[pct-l] digital trail cameras

[losthiker at sisqtel.net (Deems)]

Filters are a simple tool to control the wavelengths of light entering the 
lens, before it is recorded on film or pixels. With filters, I am able to 
see the final image before it is recorded, instead of waiting to alter the 
files on a pc or the film in a darkroom. A camera that can accept filters 
will give greater control of the light and image as it's recorded, but you 
need to know what you want to the image to look like first. I generally see 
the final picture in my mind, before I take it.  Polarizers cancel glare on 
water, cut haze in skies, and enhance the blue of the sky. The split neutral 
density filter can mask a bright portion of the image, while allowing the 
darker half to remain unchanged. The red enhancer allows red objects to be 
brighter, but not change all the other colors. This filter is great at 
sunset, sunrise, with alpenglow, and with fall colors. Filters can sometimes 
just be a personal choice, but I prefer cameras that can use them over ones 
that won't. You can still use software at home, but you can't always 
duplicate what a filter will do when used correctly in the field.  Very few 
of the images on my site were pushed with software, a few were balanced for 
contrast.  I used filters for 30 years with Kodachrome, so it's a habit I 
can't easily break.  I must admit tho, software has the potential to do 
incredible things to images, has a high learning curve, and I know very 
little about that area.  Here's a good website to study filters.
http://www.dantestella.com/technical/filterama.html
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Question - why are filters useful for a digital camera, compared to editing
the photo on the computer, using Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, or other
editing software?  Just wondering - and keeping an eye out for the next
camera.  I'm particularly interested in one that can do both macro and
landscape photos - without interchangeable lenses.  I perhaps ask too much?

Christine "Ceanothus" Kudija
PCT partially '94