Filter question for B&W, jungle setting,etc. Here I go!

MyOwnPath · Jun 4, 2004

Hello again friends...

I leave in just 3 days for central america for a duration of 2 1/2 months, and oooh, I'm excited. Of course the camera comes along (I'm backpacking...the camera and lenses are about 15% of my pack, but ther'll be no sacrificing of weight there!).

I am from the United States, and have not been in Central America jungles before. I have experience with fairly low light situations, but the defracted light under jungle canopies and around ruins are unique I;m told.

I will be shooting mostly black and white; I'm taking a polarizing filter, a UV, orange, dark blue, an 81B warming filter (for color film), and a neutral density x 4 filter.

My question is, which of these are best for low light foliage and dense forest situations? I won't be able to develop while I'm on the road, so i won't even know if i screwed it all up till i get back!

Ah, it'll be nice, on top of a volcano, snapping markets and festivals in Guatemala and river trips in costa rica. Any ideas on spots to head would be welcome! Thanks so much!

oriecat · Jun 4, 2004

I can't help at all, but I just wanted to say have a great trip! It sounds wonderful and exciting. I am sure you will get lots of fabulous photographs. Good luck!!

graigdavis · Jun 4, 2004

About the only one of those that I would use when shooting B&W is the orange filter. All the rest may slow the shutter down too much if its going to be kinda dark under the shade. And if you can I guess I would use a polarizing filter for shooting color. Again, depends if its going to slow it down too much.

MyOwnPath · Jun 4, 2004

Also, would it be benificial in this situation to push my film speed?

How many stops would one adjust with an orange filter and polarizer together? Thanks

--Trav--

MyOwnPath · Jun 4, 2004

oriecat said:
I can't help at all, but I just wanted to say have a great trip! It sounds wonderful and exciting. I am sure you will get lots of fabulous photographs. Good luck!!

Thanks for the encouragement! And if y'all are reeeealy good and helpful, maybe I'll find a scanner and share some portfolio when I return.

Of course, after I develop all of my film and print everything out, I'll only be able to afford living in a cardboard box...with my cameras.

--Trav---

ksmattfish · Jun 4, 2004

Edit: whoops, did some sort owacky post. See original post below :lol:

ksmattfish · Jun 4, 2004

ksmattfish said:
A polarizer takes away 2 to 2.5 stops, and an orange is going to take away 1.5 to 2 stops of light.

I'd save both the pol and the orange for shooting in bright situations. Just use the UV or no filter when in the shade. With BW the pol will eliminate glare on water and foliage, and darken blue skies. The orange is going to increase contrast and darken greens and blues. In the trees it's already going to be a high contrast situation, and no need to make the shaded foliage any darker.

What kind of lenses do you have? Anything fast (f/2 or better)? If not consider picking up a fast prime lens, like a 50mm.

If you are going to be shooting hand-held I'd say ISO 400, and depending how dark it is in the forest, you may want to push it to 800.

oriecat · Jun 4, 2004

If you push some of them, make sure you mark it well on the canisters so you don't forget by the time you get home!!

MyOwnPath · Jun 4, 2004

ksmattfish said:
What kind of lenses do you have? Anything fast (f/2 or better)? If not consider picking up a fast prime lens, like a 50mm.

If you are going to be shooting hand-held I'd say ISO 400, and depending how dark it is in the forest, you may want to push it to 800.

I am taking along a 50mm, a 35-70 tele, and an 80-200 tele, as well as a 2x converter, in case I get into wildlife. It's a manual-auto Minolta SLR, but I never ever use the auto settings. They never even do what I want.

I have ISO 400 kodak b&w film and ISO 800 fuji color.

--Trav--

MyOwnPath · Jun 4, 2004

AND a wide angle screw in lens.

voodoocat · Jun 4, 2004

Bring a tripod and some Velvia slide film so you have some nice saturated fine grained shots from the trip. ISO800 color film is going to be pretty grainy.

terri · Jun 4, 2004

Gosh, this trip sounds so amazing!

You've been given some excellent advice here. All I would add is that if you really want to walk away from this trip with the highest-quality shots you can get, possibly for enlargement later, you WOULD do better to take the slowest film you can and just push it (marking it as such as Orie mentioned) to better avoid too much grain.

Have fun!! I'm totally jealous.

I hope you remember to show us your images when you get back!