Hey all:

Now that the bulk of viewing and commenting on this most excellent round of UWOL 18 films is drawing to a close and I still have all of you lurking about on the site while we anticipate the weighing in from our most esteemed judge, I thought I'd ask for some feedback on this piece.

If you don't know already, I'm chipping away at a feature film on the wildlife in Rocky Mtn National Park that I started during the UWOL long form film challenge.

This section is of spring in the Park, most notably it's wildflowers. The first minute of the piece some of you may recognize from the long form challenge. The remainder 5 minutes is a new work.

My personal assessment (concentrating on the last 5 minutes) is that it is static, linear, predictable and safe. Meryem has recently introduced me to a slider while filming for something else for the movie and I really wish I had it for this (even though I agree with Mike, a slider is really difficult to master!).

I can't go out a re-take this footage. The feedback I'm looking for is what could I do post processing to make this piece more passionate, interesting, mystical, surreal...whatever! What, if anything, could "lift this up a level" as Mat likes to say.

Feedback welcome but not obligatory. Watch it or not. Warning in advance: it's a little over 6 minutes so beware.

Cat

P.S. I was thrilled with the feedback you all gave me on my other piece, Solitary Secrets. I'm waiting (saving up for) a GoPro to rework it a bit. Thank you, thank you!

_____________________________________

Splendid Spring on Vimeo

Cat,

I love a lot of it!! The sugar plum fairey doesn't do it for me music wise, defintiely to long but i suspect you placed it in there for now and it is not necessarily what you will use.

the first part is really fast and snappy, but there were shots I would have liked a better look at .

You have some shots of light colored flowers that are somewhat burnt and look like you might increase the gamma on them. off the top of my head two were at apx 1:52 and 3:13, a couple more late in the film. If you want to send me a screen grab of them I would love to see what I could do with them.

now, down the road what is your plan for naration?

You could add some movement and detail by using pan and crop, say drawing in on pisilids or such.

an example you might pull in on the elk grazing the transition to the vegitation by itself.

Just a couple thoughts after only one viewing. I will watch again tomarrow.

Cat,

On some of the brighter shots I'd crush the blacks to give them more umph.

Do you have any wiggle room that you can shift some of the images a bit so everything isn't so much centered?

One "trick" I like to do is to edit my full sized footage in a 720p project. It scales the footage down to say 67%. Then I can zoom in pan across etc to give me a little movement. So if I want to make something more prominent, I can zoom the image to 100% and then shift it around until I get a good composition.

If you're going to put it on a DVD it's going to be down converted to SD anyway so you're not losing anything.

I think if you crush your blacks and punch up the saturation a bit you'll see an improvement. If you can get some of your subjects more off center you'll see even more.

oooooh, I like these ideas!!!

Dale, I will take you up on your offer and send you some stills to see what you come up with in the gamma department. I had to laugh at your sugar plumb fairy comment.... my husband couldn't get passed that one either :) I think I'm ready to re-think the music, I'm 0 for 2 on that. It was in fact what I was going to use in the final. I'm the kind of person who has the music in place first and then I phrase the footage to it. Doing it any other way would undo me I think. I so appreciate your time and input.

Kevin, wow! yeah. That is indeed a valid "trick" to have in the old tool box, working in 720p with high def footage. That would certainly give you space and opportunity to do lots of things. The intended destination for this is a film festival and perhaps others depending on how it does or if it's accepted. I just assumed the submission version would be high def on a Blue Ray. You've submitted before, what was your format?

Even if I need to stick with the 1920p format, your suggestions have sparked some ideas for me on how I can make this off center, more dynamic and magical (if I can pull it off). Awesome!

I knew putting up this thread wouldn't disappoint!

Much appreciated.

Cat

Cat,

None of the festivals I've entered required a Blu-Ray DVD. Maybe some of the bigger ones might but most will accept a standard DVD.

Hi Cat. You’ve got some good advice from Dale and Kevin. I like the music. I think it goes well with both your subject in this sequence and the rest of the music from the project. If you change music definitely re-edit the sequence from scratch to match. If you put the 1080 clips in a 720 comp in AE, besides recomposing the shot, don’t forget you can also animate the position and scale to do pans and zooms within the footage. While you are in AE you should look into Color Finesse for grading some of those clips. It has been too long since the sequence was posted to Vimeo for Vimeo to allow me to download the source (60 days limit I think). If you want, repost it so we can download and I’ll be glad to process a bit of it and post so you can judge whether this is something you want to pursue.

