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Buy a Polarizing filter and a graduated neutral density filter.
If you have a point-and-shoot camera, check with me before you purchase the filters.
Scroll down, or click here.
Have you ever taken a picture of a landscape with a deep blue sky—and when you looked at the print—the sky was a pallid blue or white?
A Polarizing filter will keep blue skies dark.
Without Polarizing Filter
With Polarizing Filter
This filter also reduces glare off of water, foliage, and other surfaces.
A Polarizing filter is gray in color.
Once you screw it on your lens (carefully and not too tightly), the front part of the filter revolves.
As you spin the filter, you can see what it does.
Buy a filter that's the same diameter as your lens.
Look at the inside surface of your camera's lens cap. Usually the diameter of the lens is printed there, such as 67mm.
If you have more than one lens, buy a Polarizing filter that fits on the largest diameter lens.
You can attach it to your other lenses using adapter rings.
If you have an autofocus camera, purchase a circular Polarizing filter.
Manual focus camera users should purchase a linear Polarizing filter.
Circular Polarizing filters cost about $40 to $60, and linear, about $20 to $40.
If you're a landscape photographer, consider purchasing a graduated-neutral-density filter.
The filter darkens all skies—not just blue ones.
In the above photograph, I'm holding the filter away from the lens so you can see it.
When using the filter, it is held against the lens.
Or, you can buy a holder that screws onto your lens.
Note how the filter gradually fades from dark to clear. You position the filter so that the dark area of the filter blocks the bright sky.
I use a P-series Cokin 121M filter.
You can see below how the filter darkens the sky below.
The P-series filters are very large, 85mm x 85mm, allowing you to move them more freely on the front of your lens.
The 121M filter blocks two stops of light (.6, 4X, or ND4).
Most of the manufacturers mentioned above also make square plastic filters.
As mentioned, you can purchase a holder for the filter.
However, many photographers hold the filter against the front of the lens instead.
You can also use software such as nik Color Efex Pro! in the Photo Classic Set.