Who uses yellow filters and what for ?

[Bertram2]

Hi to all,

I'd be interested to learn who of you use often yellow filters, which type and for what effect ?
Lately I read here at RFF that someone has mounted the light yellow mounted permanently for all B&W work, similar to others who have a UV filter permanently mounted as a front element protection

Another friend told me he uses yellow always for snow but could not explain clearly why .

Up 'til today my knowledge of a proper use of yellow filters is quite poor, sometimes I use it to get more and clearer clouds at the sky but mostly the filters rest in peace somewhere in the bag.

Thanks for all opinions and advices !

Best regards,
Berram

 

[rover]

Yellow on my lenses for all B&W except when I need the speed. K2 which requires a 1 stop exposure compensation. It bumps the contrast just a little and supposedly renders the scene closer to the way the human eye sees it. Remember, in B&W, the film sees all colors of the same tone as the same shade of grey. By adding a colored filter it shifts the tones of the different colors slightly and they will be rendered slightly differnet on the film.

 

[back alley]

i used to keep a yellow filter on each lens, all the time.

recently i have taken them all of and now use only a lens hood with no filter.

the idea of the yellow filter is to increase the contrast of black & white film to about what the eye sees.
orange will increase the contrast further and then red further still.

each filter has a filter factor which decreases the amount of light hitting the film, thus slowing your film speed.

i have not come to any solid conclusions yet but i am not missing the yellow filter and it's effect so far.

joe

 

[vladhed]

The yellow, orange and red filters are good at making the sky look more dramatic by darkening the blue parts in contrast with the clouds and snow (for example). I also use them as not-so-neutral density filters to enable less DOF in daylight with iso 400 film, which is pretty much all I shoot.

 

[peter_n]

It may have been a post by me that described a 50mm lens with a permanent light yellow filter. As rover says, it improves contrast in most situations. I also use green, for contrast plus good skin tones, and red for really dramatic contrast - deep blue skies with clouds for example.

 

[richard_l]

A yellow filter passes yellow light but tends to block blue light, which is complementary to yellow. The effect on other colors depends on how close they are to yellow or blue on the color circle. This blocking of blue is not always desirable because it can obscure shadow detail, since shadows are illuminated by blue wavelengths from the sky. A yellow filter will have little or no effect on landscapes when the sky is overcast. Etc., etc.

 

[Bertram2]

i used to keep a yellow filter on each lens, all the time.

recently i have taken them all of and now use only a lens hood with no filter.

joe

Joe,
what made you deciding to do so. ? Didn't you notice a clear effect or did you get too contrasty pics sometimes ?

Best,
Bertram

 

[Bertram2]

This blocking of blue is not always desirable because it can obscure shadow detail, since shadows are illuminated by blue wavelengths from the sky. .

Richard,
Did not know that, very interesting ! Thanks for that detailed explanation !
Best,
Bertram

 

[Bertram2]

The yellow, orange and red filters are good at making the sky look more dramatic by darkening the blue parts in contrast with the clouds and snow (for example). I also use them as not-so-neutral density filters to enable less DOF in daylight with iso 400 film, which is pretty much all I shoot.

As ND ? New idea ! As I understand the answers one must be careful with yellow because of this increase of contrast. If I use a contrasty Film (C41 B&W) AND a contrasty lens ( all of the CVs are contrasty) it could get too much. As Richard pointed out aloss of shadow detail can happen. I think it's time for some experiments !
Thanks,
Bertram

 

[richard_l]

In order not to get too much contrast, I like light yellow filters. At least they usually do no more harm than good. Of course, for a more classical low contrast look, toss the filter.

A yellow or orange filter is great for snow scenes, since it deepens the shadows, which enhances the little peaks and valleys in the snow. However, as always, these filters have no effect on an overcast day other than attenuating the light just like neutral density filters.

There is no reason to avoid yellow filters for fear that they may compromise the naturalness of a scene. For example, Tri-X is extremely sensitive to blue light. An appropriate yellow filter will reduce the tendency of the film to render the sky white, and the values of all the colors (rendered in gray on the film) will more closely approximate the values perceived by the human eye.

Richard

 

[reellis67]

I use a light yellow filter about 50% of the time, especially on bright, sunny days.

Richard

By light, do you mean a #8 or #12? I am currious because I have only used the #12, which I would consider the 'standard' yellow if you can have such a thing, and would like to know if there is really that much difference between the 8, 12, and 15 yellows.

- Randy

 

[richard_l]

By light, do you mean a #8 or #12? I am currious because I have only used the #12, which I would consider the 'standard' yellow if you can have such a thing, and would like to know if there is really that much difference between the 8, 12, and 15 yellows.

