In article <4lln44$7ak@niflheim.rutgers.edu>, jjwright@niflheim.rutgers.edu says...

>I am curious to find some really good reading sources dealing with
>light and filters and black & white film. Anyone recommend any good
>books, articles, or web pages?
>I have been photographing black and white as a hobbyist for a year or
>so, and have been thinking of getting a yellow and a blue filter for
>my camera lens. [rest deleted]

With proper exposure and development, most B & W films will render
tones from open shadows to the sky quite nicely. Adding filters to further differentiate clouds from the sky tones can be useful. The orange filter is cheaper than most books on the subject, and will
work fine. (Light yellow filters are pretty useless in the Eastern
US, but they can be strong enough for the high country in the West
on clear days, though a dark yellow is more useful [though it is
still generally quite subtle in effect]. The red filter robs you of three stops of film speed, but produces a strong effect on clear
days, and a still noticeable effect when the sky has only a weak
blue. Green filters can be used with bright spring green folliage,
but are not very useful otherwise. Blue filters are rarely used in
B & W.) Be aware that your camera meter will probably not read the exposure correctly through the filter, the camera manual's statement
to the contrary notwithstanding. (Try lowering the ASA rating, or opening the aperture after metering, or setting the exposure compensation to + "X" to give:
- +1/2 stop for dark yellow
- +1 stop for orange
- +1 1/2 stops for red
difference from the camera meter reading, as a start.)
Hope This Helps