Whether you are a professional or hobby photographer, chances are you have come across a lovely, scenic landscape that compelled you to take a photograph.
Unless you are an experienced landscape photographer, there is a likely chance that the color in that image was not as balanced or saturated as expected.
That is because there is a wide disparity in the dynamic range between the background and foreground of landscapes, as well as between the lower (earth) and the upper (sky) halves of the frame.
The good news is you can overcome this hurdle with the use of a circular polarising filter or neutral density filter. However, there is a world of difference between these two filters.
What Is A Filter?
A camera filter is essentially a piece of plastic or glass designed to fit in front of the lens. Filters vary from colored to clear glass, to those that actually distort the image. The purpose of the filter is to create a special effect or protect the lens from scratches.
While there are many types of filters, a neutral density filter, and circular polarising filter are widely used in photography. They are similar in many respects, but there exists a range of differences between them.
What Are The Differences Between Both Filters?
Polarising Filters
A polarising filter is just like a color filter for the lens of your camera. You can use the filter to block light from a particular direction.
This can give a boost to color saturation and contrast, which in turn makes dull objects look more vivid. If you have ever seen pictures of striking clouds and deep blue skies, there are high chances that the photographer used a circular polarising filter.
By minimizing the overall exposure, you can darken the image, adding clarity and density to the scene.
These filters reduce reflections and glare on non-metallic surfaces such as rocks or water, or while shooting through glasses. They could also get rid of shine on foliage and make the water appear transparent.
Polarising filters produce amazing results when you shoot at a 90-degree angle to the sun. However, these filters don’t go well with wide angle lenses because these lenses collect light from different directions and polarising filters remove light polarised in a particular direction.
This could result in uneven light distribution in a picture such as the sky looking darker in certain parts than others.
Neutral Density (ND) Filters
A Neutral density filter does not have any impact on the color of the image, but it is best at blocking light. This transparent filter minimizes light exposure getting into the camera lens.
This lets you shoot using longer exposures and wide apertures without overexposing the image in brighter conditions. You are in full control over how much light you wish to block from the lens with different filter densities or strengths.
As a photographer, you will find the ND filter really useful in achieving a well-balanced exposure between the background and foreground of the image.
In bright light, this filter will produce a shallow depth of field by minimizing the light exposure with a wide aperture. This will avoid the scene from overexposing, and the end result is a clean and pristine image.
A neutral density filter could be useful in slowing down a scene with slow shutter speeds so that you could introduce a sense of movement to clouds and water. Such an option can make your images lively like videos and rejuvenate your photography.
If you have seen pictures of waterfalls or bodies of water with an intriguing, smooth, silky, blurred effect, odds are high that the Neutral density filter was used for shooting those images.
This filter is also helpful in shooting moving objects such as vehicles or people appearing blurred for conveying surreal motion.
How These Filters Fare When It Comes To Color
A circular polarising filter enhances the overall color vibrancy. It reduces reflections and glare when shooting images in bright sunlight.
The filter presents better contrast and color when photographing bodies of water or skies. It also minimizes glare when shooting pictures through glass.
A neutral density filter, on the other hand, allows the use of wider apertures without risking overexposure. It lets you use slower shutter speeds when you are picturing images in too much light.
The filter helps in capturing motion blur when you are shooting moving objects. Additionally, it reduces field depth in excessively bright ambient light. Above all, the filter lets you manage and attain a balanced exposure throughout the complete image.
Polarising filters are circular, tinted lenses that photographers use as color filters. However, they also assist in managing reflections. In simple words, the use of these filters gives you a handy option to add the much-needed color boost for photos.
Polarising filters save a lot of editing time. You can carry out editing when actually shooting the pictures. This can be really handy in pressing situations when you need to present appealing images in less time.
ND filters do not affect the image color, but they reduce image exposure by controlling the amount of light that touches your camera sensor.
In this way, they let you shoot with brighter apertures and carry out long exposure shots without incorrectly exposing any part of the picture.
These filters are ideal for shooting during the day when there is excessive light. They are also helpful for panning shots and/or shooting with shallow depth when reducing brightness of light is not possible.
Bottom Line
Polarising filters and neutral density filters have separate jobs in the world of photography. While a circular polarising filter is best at creating color effects, a neutral density filter is ideal for blocking out light for shooting amazing, natural images.
You can also stack them together to get the best of both filters. With the right application, these filters can do wonders and enhance your images, making them more realistic, vivid, richer in color or even surreal and arty.
However, you should learn the tricks of using both or each of these filters for creating quality and efficient photos that are not only perfect but also visually appealing.