Cat,
I have watched your film several times and will set the focus on the music.
The choice of pictures and transitions in the “sugar plum fairy” section is cleverly done.
I really love this. Flowers, insects collecting nectar, gentle use of editing effects and perfectly made transitions fit the music well.

The first part has an intense rhythmical music. The scenes need to be short and switch in the rhythm of the music. It is also well done.
I think you can shorten or maybe drop the crossover when the transition is exactly on the beat. Then you will get even more of the rhythmical intensity in the film.
The three in one pictures (0.40) are pretty good.
I would like to see shorter cuts in the ending to follow the music “out of breath”. This will also make a good contrast to the “sugar plum fairy” section.
Maybe the geese scene could start at the last beat. Then the spectator will get a bit relaxed before the last section.

This is just a few thoughts from me.

Hi Cat,

I don't know if this is duplicating other suggestions, but it works for me. This is to help some of the overexposed flower shots where areas are burned to pure white. I saw in one of the posts, AE. If you are using After Effects, does that mean you use Adobe Premiere to edit? If so, apply the Fast Color Corrector effect. At the bottom is a choice for "Output" with some sliders. Slide the white triangle to the left. It will darken the whole scene but watch the color and detail appear in your white areas.

Hi Cat

Ok then. I'd have to know whether this was being narrated over before I really critiqued it but I'll try at this point.

Firstly, this really needs some camera movement, ok, so your saying you can't re-shoot. Well then it needs to feel less static and slideshow in the edit! Also watch what your doing in the edit, cutting from a mid to a close and then closer, sometimes its not really showing much more detail, or anything new and feels formulaic. If you intend to use this music, then the sequence wants to feel magical, that magic needs to come through your use of light and movement, it needs to sing and dance. Quite a few of these shots are flat and others seem digitally zoomed in, don't use them. Keep your production quality high!

Overall though, what is the sequence for, whats it trying to say, whats the story? If your answer is...well its the bursting of life and spring flowers, then you need more material or edits that spell out this change, the re-birth. So a panning shot across fallen leaves that ends in a newly emerged flower or green buds breaking in a shot thats otherwise looks like Winter. Things look a little established already to me!

That said there are some nice shots in here and I like the pace of some of your editing. Feel free to throw me an email to go through anything more of this in detail.

Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing your project completed :-)


Mat

Hey guys:

Splendid! This is great feedback and very much appreciated. Let me rework this.... actually, overhaul it and throw it out to you again. You have fueled some new ideas on how to approach this and helped me with suggestions on how to color correct. Can you believe I actually don't know how to color correct (?,!), and I really need to know how to do this effectively. I'm just soaking your comments up!

You guys have asked about narration. The format of the film is that there is narration at the beginning and end of each "chapter" but the "chapter" itself is strictly visuals to music. Sort of a modern-day Fantasia. So there will be no other distraction and must move the viewer by it's own artistry... no wiggle room!

What I'm striving to do with this piece is make it magical and a bit surreal. The footage is established during the early summer, so I don't have the material or feel the need to focus on the transition from winter with flowers bursting onto the scene out of snow... but that being said I will look for this opportunity this spring.

Thank you! Thank you! I feel so motivated to learn with you guys on board :).

May I be so bold as ask you guys to comment on my Solitary Secrets piece that I offered up for review last challenge? I haven't reworked it yet from the comments given, but I have great plans for that one as well, based on the feedback I got from all of you. Only as time and motivation permit. I think Kevin, Mike and Steve have already reviewed that one, so you guys are off the hook :).

Oppps, sorry Cat I've just corrected some sloppy typing !

Ok, so its not about the re-birth of life.

My first question would be what is the purpose of this sequence, what is it about?

Hmm, The purpose of this sequence is to be a contrast to the fast and frenzied pace of the first 1-min sequence. The goal of the first part is to rivet the viewer with the feeling of new life of spring bursting onto the scene after a long hard winter. It is frenetic as new life is happening everywhere, it is a celebration!

