They can also help get you into the “zone” of shutter speeds needed for ICM (Intentional Camera Movement). Popular strengths to get are 3-stop, 5 or 6-stop, and 9 or 10-stop. I use a 6-stop 90% of the time I need an ND. Variable NDs, or VNDs, are also an option. They can range from 1-5 stops, 2-9 stops, etc. While convenient, VNDs are often thicker filters and will obstruct your field of view on wide angle lenses. NiSi’s Swift VND system help reduce this by flaring the filter outward and using a larger size piece of glass to give more clearance. They also offer kits with an add-on press fit 4-stop ND so the variable 1-5 stop can then be expanded to 9-stops.
Buying Tip: Like CPLs, NDs and VNDs come in circular sizes. NDs can also be found as square glass filters intended to be in a holder. You can purchase one holder and it can often fit 2-3 square filters which will work on most of your lenses, thereby eliminating the need to buy multiple different sized filters of the same strength. Holders are bulkier though, so there is a trade off.
3. Graduated Neutral Density (GND) Filter: GND filters darken part of an image to help balance exposure between, for example, a bright sky and dark foreground. They come in different strengths and transitions (hard or soft edge) to suit various landscapes. I started my filter journey using these extensively before HDR software existed in a meaningful way and before I knew how to manually merge bracketed exposures. After many lost, damaged, and broken filters, these are less a part of my personal filter collection. However, if you want to get the perfect exposure in-camera with a single click with less editing on the computer, having a GND or two can be useful. I prefer 3-stop (ND8) GND filters as a start. A soft to medium soft transition works best for wide angle to mid-range focal lengths while a hard edge works best for telephoto shots. On a budget? Just get the filter and hand hold in front of your lens with minimal space between the filter and the front of the lens. Most of these filters are made of resin and while that means they are less likely to break when dropped (compared to glass), they are more prone to scratches. TIP: grab a fat rubber band and put it on your lens so it extends just a little past the edge. When you hand hold your GND, the rubber protects the filter from getting scratched.
Buying Tip: GNDs can be found in both circular and rectangular styles. Circular filters, while small and convenient for their size, arbitrarily put the transition from dark to clear in the center. Rarely do I compose with the horizon in the center. With a rectangular GND, whether handheld or in a holder, you can adjust where the transition is to where your horizon is in your composition.
4. UV Filter: Primarily used for protection, UV filters can also slightly reduce haze and improve clarity in certain conditions (film shooters). But UV filters can sometimes add a slight color cast and I’ve even seen a poor filter affect auto focus performance. If you want the peace of mind of having the front of your lens protected, a general rule is to spend no more than 10% of the value of the lens you are protecting. There’s just no need to put a $100 filter on a $300 lens. That’s just silly. I see more and more protection filters, so consider them as well. They don’t have the UV filtration, and therefore no color cast.
Practical Tips for Using Filters
“The Golden Coast” | Circular Polarizer (CPL)
“Fjords of Iceland” | 10-Stop (ND1000) Neutral Density (ND) Filter
Preparation: Plan your shoot and anticipate the lighting conditions to determine which filters will be most effective. Heading somewhere with water like the beach or a waterfall? Grab a CPL and ND filter to better control reflective highlights and shutter speeds. Will there be wildflowers or perhaps fall foliage? Definitely use a CPL to reduce the sheen and bring our more vivid colors. Are you expecting clouds or plan on doing ICM? NDs all the way.
Experiment: Don’t hesitate to experiment with different combinations of filters to achieve unique effects. For instance, combining an ND filter with a polarizer can yield stunning results. I personally find myself using the NiSi 6-stop (ND64) with CPL combo filter.
Adjust for Light: I mentioned before, but CPLs can reduce up to three stops of light. If conditions are already “light starved” like golden hour or in the forest, you may need to boost your ISO to continue hand holding or better yet, grab your tripod. Strong ND filters like a 6-stop reduce light by roughly a factor of 60. At 1/60 sec without the filter? then you will be at one full second with it. At 1″ without the filter, now you’ll be at 60″ or one minute with it. A 10-stop ND is roughly a factor of 1000. So the math plays out that if you are at 1/100 sec without the filter, you’d be at 10 seconds with it. Apps such as PhotoPills have exposure calculators which can get you started until the math makes more sense.
Care: Keep your filters clean and protected to avoid scratches or smudges that can affect image quality. I always have microfiber cloths, kim wipes, and cleaning fluid in my bag. A rocket air blower can also remove dust, debris, and even water droplets that have clung to my filters.
“The Forgotten Coast” | 4-Stop GND & 6-stop ND
I hope this article can be found useful since I find filters are indispensable tools in landscape photography. By controlling light and its characteristics, filters can reveal an entirely new world to both the photographer and the viewer. Understanding the types of filters available and how they affect your images will greatly expand your creative possibilities. Feel free to add any advice or tips to the comments below. Until next time!
Best,
Jim Patterson
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!
Great article on filters Jim. Coming from film also to digital also, I have always felt filters were essential, to get the image right in the camera. Digital has been much easier to bracket and blend in Photoshop. We are in Zion right now. I was waiting for the sun to illuminate the peaks. An instructor came to the same area I was with his two students. I heard him say, no one needs filters anymore. Everything can be achieved without them. I said nothing. But knew he was not correct. Filters are just another tool we can use to achieve some cool results. You explained it well. 😉
Thanks Jeanne! I’m more willing now to bite my tongue if I hear such inaccuracies, but I might still say something. 😁 Indeed, some filters have been replaced, and some can be poorly mimicked in post, but others have yet to be made obsolete. Olympus / OM System cameras have a simulated ND. It’s ok, bit I can see with improvements, it could possibly replace NDs.
Best,
Jim