[Leica] Question---Filters for B/W

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

On 4/14/05 10:41 AM, "Scott McLoughlin" <scott@adrenaline.com> typed:

> Yellow-green has become my standard B&W filter, although in
> some filter sizes I still only have a medium yellow.  Y-G is a good
> general all-around effect, IMHO.
> 
> Scott
> 
> Didier Ludwig wrote:
> 
Perhaps it is good you mentioned what film you are using although it's rare
I think of black and white filtration as a film specific thing so much. They
give you a sheet with each film or you now you download the pdq as to how
that film specifically relates to filters but that stuff can just drive you
crazy and I tend to ignore it. They are all pretty close to each other
mostly.
That said the C41 monochrome films seen to have a built in yellow green
filter in them. Plenty of tone in the sky. I can leave mine off.
Shoot bare naked glass. It's very refreshing.
A big new trend in cinematography I hear. Really.
Tri x benefits even more from the use of a yellow-green filter as it's kind
of red sensitive.
Yellow-green is said to restore true panchromatiosity to the film.
(don't bother trying to look that one up)
Which says its panchromatic.
But ain't.

PANCHROMATIC means the film sees all the colors equally. Or the way you'd
think they'd see them as translated to grays. While most films are very
blue, cyan or UV sensitive. And slightly red insensitive.
Making for skies which block up quickly going dead white unless you expose
for them.
Placing them at zone VII or VI even.
But the yellow-green cuts though the phlegm. Making those little wispy
clouds in the horizon come out. And so on.
A black and white print with no tone in the sky is a wash out.
You need at least tone. If not a hint of texture. (clouds I'd think for the
most part but whatever's up there)

About the only filters which you can use when those pesky people creep into
the shot are the yellow green.
Light green.
Green I guess.
Ok dark green (it's hard to be green)
And that's it.
Anything else is death. Or near death.

Yellow despite what many will say (and do) you can't just leave on your lens
like a UV filter which does something. It makes for real pasty skin tones.
Almost like when you are shooting indoors with tungsten light but not quite
as bad. As there is no magenta in it.

So you need that green the the mix to make it yellow green (B+W 060)
I sure got that number memorized.

Oh and a polarizer is also ok for skin tones as well as skies and works nice
if you ever happen to have color film in your camera. Or a charge coupled
device.

The rest of the filters I think of as what they do to the sky.
How cutting and contrasting an effect you want.

Green and dark green have the advantage of not only cutting through all that
UV phlegm in the sky quite a nice bit not not darkening the foliage like all
the other filters would. Which is a bad thing.
Lightening the foliage works out so it's usually good.
It's my first reach for landscapes.
Dark green is always an option for even more of an effect. Which really does
not look like an "effect".
And you can be the only one on your block using one.
You usually have to order them and wait.
But such a thing (any filtration at all) really makes the negs easier to
print. 
And gets people thinking you're the new Ansel Adams if your shooting a
landscape and maybe your neg. is bigger than 35mm.
No filtration at all and my such prints never come close.
Don't know what it is.

Red
Is the biggest cutting effect for the sky.
Bringing out texture (clouds) you didn't dream were there.
Almost as much of a nice surprise as using IR film.
Which you need a red filter with anyway.
If not a dark red. Which is also very nice with normal film.
Red makes foliage go black.
This can look real bad real quick.
Unless you like the backdrop of the Mona Lisa. Which looks like the moon.
So you  want it to be mainly a sky oriented shot or a shot where the trees
are way off in the distance so they look less weird black.

If pesky people types creep into the shot their lips will be white.
Like that Linda Ronstat album cover in which I'm sure was done with a red.
Maybe she had zits that week. Zits look great white. It's better than
Clearasil.

Orange is for slightly less of an effect than red.
And all the other quirks apply.

Yellow and dark yellow is for slightly less of an effect than Orange.
But does not screw up the foliage quite as bad. Just the shadows next to
them.
The shadows next to rocks tend to be cyan blue and this filter sucks the
juice right out of them. Making for what looks like an underexposed shot.
As your not getting the detail in those shadows that you'd expect to see and
had planned for.
The filter thinks anything cyan blue is the sky and darkens them.
Even if they are nice shadows you want to see into.
So while yellow might seem nice only absorbing a stop or less it has less
use than it might seem.
And as I said make people looks like "Will the real Martian please stand
up".

In the Ansel Adams photo series he talks about using a blue to make stuff
look further away.
Right.
I've experienced with using a cooling filter with black and white and it
makes for neg. which needs Agfa Brovira #6 which they don't make any more no
matter how long you soup it.
I doubt Ansel really used a blue filter for his black and white.
He claimed there as one shot and showed it in the book.
It's not one I think they ever put on one of his calendars or postcards.
Forget blue. Or cooling filters for black and white.
They are death.


Mark Rabiner
Photography
Portland Oregon
http://rabinergroup.com/