Photography: filters

2. Filters:
 Filters are coloured glass, gelatine or plastic disks, which modify the light passing through them,
mainly in terms of colour/tone content. They can be used both at the camera and printing stage to
correct or alter the appearance of the final photograph.
 Attached to each enlarger in the darkroom there is a set of filters ranging from 0 to 5.
 These filters can be used to alter the amount of black, white and greys in your print.
 Filter 5 will produce an image that is predominantly pure black and white with little or no greys. This
produces a very dramatic and striking image but can ‘bleach out’ areas of detail. (High Contrast)
 Filter 0 will produce an image that is predominantly a wide range of greys, with little or no pure black
or white. (Low Contrast)
 As you move up the range of filters from 0 to 5 so the ratio of black and white to grey will increase.
 One of the best ways to see the effect of the filters is to produce the same print several times, but
using a range of filters.
NB: Each time that you change a filter, you must do another
test strip.

3. Tonal Range:
FILTER:
0 1 2 3 4 5
Black
Greys
White

4. Examples:
low contrast high contrast

5. Make notes:
o In your sketchbook record what you have
learnt so far:
What are filters?
How do you use them?
o Add some pictures to your sketchbook that
show examples of different effects.
o Show examples of your own work using
filters – REMEMBER: You will need to do a
new test strip if you add or change a filter.

6. Make notes:
o In your sketchbook record what you have
learnt so far:
What are filters?
How do you use them?
o Add some pictures to your sketchbook that
show examples of different effects.
o Show examples of your own work using
filters – REMEMBER: You will need to do a
new test strip if you add or change a filter.