Then spring matures to early summer and life settles in a bit. I desire this part to not show flowers along a path, but a magical world of delicate and beautiful art painted by God Himself. I want to show a world that is often missed, even by hikers who are right there in the midst of them. Most of this footage was taken within a mile of the trail head! I couldn't get any farther along for all the opportunity to film, and I didn't get half of what was there. But so much of this display is hidden, or at least not obvious, unless you look for it. I have the Calipso (fairy slipper) Orchid in here that took me too years to find them! They surface for only a few weeks out of the year and really vary in numbers depending on availability of moisture. While filming these, I was continually passed by many "destination" hikers that totally missed them. They had other reasons for being there. Rocky Mtn National Park hosts such an abundance of flora but none of it is displayed in the "sea of color" that occurs in some other parts of the mountains in Colorado.

So Mr. Mat Thompson, what do you suggest I do with that?

Cat

EXCELLENT ! - I'm loving that little storyline! All these little treasures that are so easy to walk past and miss, every corner revealing something new and interesting. So does your sequence show us that ?

Wheres are the walkers cruising past, eyes fixed on the path in front of them?

Where are the reveals? - A camera rounding a bend or coming from behind a tree and revealing the hidden treasures? Or a shot at ground level as boots come plodding through. It then turns or focus pulls to frame a dainty flower just a few meters away.

I'm sure there are lots of little treatments that would put your premise into your images. But make me feel that I'm being introduced to them, or I'm seeing things others are missing!

As far as the first bit goes. For frenetic I'd cut it harder and faster. Add elements like simple fast paced sky timelapse and punchy fauna action. Deer gently grazing doesn't say frenetic to me! Just cut to them in a quick way and look for any quicker movements you have in the footage. The chipmunk is frenetic and personally I'd use those shots throughout this section instead of in the boxed effect edit. But more generally look back for moments of action and movement in your rushes.

Oooh! Work to be done!

For the second part:
Much of your input will need to be objective strategy for next season for I am sadly lacking in most of the suggested shots. Obviously, I didn't think through my story until now when you put me through the exercise: a valuable lesson there.

That being said, there is lots I can do to rework what I have (both parts) and am very inspired to do just that!

Thank you kindly Mat!

Thank you all for the support. It will by my own lack of motivation to not improve after this round of review. I am absolutely thrilled!

Cat

No problem Cat. Just email me if you need any help. These are only my opinions of course, but I do think they will lift what your doing!

Hi you guys:

Well, I've reworked the second part of this segment and am throwing it back out here for your comments. I can't tell how important your feedback is to me! It's hard to know what works and what doesn't.

After hashing out a story from Mat's prompting this part will be enveloped with hikers passing by flowers without realizing what a magical and hidden world they are walking through. That part will have to wait until next summer before I can get footage of this.

For now, I'm concentrating on the magical and hidden world the flowers are in Rocky Mtn Natl Park. My goal is to make it surreal and mystical. I've chosen to move on from the "Sugar Plum Fairy", a good move I think! :)

I think it's an improvement from the first try, but it has it's own problems. Instead of mystical and a real "fantasy", it just may end up coming across as slow and repetitive? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Only if you want to though, watch it or not! Warning in advance, it's almost 6 minutes.

Thanks!

Cat

Splendid Spring Part 2/Take 2 on Vimeo

Cat,

I feel it's an improvement, in more than one area, including music. I'll elaborate in a few days as I'll have some time off.

Keep at it.

BTW, I'd like to know what gear you used, camera, lenses, tripod etc and to what gear you have access to.

Al

Hi Al:

Thanks for the watch. I understand, it takes time to do this. I find your words "keep at it" really encouraging. I'm motivated to do just that :).

My equipment is a JVC GZ-HD7U camera and a ProMaster SHD tripod.

The equipment I have access to is a JVC GZ-HD7U camera and a ProMaster SHD tripod. :)

Looking forward to your comments when you find the time.

Cat

Hi Cat,

The other "equipment" you have access to is a sense of humour and enthusiasm........they may well be your greatest assets over time. ;)

Is the Promaster a camcorder one or a SLR one?

Al

Looking much, much better Cat!

Cat,

I think it is muchly improved!!! A delight to watch. I really liked the overlays/backgrounds. I liked the theme of the universe behind the closeups. Perhaps, the star was used a little heavy, But I do like the notion!!!
At 4:00 you use the orange dots before a fundementally redish flower. you coul go to color correctio and slide the color shift on them to draw them closer in color to the following subject!!

I also liked the sphersize filter around the one flower making it look almost like a fish eye tunnel!!!

I think it is awesome!!!! and it is going to be great when you get a wrap on it that is for sure!!!