- Randy

It's about a #8, cuts the light by about 1/2 stop. I can't tell much difference between it and a medium yellow (#12) except #12 makes the sky a bit darker. On the hazy days we get so often here on the east coast, neither a #12 nor a #8 is going to have much effect. Instead of a #15 yellow, I use a yellow-orange. It's fun but can be unpredictable.

 

[back alley]

Joe,
what made you deciding to do so. ? Didn't you notice a clear effect or did you get too contrasty pics sometimes ?

Best,
Bertram

it was curiosity.
i have used yellow filters for so long that i did not remember what it was like without them.
i want to try some different films and make new judgements.

plus, i think i am starting to prefer low contrast a bit more than i used to.
most of my canon lenses are older and lower in contrast.

joe

 

[Russ]

I almost always have a deep yellow (#15) on my rig, when shooting B/W. I like the added contrast in the sky, and it's great for flesh tones, in outdoor lighting or when using flash, for portraiture. Especially when using the lower contrast C-41 chromogenic B/W films.

Russ

 

[Bertram2]

.
There is no reason to avoid yellow filters for fear that they may compromise the naturalness of a scene. For example, Tri-X is extremely sensitive to blue light. An appropriate yellow filter will reduce the tendency of the film to render the sky white, and the values of all the colors (rendered in gray on the film) will more closely approximate the values perceived by the human eye.
Richard

Thichard,
Thanks ! An important Info for my wife, she's starting a B&W project soon with Tri-X !
Did not know that this film is especially sensitive to blue, I often felt bothered by white skies indeed.

Best,
Bertram

 

[Bertram2]

plus, i think i am starting to prefer low contrast a bit more than i used to.
most of my canon lenses are older and lower in contrast.
joe

Joe,
I think there is a growing common interest in the RF community in less contrasty photos. As I am told the japanese retro shooters are ALL interested in this style and the interest still grows. The CV 1.4/40 SC lens is pointing in this direction and it is said that the new ZI lenses tend to a reduced contrast too compared to the Leica footprint !
As so often it seems technical progress is not necessarily producing better results, the lpmm-hype did not lead us into paradise 🙄
I got still my fathers Cord pre WWII , shooting Tri-X with that Carl Zeiss Triotar produces photos which are of course not comparable with a modern Camera, but it brings back he magic vibes of my childhood . Maybe this is the reason there is a growing desire for a softer look ! 🙂

Best,
Bertram

 

[jdos2]

Silver salts are inherently sensitive to blue. That's how they work. All pan or ortho sensitivity is done using a dye sensitization technique, but at no other color than that represented by 3ev (+- a bit, and I mean "electron volts," not "exposure value") are silver salts very sensitive.
Kodak High Speed Infrared requres a filter to get rid of blue light, as that film is sensitive there. Pictures without a filter with that film look much more normal.

Color films deal with this problem in different ways- as the red sensitive (magenta) layer will "wrap" if careful filtering or other techniques aren't used, and reds might look brighter if there's lots of blue light about...

Yellow filters, green filters, orange (personal favorite) and red all reduce the amount of blue light hitting the film, with several side effects generally considered "good," like reduced haze showing up on the film (haze is pretty blue) and a reduction in overexposure caused by the sky, with an effect getting stronger as the filtering moves to the red end of the spectrum. Ansel Adams loved his dark red Wratten filters, and his strongly darkened skys are a result of this filtering.

Blue filters, or blue sensitive emulsions are interesting for a number of reasons, though. They provide a vintage look to photography, completely white skys, and strong (read: "sometimes unusual") luminance effects on clothing and skin. Most blemishes in skin are red reflective, sadly, meaning that a blue filter or blue sensitive film will render greater contrast. Daguerreotypes were considered unflattering for that reason, that any flaw, any blemish showed in the highly polished silver.

 

[Bertram2]

and red all reduce the amount of blue light hitting the film, with several side effects generally considered "good," like reduced haze showing up on the film (haze is pretty blue) .

Makes me understand now why yellow filters are said to make a clearer look in general, shooting at high noon in summer, did not know that haze is a blueish light ! Thanks for this input, a lot of knowledge and honest craft here on this superb list !! 🙂
Best,
Bertram

 

[kiev4a]

Orange also is my favorite. I shoot a lot out in the desert where there is a lot of sagebrush --grays,light gree and brown tones. The yellow filter isn't quite enough. The orange puts some snap into photos.

 

[Doug]

I rather like orange, too, but it does seriously darken shadow detail. I chose an orange for the RFF monthly picture topic "shadows" to make them stand out all the more... samples below -- One with sky, and one with an orange peel on sand; note how light the orange peel turned out!

I've been trying a new yellow-green today, out in the desert sagebrush, so it'll be interesting to see how it comes out...