I have never used filters for my B&W shots (other than graduated NDs and skylight) but I am doing more and more portraits outside and have been commissioned to shoot some this weekend. I have an N90S and will prob. use an 80-200 2.8 lens. I will shoot T-Max 400 (at 200). I have been told to use a yellow filter but my question is- which one and what does it do? Also- should I still use fill flash?

Thanks- Gail

-- gail green (gail.green@sba.gov), April 08, 1998

Answers

As usual, the advice is to try it out befoe using it "for real".

Panchromatic film doesn't have quite the same sensitivity to colour light as the human eye. A yellow filter corrects for this.

Yellow filters are often used in B&W to darken blue skies slightly. They will tend to lighten Caucassian skins slightly, and can be a little unkind, exagerating blemishes. They need an extra stop or two of exposure (but that will be taken care of if you use TTL metering.

I often use a yellow-green filter for the skies, and to lighten grass and other foliage. It's probably even less kind on skin tones.

There's no reason why you shouldn't use fill-in flash with a yellow filter.

-- Alan Gibson (gibson.al@mail.dec.com), April 09, 1998.