More "Old School" Photo Tips

Calumet Shutter Tester Brochure

Thanks to Boston-based Architectural Photographer Peter Lewitt, you can see the manual for the Fidelity Calumet Digital Shutter Tester, which is no longer offered by Calumet Photo. The Shutter Tester allows you to test the shutters on a variety of cameras and lenses. Even though it is no longer sold, you can click here to read the manual. Perhaps you can purchase one on the used market.
If you like to control the visual quality of your photos, and you acquire equipment from others, it's nice to know how close it is to the correct speed.

Polarizer + Yellow Filter for a Natural-Looking Sky

When shooting in Black and White, many people have been taught to use a Red or an Orange filter, to darken the sky and clear the haze. Sometimes, this can be the ideal solution, but rarely. Why ? Because red and orange filters not only remove blue light from the sky: they also darken the green light in vegetation.
Unless you want a vivid look with ink-black skies, it's better to use a polarizer - and perhaps a weaker filter. With a polarizer, you can control the amount of darkening, while maintaining a normal balance of colors. It's great for color photography for that reason. If you need even more richness in the clouds, then reach for a medium yellow filter, or a light orange filter, and place it on top of the polarizer. That's how this image was made (on 8x10 film). Note the tones in the grass and the trees: the yellow filter has actually enhanced the details. If you really want to go all the way, then a red filter, or a red filter + polarizer, will give you the strongest results.
Courtesy of: The Kenneth Lee Gallery