Lighting is the primordial requirement to get good quality images. Lighting has artificial and natural sources. These are often inevitable conditions that can spoil your lighting effect. For example, on a bright sunny day your subject becomes over-exposed, while the opposite can occur with dull lighting on a cloudy day, etc. An accessory called filter can help you in countering these situations. A Filter is a piece of glass that can be easily screwed in front of the lens.

A Filter lets you control the amount of light entering the camera. Various filters have different uses. A Filter not only controls the amount of light but also gives our pictures an artistic look. A Photographer can use filters to create artistic lighting effect. Some good filters to start out with include the Cokin P 164 or the Hoya Gradual Grey 52mm, depending on the situation of course. A photographer must always carry filters in his bag.

Most commonly used filters: -

1. Protective and UV filters
• UV filter- absorbs ultraviolet rays. Gives clearer and sharper images mostly used bright sunny days. It also protects the camera from dust, scratches and moisture.
• Sky filters-keeps the color tones of natural objects intact.
• Protective filters-gives a permanent protection to the lens.
2. Color correction filters- used for color correction.
3. Natural density filter: used to reduce the amount of light without affecting the color.
4. Special Effects filters: These are filters are used to give special effects in the image some of filters that fall under this category are star filter creates a star in the picture, rainbow filter gives rainbow effect, sepia filters, etc.