IT'S HIP TO BE SQUARE

Adam Waring shows how you can use a set of square slot-in filters to transform your landscape images

2 HOURS If you’re serious about landscape photography then a set of filters should be at the very top of your shopping list. These sheets of glass (or resin) sit in front of your lens, manipulating the light that strikes the sensor for creative effect. While there are all manner of trick filters, the main ones to consider are a polariser, neutral density filters and graduated neutral density filters – or better still, a kit that contains the lot.

Filters come in two main types: circular filters that screw onto the front of your lens, or the square variety that require a filter holder. Square filters are the more versatile, as you’re not restricted by the size of your lenses’ filter threads – you use the correct sized ‘adaptor ring’ to attach the holder to the lens. Square filters are also less susceptible to vignetting, as they’re typically much wider than your lenses, and can be ‘stacked’ together in the holder’s slots, and moved up and down within the holder for precise positioning.

Anything that goes in front of the lens will have an effect on the light that passes through it, and so it’s crucial that you invest in a quality system. Most square filter systems are available in a kit that includes the holder and a variety of attachment rings, as well as a selection of filters. Here we’re using the NiSi V6 Starter Kit Plus, which includes two strengths of ND filter, a 3-stop ND grad, a 3-stop ‘reverse’ ND grad and a polariser, along with some nice extras such as a storage pouch, filter cleaners and an oversized lens cap.

We headed to the coast to put our filter kit through its paces…

THE SET-UP FILTER BASICS