Matt Theobald presents “Filters: What, Why and How” on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at 7pm, virtually. Meeting details emailed to members.
Join Matt Theobald as he guides us through the world of camera lens filters and the opportunity they provide to broaden our creative horizons. He’ll help demystify the common misconceptions and confusion around purchasing filters and integrating them into our workflow. He’ll teach us when and why specific filters should be used, as well as, how they can help elevate our images to the next level. Matt will introduce us to UV filters, Neutral Density (ND) filters, Circular Polarizers (CPLs), and specialty filters, such as Dark CPLs, Graduated NDs, Variable NDs and Night Sky filters. Whether you’re just starting out in your photography journey, considering delving into the world of filters to elevate your game, or you’re a seasoned professional, this presentation is aimed at providing valuable and implementable takeaways for all experience levels.
About Matt Theobald:
Matt Theobald is a professional landscape and wildlife photographer living in Highlands Ranch, CO. Matt’s photographic journey was born out of a deeply rooted love of the natural world and a desire to bring home more than just memories from the beautiful places he visits. His desire is to capture and bring home the heart and soul of the environment, enabling him to both remember the feeling and emotion of that place and time in his life, but also to share it with others. This desire to bring home more than just a snapshot was the catalyst to diving into the world of filters and exploring the many creative ways they can help capture the essence of what drew us to stand there in that moment and take the shot. Matt has never looked back and continues to use filters extensively in his landscape photography. He has even worked for a leading global filter manufacturer. Matt has shared his photographic expertise and knowledge of filters with photographers, conference attendees, and workshop participants worldwide. He has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Nick Page, Michael Shainblum, Alex Noreiga, Colby Brown, Sean Bagshaw, Ian Plant, Rick Sammon and John Weatherby, to name a few.
This morning did not go as planned! We were expecting to shoot the moonset and then sunrise at Martin’s Beach, just south of Half Moon Bay. A low but heavy fog bank greeted us when we arrived, as well as a TV news crew documenting the madness that is the beach’s public access dispute (it’s a public beach). I digress, we declined the request to interview on live TV. Pigeon Point Lighthouse came to mind as an alternate location, and we made it (fog free) with little time to spare to see the moonset, and then the sunrise!
A few notes about this shot:
— Sunrise was still at least 15 minutes away, and directly behind us.
— The blue band of light you see here is the last remaining earth shadow as night gives way to morning.
— The pink band above the earth shadow is known as the Belt of Venus. It is the light from the soon to be rising sun refracted by particles hovering low in the earth’s atmosphere.