It gave me some good ideas for my spring video I am working on, a great inspiration.


dale

Hi Kevin and Dale:

Thank you! High praise from the two of you. Dale, I'll keep your suggestions in mind.

I hope this is becoming an example for everyone out there. Look at how I'm improving on this movie just by chatting about it and getting feedback. To me, this is what this forum is all about :) It is a goldmine for insight, motivation and critical review. If anyone has something they are working on and would like perspective, throw it on out here! This is a year-round forum and doesn't have to go to sleep between challenges. Bring it on! :)

Cat

Hi Cat
Well done for really changing this thing up. I too think this is better for the story you were trying to get across. Hopefully you can work in the hiker/hidden flower footage and it will finish things off. Personally I'm not taken by most of the transition work on this. I think it dwells too long and brings the production quality down. I'd say take one theme only (maybe the warp or the dots) and apply it with slightly different takes, but take a less is more approach. These things become old quickly imo!

Great job at re-shaping in a new direction though, that can be hard to do!

Hi Mat!

Thanks for the watch! Your feedback is made of insight that makes a good film a great film. I have to think about this. Now the real work begins. Using one transition with "different takes" doesn't sound that easy to pull off without it too getting old quick. And at this point I'm not sure what that will end up being.. this is calling for creative ingenuity! At first I thought the long transitions were dictated by the music, but I think I can work through that easily enough.

Thanks Mat. This piece is by no means finished, but I agree with everyone so far that I like the way this version is going over the other one :)

Cat

Hi Cat,

I've got a bit of time on my hands so I thought I'd have a look at your pieces.

I'm going to comment on the second piece as I'm gathering it's the way you're going.

First of all, overall your highlights are blown out way too far, resulting in loss of colour saturation. I noticed this all the way through the piece. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest you're shooting in auto. I think you need to forget about auto on that camera of yours and start shooting in manual. Pay close attention to the White Balance, WB. Obtain and carry a piece of bleached A4, matte paper, matte is better than gloss as it doesn't cause reflections. When in the field and turning the camera on and off, conduct a WB. It may hold the setting, if so, you only need to do it on initial power up. If you move from sunshine to shadow, rebalance.

I strongly suggest you make yourself a reflector, use a piece of white linen, say an old bed sheet, get your hubby to scrounge up a length of fencing wire [ I know you've got some laying around because I watched your 30 minute epic, Rocky Mountain National Park: Psalms From On High, right through to the end !!!! ] Form a circle ~ 2 Ft in Dia then cover it with one layer of the linen, keeping it taut. If you don't get enough reflection out of it, scrunchle up a piece of aluminum foil then flatten it out and spread it over your linen. "Scrunchling" is important for two reasons, 1] You don't get an intense light. 2] You're not out to cook your flower.......... Now, I've often wondered, but never experimented, with the same colour linen as the flower, would that give me better colour control......

I'll explain the use for this as we go.

Opening, cut the first 10 seconds off both music and image, there's not enough in it to hold one's attention. From 0:10 is good.

Your fade from the first to second scene is too long, 10 seconds, back it off to ~3 seconds, 5 at the outside.

The flower in the scene at 0:38, [scientific name; Blue Flower...;) ] is washed out to hell, enter the reflector!!! Light is streaming in from the left hand side, at what looks to be an angle of 10 o'clock so get your new reflector and hold it in a position so it bounces light down onto the flower, normally this is at an angle of 180 degrees to the incoming natural light,[4 o'clock in this instance] depending on the effect you're chasing. In this case though, you may get better results by holding the reflector at the 2 o'clock position. Don't get it in the frame naturally..... Now, you should find your colour will deepen down, because your highlights have dropped off, this is being done whilst shooting in manual remember, [the downside, this simple 2 minute take just blew out to 10 minutes, the upside, you have a ripper take on your hands....no brainer really ;) ] OK, so shooting in manual you now want to close the iris down as much as is practically possible, this will mean you have to drop the shutter speed. Why?,to increase your Depth of Field, [ DoP ] which in turn will mean your critical focus point isn't so critical....the advantage of this is, the little flowers that have minds of their own, and wander all over the place, at the whim of a breeze, won't be moving in and out of focus, the downside is that same movement becomes a bit blurred, therefore, you need to find a balance between the two points. You'll have to be careful that you don't stop down too far as you'll introduce 'noise' [often recognized by 'banding' or a colour 'wash' over the image] into your image...not wanted..... :( Another advantage is colour saturation, if you can lay your hands on a simple colour chart and then hold it beside the flower, you'd be amazed at the difference iris / speed combo's make.

