# Filters for Night photography



## kalyankkumar (May 4, 2012)

Hi,

I want to shoot some long exposure photos of golden gate bridge at night .......I have filters Tiffen 77mm UV Protection Filter , Tiffen 77mm Circular Polarizer ...


Can i use any of these filters.....are there any separate filters for night photography?


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## Buckster (May 4, 2012)

What is it you think the filters will do you for you in that situation?  What is it you'd like a filter to do for you in that situation?


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## kalyankkumar (May 4, 2012)

Hi *Buckster* ....iam new to photography...are there any particular filters used for night photography....my knowledge is very basic...so iam looking for some suggestions​


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## Buckster (May 4, 2012)

Filters are used to achieve something.  There's no "night" filter that photogs slap on because they're taking a shot at night.  There's no "bridge at night" filter either.  

A polarizer's main job is to cut down reflections that the photographer would not want ruining their composition.  If you want to shoot through a window without seeing the reflections in that window, that would be a good place to use one.  If you want to shoot a photo of fish under the water, and don't want the reflection of the sky and clouds and sun on the water, that would be a good place to use one.  If you want to take a photo of a classic car and that shiny wax job is reflecting a lot of light like a mirror and you'd like to cut through that to see the paint job, that would be a good place to use one.

Now, what reflections do you expect to encounter from the GG bridge at night that would require a polarizer to cut through them?

Having shot that bridge at all hours of the day and night and from pretty much every angle, I'm going to say: None.

But let's say you want the bridge to be MORE orange than the International Orange it already is.  You COULD put a sunset filter over the lens.  Or maybe for some reason, you'd like the water to show up more blue, even though it's going to be pretty dark to begin with at night.  You COULD put a graduated blue filter over the lens where the water shows through to achieve that.  Or maybe you'd like the lights on the bridge to show a star pattern.  You COULD put a star pattern filter over the lens to achieve that look.  Or maybe you want just the top of the bridge to show up as a sort of magenta color.  You COULD put a graduated magenta filter in front of the lens so that the magenta color is at the top and colors the top of the bridge for you.  Or maybe you'd like the bridge and it's reflection to be about the same brightness.  Normally, the reflection will be less bright.  You COULD put a graduated neutral density filter over the top half of the lens to cut down the light intensity of the bridge itself, while leaving the reflection as bright as normal.

The POINT is that you have to decide BEFORE you shoot: WHAT is it you want to achieve with your photo?  What do you want it to look like?  THEN you can decide if you want or need some sort of filter to help you make that happen.

Here's a photo I shot from Baker Beach with a whole bunch of filters in front of the lens in order to achieve a particular look:







Here's another I shot with no filters on the camera at all, preferring to color filter it later in post processing:






I would say, start by just getting out there, setting up on your tripod, and shoot.  Don't worry or even think about filters until you see what you get without them.  Establish your base shots that way.  Then, if you think you need filters to achieve a particular effect that goes beyond your base shots, go for it.

ETA: By the way, unless you're shooting with film, that UV filter is worthless to you.


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## Trever1t (May 4, 2012)

man, Buckster, those are saweet shots!


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## kalyankkumar (May 4, 2012)

Thanks a Ton *Buckster*​


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## Buckster (May 4, 2012)

kalyankkumar said:


> Thanks a Ton *Buckster*


Always glad to help if I can.  :thumbup:


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## jackmolotov (May 8, 2012)

epic shots buckster. Truely amazing. Top is my favorite. outworldly to say the least.

as for night photography, for Black and white, I'd say get a yellow filter(not red or orange, just yellow), and thats about it, unless you have something real specific in mind.

Night says all kinds of crazy ambiance, and most times I just like shooting with ambient light nothing but UV filter for protection.


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## Tony S (May 9, 2012)

Buckster, nice SF Bridge shots for a guy way up north in Michigan and very good advice to the OP.


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## HughGuessWho (May 9, 2012)

As always, Buckster, great critique, great advice, an amazing pictures to validate your point.
One day I hope to grow up to be just like you. :thumbup:


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## Buckster (May 9, 2012)

Tony S said:


> Buckster, nice SF Bridge shots for a guy way up north in Michigan and very good advice to the OP.


Thank you kindly.

My day job (fiber optic construction engineer/manager) keeps me hopping all over the place.  This is my career path for the past 30+ years (plus a short time in Curacao): 






Sometimes I'm at a location for just a couple months, other times for a few to several years.  Wherever I am, I work during the week, and go exploring with my camera on nights and weekends.  I approach it like I'm on vacation ALL the time, and I just work wherever I am during the week to pay for it.

I spent about 3 years in San Francisco, and had a ball with it.


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## Buckster (May 9, 2012)

HughGuessWho said:


> As always, Buckster, great critique, great advice, an amazing pictures to validate your point.
> One day I hope to grow up to be just like you. :thumbup:


LOL!  Thanks!


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## guide (Mar 4, 2013)

I have a kind of similar question.
I've never had an experience in night photography, so all what I need is to protect my lens.
I do not want to do any changes in the result photograph, but I do want to use filter to protect my lens from the dust and stuff. At the same time not to change the night exposure.

I've already seen that someone uses and UV filter. Meanwhile, I heard only about ND filter even at night time.

Will be glad to hear any advices!


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## Garbz (Mar 4, 2013)

As a big proponent of UV filters, don't. UV filters are great for protecting your lens when your camera is around your neck, being sand blasted at the beach, within arms reach of children etc. However in a controlled environment such as on a tripod there's little you need to do to protect the lens other than use a lenshood. Also UV filters have problems with incident light, that is photographing light sources like the sun or streetlights against dark backgrounds typical of night shots. You'll likely end up with ugly flares.


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## Railphotog (Mar 4, 2013)

Also using UV or other clear filters at night can result in "ghost" images of light sources.  Light comes through the filter, bounces off the front of the lens glass, to the back of the filter and back into the camera.  Often the ghost images are upside down in the image.  No filters required!


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