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Re: [OM] Orange/Yellow filters

Subject: Re: [OM] Orange/Yellow filters
From: Winsor Crosby <wincros@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 23:13:49 -0700

Well . . . if they're true yellow and orange . . .
K1, K2, X1, X2, G, etc. (Wratten # 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, etc.) . . .
you are now the proud owner of filters intended for B/W film.

Other types that have yellowish or orangish appearance can be color balancing filters (e.g. 81A, 85 or 85B) to balance daylight to tungsten (type L) or cinema ("photolamp" type A) films.

Lighter yellow filters for B/W are generally used to cut down a B/W film's blue response for a more natural tonal rendition. Darker yellow, orange, and red are often used to darken blue sky to provide greater contrast with clouds, light colored buildings, snow, etc. Yellow has some effect, orange has more, and red has the most.

In general colored filters are used with B/W to provide tonal separation between one or more colors. Filter color is selected based on the colors for which separation is desired. It does require some thinking and some experience. Using a light yellow and doing portraits of people with blonde hair can make the hair appear too dark. Using a red and photographing a red barn can make the blue sky very dark, but the barn too pale. It takes some experimentation and experience to develop a skill for visualizing how various B/W filters will affect rendition of various colors on B/W film.

-- John


John,

Being a novice filter user something you said confused me. I understand why a red filter transmitting red light would make the barn too light, but why would a filter that transmits yellow make blonde hair dark especially when it lightens deciduous foliage which has a strong yellow component in the green?
--
Winsor Crosby
Long Beach, California

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