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Any accessory used while taking a
photograph can enhance the final image; however, care must always be
taken to ensure the images produced are effective. One of the least
expensive and yet important accessories is a filter. Certain filters
improve the color saturation or enhance the sky or quality of water.
Before deciding on any filter, indeed any accessory, test it in similar
situations before using it for a specific shot.
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Color correction filters
Some camera manufacturers may have a natural bias towards results that
are too blue or green, giving an unwanted coldness to the photographs.
On the other hand, some may be too warm and the results will then tend
towards red or yellow. To correct these tendencies there is a huge
range of CC (color correction) filters; for most photographers one or
two color balancing filters will prove more than adequate.
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Polarizing filters
A polarizing filter is a useful accessory; not only will it enhance the
quality of the blueness of a sky, making any clouds stand out with
greater clarity, it can also be used to cut out unwanted reflections,
such as those in shop windows or on shiny tabletops.
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Exposure compensation
Since many filters cut down the amount of light passing through the
lens, compensation in exposure must be made. With cameras that have TTL
meters this will be done automatically, but for manually operated
cameras this must be taken into account before the final exposure is
made. This is quite easy as each filter comes with a number known as a
filter factor which indicates the amount of compensation required for
each exposure. For instance a filter factor of 1 requires one stop
increase in exposure.
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