Choosing a filter isn’t just about aesthetics — it’s about storytelling. A warm, sunlit filter can make a beach photo feel nostalgic; a cool, muted filter can lend urban shots a modern, cinematic vibe.
It depends.
I enjoy adding a filter because it looks…is visually aesthetic. This is my main motivation when I go into Snapseed, find the “Grainy Film” option. This is also usually done when I edit color images. For black and whites I learn towards the “Film” preset – because it feels dirty and gritty. Real. Raw.
As I edited some of the images in the post I had the following thought:
Why not just drop the saturation? Why NOT filters?
The problem I found with the filters I use is they tend to make small details go away. Granted, a mobile phone camera might not be the best option for photos but still – some details can disappear within the layers of filter. In the photo below the cup disappeared in the grain which the filter put into it. Like a shotgun it doesn’t aim to be precise it just scatters all over.
If not filters then what?
No more Juno. Or Clarendon. None of the Instagram filters.
If you make the decision to go no-filter what are your other options. I haven’t tried this myself but it is on the list – playing around with the ISO to see if it makes some grainy images. When it comes to black and white the simplest way is to desaturate the image. I’ve also played with the S-curve, bumping up shadows and highlights.
I leave you with some images: one of them uses the ‘Film’ filter from the “Black and white” option in Snapseed. The rest have the saturation lowered and highlights & shadows tweaked.
tl;dr
Filters are great and have a place in the arsenal of a photographer’s editing tools. Or you can be a purist and resist the urge to use them and hate everything around them.
Thanks for reading : )