Wildlife Photography across the Water: Filters-yes or no

Friday 24 June 2011

Filters-yes or no

I am involved in a very big discussion on linked-in about the use of UV/Skylight/protective filters.I do not use any of these on any of my lenses, I do use a ND Grad and Poloriser filters (Lee Filters) when its needed but as i have the very best in lens glass i cant really see the point in putting an inferior piece of glass on the front of it, I did use to use filters and these would be $100+ so good grade glass but in the end i just prefer the lens and nothing attached, There were a few times when i would get lens flare caused by the extra glass and sometimes thats unavoidable, I always use a lens hood even when shooting indoors and to me thats as good a protection as you can get, There is a tongue in cheek look at the effects of filters on lens rentals site, The main bit i would look at is towards the end where they have 5 filters stacked-even the good quality filters knock the IQ way down, Imagine the image divided by 5 and you will see that adding a filter still has an effect on an image, My camera gear is insured so if it does get damaged in any way then i will claim, In all the years that i have been shooting i have never had to claim, The most important thing to me is image quality and for me that means less is best when it comes to glass

Dave

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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.