Digital Camera Filters

Digital camera filters can be used to affect the look of your pictures. There are a few different types of filters you can use as digital camera accessories. Many white balance filters aren't necessary any longer because you can adjust your white balance on your camera, but other types of filters are very useful with digital photography. Here are some filters you can use.

Polarizing Filters

Polarizing filters are great to use in nature photography. They cut out a lot of the reflection that naturally occurs to give you clearer pictures. There are water droplets in the atmosphere that will reflect sunlight causing the sky to look white in your picture. The filter will help the skies in your picture look closer to what you see with your physical eye.

It is also good for improving your pictures of water. The filter will cut through the reflective surface of the water so you can capture more details both on and below the surface.

Polarizing filters also improve the color of most other objects in your pictures simply by cutting down on reflection.

These filters can't be used on wide angle lenses though. When using a polarizing filter don't use it on a lens wider than 28mm.

Neutral Density Filters

Neutral density filters are used like sunglasses to filter some of the light out of a scene. Use these filters to allow for larger apertures and longer exposure times in brightly lit situations. These filters are useful when you are trying to use motion blur effects in bright situations for example.

There are also graduated neutral density filters that allow you to get rid of excess contrast in pictures in a way that you normal couldn't. These filters are most commonly used to record detail in a brightly lit background while simultaneously recording detail in a dark or shadowy foreground.

Infrared Filters

These digital camera filters filter out other light and allow only infrared light to enter your camera. They can provide you with interesting effects in your pictures. Find out more about these filters by reading Digital Infrared Photography.