I have taken a lot of photos and I’m sure I will take many, many more, so I am always looking for new and different ways to get creative. Personally some of my favourite photos have an unexpected subject, unusual lighting, or an interesting use of colour. One of my go-to ways to add a little interest to my photos is by using effects filters. These can range from coloured filters over the lens or flash to curved or prism filters that distort the image.
I recently did a Halloween themed studio shoot (with Emil from shipping who absolutely nailed the lighting) and thought it was the perfect time to pull out some prism filters. I have a few different ones, and I especially think the parallel split-image one got the sort of trippy, ghost-like effect I was looking for. You can also achieve a similar effect by using mirrors, which when held parallel to your lens will mirror your subject across the frame.
Coloured filters, although originally designed to be used with black and white film, can add tons of extra saturation and interest to colour photos. They can be used either in front of the lens to give a wash of colour to the whole photo or over the flash to add colour to the subject of the photo. I personally love using filters or small gels on a flash, that is what I did to turn the tree green in the photo to the right and give the leaves and of the flowers a red tone in the cover image of this post.
A very tried-and-true effects filter is the star filter. Created by adding a small grid layer to a clear filter, the star filter will turn any small points of light into a star burst shape. I have a 4-point star filter but you can also get them in 6-point and 8-point to add more of the flare look to your highlights. Star filters have been a go-to for concert photographers for decades to add that extra something to photos of a sometimes boring stage. Following in the footsteps of many photographers before me, I almost always have one in my bag when shooting a show.
Special effects filters tend to go pretty quickly here at Beau but we almost always have something fun waiting to be used in the drawers at the front of the store. We have got a pretty big selection of coloured filters in just about every shade you could imagine, as well as a good number of diffusion and star filters. Come in, dig around, and see what fun new filters you can try out!
