Filters for unusual landscapes?

[kr236rk]

Hi,

I've seen holographic film which can be used as a camera filter.

Are there any other materials which can be used to creatively alter what the lens sees please?

Many thanks!

KR

 

[Petrochemist]

Loads, Though many won't like the effects, and they are mostly difficult to get reasonable results even for the rest of us'.

Ladies stockings, net curtains etc have historically been used as a diffuser filter
Textured glass & feathers are others I've seen used for distortion & diffusion.
Then there's hairspray, Vaseline etc applied to UV filters...

Welding glass can be used for an extreme ND filter (normal welding glass does have a strong green tint, the more expensive gold types are closer to neutral, and worthwhile if you go to the darkest shade 13 or 14 types) Shade 8 is about 10 stops, I think shade 13 is nearer 18 stops...
Ghosts of Clacton 2 by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

I've also tried plastic (gel) pencil cases for coloured filters in shooting with a 'full spectrum' IR converted camera. (Results were similar to ordinary coloured filters, just much more awkward to use, and not quite a sharp)

Slides or negatives might work too, If their images is appropriate for the scene being photographed (I think simple images would be best) The image in the slide won't show, but it will provide different colours/density to different parts of the image, similar to graduated filters.

Unexposed but processed negatives & diskette film material (the actual bit that spins) if you can still find it) can be used as an infrared filter.

With all of these things it's the creative use of them that's important for getting good results. Many 'creative filters' sold on e-bay etc are basically gimics that you'll grow tied off very quickly.

If you can see through something, your camera can too. With digital cameras it basically costs nothing to try out found materials to see what effect they have. Finding a good use for the effect is generally much harder!

 

[Petrochemist]

Here are examples of the IR options I mentioned above taken on a converted camera.
Exposures with normal cameras might easily be 100 or more times as long, very much dependent on the camera.
Weak hot mirrors in cameras like the Pentax K100d & Nikon D70 make them more IR sensitive (about 10 stops slower than a converted camera) Newer models & from what I hear all Canon models are noticeably less sensitive and may not work at all.

This ones the negative
IR via negative by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr
Which shows plenty or IR character. The spectrometer at work suggests it's pretty close to a 850nm filter in it's actual cut, though IR transmission is a touch lower.

The diskette film
IR via diskette by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr
Again shows some IR character, but looks are closer to a red filter. Exposure was about 4 stops darker than the negative.

 

[MTGseattle]

I used to have a reasonably clear glass ashtray that I would shoot 35mm through. I remember the effect being odd enough that I didn't do much with it. A screw in soft focus filter would have made more sense, but the ashtray was "free."

 

[kr236rk]

Thanks. These are equally filter ideas for moving cine film, but the principle of altered imagery is the same. A huge difference is, though, the filter material must have no blemish. I filmed through perfect dichroic glass a while ago, & the lens still picked up something I could not see, I was lucky to get some decent footage out of it. Any imperfection just shows up as a UFO basically, as soon as you pan the shot. A great advantage for one of my cameras is that it has a filter tray behind the lens, so that any imperfection is blurred, but the material still needs to be evenly blurred or diffused. It's a shame no-one has invented an infra-red 'effect' filter for standard daylight film.

 

[Sirius Glass]

A green filter will darken the American Southwest Red Rock while, red or orange filters will lighten the rock. Green works better IMNSHO [In My Not So Humble Opinion].