Yellow/green filters

[macmx]

Does anyone have some examples of a yellow/green filter (11) in use?
Especially how this renders human skin and landscapes.

Yellow lightens skin, but the green darkens red. Does this means that they "cancel each other out" in relation to skin blemishes?

Robert White states that B+W have discontinued this type of filter. Is it not used often?

I am going to Greenland in March an I want to try to figure out, how to get the most detail out of the snowy, icy landscape without insulting my companions by making their faces look scruffy! (I have no experience with green filters at all).

Any help is much appreciated.

Mc

 

[michaelhcothran]

I guess the only way you're really going to find out is to buy the bad boy, and try it out. I've owned all the regular color filters for b&w - yellow, green, orange, red, and deep red.
The yellow, obviously, is the mildest, darkening cool colors slightly (blue sky). Its effect on foliage depends on how much green or yellow is present in the pigment.
Green is used primarily for people shots, as it smooths out both dark and light skin better than non-filtered panchromatic film, without the eeriness that the other color filters introduce. The addition of yellow on skin might be too much. Green also has a slight lightening effect on green foliage, if there is a lot of green pigment present. Green is also the least contrasty of the color filters, and for scanning can be quite valuable, as it allows for more detail to work with once scanned.
My guess is that a yellow/green combo will mildly darken a blue sky, while mildly lightening green foliage. On people, you'll just have to try it, and provide some samples for the rest of us.

Michael H. Cothran

 

[macmx]

Michael,

Thanks for the reply.

However I do not understand when you say:

Green is used primarily for people shots, as it smooths out both dark and light skin better than non-filtered panchromatic film, without the eeriness that the other color filters introduce.

I thought that a green filter darkens reds, and thereby makes skin blemishes more prominent? I have read that green filters is unflattering for female portraits, but can be used for a more gritty look for male portraits?

I have dowloaded Googles Picasa, which has a b&w filter function, were some of the default filter colors are yellow/green, yellows, orange, red and deep green. I am trying to check the effect using this, although you are probably right, I should go invest in a filter.

Either way, I just want to darken the sky (the more the better), and the rest is just fine tuning.

 

[michaelhcothran]

Decades ago when these color filters were more popular, this is what the brochures use to say. In fact, I use to photographed studio portrait setups with green, and liked the results, but not the stop or so loss of light.
I just did a search, and could not find anything conclusive, or that even mentioned using for skin tones. Hmmm. I did find two sites (Adorama and Calumet) that state the #11 yellow/green is to be used when shooting b&w film under tungsten light - yet Adorama's example shows a picture of a squirrel shot outdoors - and looks pretty good.
I give up. Maybe my mind is all washed up on these old filters, but what I said is what I remember about my own experience with green (wratten #58 I believe).
One thing I do know is to never go on a photo trip with untested equipment. If you're planning a photo trip, be sure to have these filters tested properly prior to packing your bags. Otherwise, I would not use them until they can be thoroughly tested.
Hope I'm not giving out erroneous information!
Michael

 

[michaelhcothran]

As far as just darkening the sky, the yellow, orange, and red are better choices, and are meant for that. Each offers a stronger degree of darkening, but just like a polarizer (which can also be used), the amount of darkening depends on where the sun is when you aim the camera. For the absolute darkest skies, a combination of red and a polarizer will do the trick.
The problem with these filters is that they also darken foliage, often to the point of muddy dark gray tonality. Everything's a trade-off. You can always darken the sky more in wet printing with some local burning, and digitally with any contrast control tool - even the Multiply blend mode works beautifully for this. When exposing your film or digital data, your only goal should be to collect as much information as possible, then work it to your satisfaction once home.

 

[nathantw666]

I thought that a green filter darkens reds, and thereby makes skin blemishes more prominent?

I remember reading that a red filter was best for people or at least young people because it lightened the blemishes making them harder to see. Green lightened trees and grass. Personally I always used a light yellow filter since there was no filter factor and it made "colors" look right.

 

[cristif]

Here are some examples of how a red-orange filter would look like on human skin. These are plain scans, without any alteration.

 

[cristif]

And here are two more landscapes with the same filter. Again, without any alteration. Overall, this is one my favorite filters, followed by the yellow one.

 

[macmx]

Thanks for those examples! That's not too bad. I thought the skin would be more blown out.

 

[fotoroberto]

Does anyone have some examples of a yellow/green filter (11) in use?
Especially how this renders human skin and landscapes.

Yellow lightens skin, but the green darkens red. Does this means that they "cancel each other out" in relation to skin blemishes?

Robert White states that B+W have discontinued this type of filter. Is it not used often?

I am going to Greenland in March an I want to try to figure out, how to get the most detail out of the snowy, icy landscape without insulting my companions by making their faces look scruffy! (I have no experience with green filters at all).

Any help is much appreciated.

Mc

Green/Yellow filter darkens the skin, if we are talking about Caucasian and Mediterranean type of skin color, so I wouldn't be using it for portraits where You need to get sensual, clean look.
In BW photography filters do not cancel each other, they filter they respective complementary color each, so in G/Y, green is darkening redish colors, while yellow is darkening blueish colors...

Try to use yellow and orange filters in icy landscapes, to get different rendition of blue sky if possible...