KASE FILTERS
Kase filters, wolverine system: How and why I use them.
I’ve been using Kase magnetic filters for a while now and when they asked if I would be interested in a partnership I jumped at it without hesitation.
Some photographers love the steady meticulous process of setting up their tripod, to be in position and fully prepared for the light when it hits and ready to collect all the data which is going to make that beautiful image. Not me, I am a disaster. I get excited, my hands start to shake as adrenaline flows through every fibre of my being. I say disaster but these moments are what makes us truly feel alive!
Kase filters have a magnetic circular step rings, which I applied at an earlier more leisurely time and this remains in situ ready to accept my filters with speed and ease. When I’m in the field and ready to shoot all I have to do is just take off the magnetic lens cap and pop on my filter of choice, I would include a set-up video but it would literally be 1 second long. Pop, that’s it on. So many times, in my excitement I have tried to screw in a filter and only to find it bounced right out my hands and down a hill, usually towards some body of water! Even if I did drop them the tempered glass is strong, they don’t scratch easily.
If I am going on a hike I will quite often strip my kit down to the minimum but the filters always stay in a little pocket, they are so lightweight that it makes practically zero difference to the weight and not at all bulky so they take up very little room.
I’m a big fan of hand-holding and usually do without a tripod, I can shoot as slow as 1/2 second now with a more modern camera and this gives me the freedom to move around the scene, squeeze myself into little nooks to try different angles.
My filter of choice is usually a Kase magnetic polariser, for a few reasons such as adding vibrancy to colours, cutting out haze so achieving more blue from the sky, removing the glare from water or just adding a stop when I’d like a slower shutter speed and because a polarising effect is optimal when the sun is at 90 deg, this filter is brilliant for enhancing rainbows. Maybe most importantly, filters have taken the hit instead of my lens if the camera fell for any reason. Cheaper, easier and much quicker to replace.
Kase Ten Stop Filter
I concede sometimes that I do need a tripod because I’m also a huge fan of long exposures. The effect of Kase ten stop filter is ethereal and tranquil, without adding a funky colour cast. I have recently been blending in parts of images, for example, if I love the effect of the long exposure on the sky but I’ve lost water texture in a river I’ll combine the 2.
I’ve included 2 examples to highlight this:
To the left is the final image (above if viewing on mobile), where I have blended 2 images to retain the long exposure in the sky and the textures in the water
Below, showcases 3 images of the iconic Buachaille Etive Mor, in which I have blended the first 2 shots, one with a ten stop filter and the other without to create the final image.
Because the filters are so easy to just lift off without the risk of bumping the lens it means in post-processing just applying a layer mask and brushing in the parts you wish to keep with ease. I don’t think this takes anything away from the integrity of the scene, just aids in the creative process with having more options.
With ten stop filter
without ten stop
Final blended Image
Below I have included an example of the same scene with a merge of two different images. I shot the scene using three different exposures, the first shot with a brighter exposure (to balance the scene, capturing the correct data for the foreground; and freeze any movement in the trees) this image was the constant. I then shot two different images, one shot with a high shutter speed (to freeze any movement in the clouds, water) & a third using Kase ten stop with a slow shutter speed (to capture any movement in the clouds, water). This allowed me to choose whether to blend the faster or slower shutter, depending on which I preferred. In this case I preferred the movement which using the ten stop filter provided.
Kase makes this possible because of the ease and speed I can use the filters. I can take it off quickly to get a still when the colours are at their peak and fire it back on again, allowing me to keep on shooting, without missing the moment. In this instance, I chose to blend the long exposure, but its nice to have the choice for your own creative freedom. In addition it is possible to take and stack even more images to create an extreme long exposure. see tip below
Thanks Kase for a tremendous, faff free and enjoyable process!
To see all Kase products click here Kase
*PROCESSING TIP
To combine images for an extreme exposure in post follow these steps. In photoshop go to file, then down to script, load files into stack, choose as many as you like but when they are uploaded make sure and check the box “smart object” Then when they have imported go to layer, smart objects, stack mode and choose mean. This will combine all and give you an average which means the long exposure as one image.
I doubt this is possible without the Kase ten stop, I’d need a big memory card, a camera able to just keep shooting continuously without buffering, the computer would take an age trying to stack all files and I would have a breakdown waiting :)
KASE FILTERS PARTNER
Kase UK is part of Specialist Photo network, specialists in importing and introducing high quality photography gear in to the UK. Specialist Photo is run by photographers for photographers