With / without...

From a bright, clam winter's day to heavily overcast skies and strong winds: the UK's weather does it again. With south- westerly winds gusting up to 50mph (80kmh) I am, once again, prowling the shoreline of Poole Bay, Dorset in search of the definitive storm image: once again, I don't find it.

It's easy to simulate bad weather conditions, just by underexposing a stop or so when taking photographs, but angry skies and a bit of flying surf will always be more convincing.

I'm using a clear filter in front of the lens while shooting, as it is easier to remove salty deposits from a flat piece of glass than the curved surface of the front element itself, but it is only during such adverse conditions that I use these acessories. At all other times my lenses are used as the designer intended - sans filtre.
Opinion is (strongly) divided amongst photographers about such practices, and the argument will rumble on ad nauseam, but they do have their uses. It does reduce the risk of scratching a lens element when cleaning in a less-than-ideal environment of airborne salt and sand, and if things get really bad you just take the filter off.  Common sense must prevail from time to time.

50mm f/1.8 AF Nikkor. 1/200 second at f/11. -0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400

© 2011