Posted by David Ruether
In Reply to: Will be shooting Fall Foliage in mountains this weekend-can anyone give suggestions (filters, settings,etc.) to get best results? <7413.html> posted by Jeff on October 18, 2000 at 07:42:12:
: I'll be shooting brilliant foliage and sunrises in the mountains this weekend and wondered if anyone could give me tips on filters, settings etc. that would give best results? Thanks in advance.
If possible, try to use a middle-small stop (f5.6-f11) for best sharpness with the fine detail of distant foliage (video is least able of all the common media to render fine landscape detail well...). When possible, including nearby colorful foliage in the frame helps to overcome video's sharpness shortcomings. Do not overexpose (pure reds and yellows tend to bloom, with resultant lower contrast and detail, so slight underexposure can help sharpness). Filters that may be useful: circular polarizer (helps saturate colors with some sun angles, or enables viewing below water surfaces), 81A warming filter (with daylight white balance selected, otherwise AWB will cancel the color shift), "enhancing" filter (also with DWB used) - these can increase color saturation of some colors, but should be used with care, unless you like obviously-exaggerated effects...;-)
With sunsets, a neutral-density filter can help to reduce the star point lengths (if desired) and the vertical streaking of the bright sun by allowing a wider lens stop to be used. Hiding the sun behind foliage, with just enough revealed to produce a small "star" effect can be useful, especially with motion (the "star" blinks on and off as it moves across the foliage).
With good technique, though, none of the filters listed above is necessary for good fall-foliage video - simply watching for good cross/back-lighting can result in intense (and natural-looking) fall color.
More...:
Don't be afraid of cloudy, or even rainy weather - some of the best fall color is seen under these conditions. And, don't forget the ground - close-ups of leaves, dying weeds, etc. (especially when wet) can produce beautiful video footage. Another useful accessory: a close-up lens (or a two-element "achromat") can allow you to shoot extreme close-ups when the lens is zoomed toward the tele end - this is almost guaranteed to get you good footage (assuming you can keep things in reasonable focus much of the time...) of small fall-color details, insects/water-droplets on leaves, etc.).