OK, with your camera, it may be you have an issue in manual i.e. getting the exposure correct. Do you know if you have 'Zebra' stripes or some other form of over exposure warning? If so, great, if not.......try and save up for a spot meter, Minolta and Pentax both make them. Look on Ebay. Make sure it's good for video.

Where you transit at 3:26, I would have full colour by the time the bug is standing on the tip of the flower looking into the camera. It's an excellent shot. The focus seems to soften up as it moves down the flower. Focus through out the clip is a bit soft. Could be that iris / aperture combo......??????

The take with the bee on the purple flower, have you blown out the purple on purpose?

Not sure about the length of time you use the 'bubble transition' for, I think it's too long. Not sure about the 'bubbles' on the whole. I think, pick one transition theme, keep them short and stay with only that one.
You've got three in there. I think the clouds are the most appropriate.

Flower at 4:12 is very static, I know you don't have a slider so how about trying a hand held pan moving from the 430pm to the 730 pm position. If you did that, get rid off that wild oat or whatever it is on the left hand side, actually, get rid of it anyway, just bend it out of the way because the flower is the primary point of attention. Second option is to use focus shift. So, center the flower, focus on the background, roll film and pull the focus back to the flower. Maybe offsetting the flower for the shift would work better.

Try and experiment with push pull telephoto, wide shots on stationary subjects, not million mile an hour transitions but slow effects, for instance, on the take at 4:39 start zoomed in on the water and pull to wide for the finished shot. Sometimes, based on content, it's better to start wide and zoom in. Using this technique often means you don't have to use a layer to fade over on takes.

In regards to your tripod, see if you can get someone to strip it down, smoothen off the pan base with emery or wet and dry paper and lube it up. Then practice panning until you get good at a smooth pan. It's what you've got so practice hard with it.

Lastly, I know I've only mentioned what I think could improve this piece, don't be disheartened, I like the content and I think you've got some skills that are worth building with. You live in a beautiful part of the country and I suspect capturing it on video is a pleasure to you.

Keep this in mind, using focus shifting, pull back and getting your exposure under control the following would be absolute gems; 0:20, 1:48, 1:57, 2:09, 2:27, 2:55, 3:18, 3:31, 3:45, 4:59.

Keep at it, you're on the right track. I don't normally sit down for several hours to do a critique. ;)

Al

Thank you everyone!

Your comments and feedback have been extremely helpful. I am posting what I think is nearing the final version of this little section. I think it incorporates a lot of all of your feedback and is (I think) the best version by far.

This version goes very light on transition times and heavy-handed effects, and concentrates on the subject matter more.

You are all off the hook to watch yet again another version of these flowers. I'm posting simply to give proof that I highly respect and very much appreciate all that you have put into this on my behalf. Many thanks!

Al: I am amazed that you took such time and effort, not only to watch my long film, but to give so much critique on this particular section in question. You have given me great advice for techniques that I can improve on when I'm actually filming in the field. I will be referring to your post before I head out to film flowers next spring!

To reply to some of your comments:

1. I actually filmed the flowers in manual focus mode, but what may have been a factor is that my camera has an auto white balance default option, which I was using. Other than the auto option, it only allows for a few preset options like "cloud" "full sun" etc. So it really does lack in this department. When I am able to upgrade to a higher standard camera, I'm going to make certain that all f-stop and white balance settings can be number calculated and manually done without the limitation of presets.

2. I think my panning problem was actually not in the field but in post processing and has been corrected in this final version.

3. I agree with your comments dealing with transition length and effects and I hope these have been addressed in a more satisfactory fashion in this final version.

4. The only comment that I find a bit scary is the comment that the blue flower at 38 s is "washed out to hell". What scares me about this comment is that on my own computer system the footage looks completely fine to me. I honestly don't find, even the slightest hint, that the footage is washed out. So is there something wrong with my system settings? Is it my eyes and how I see things? This is a comment that I wouldn't know how to fix, change or attempt to correct. It makes me wonder if I'm putting material out there that looks appealing to me in my own little computer world, and everyone else can't watch without the eyes watering?

Once again, to Al and to all who shared their time and expertise with me: a sincere thank you! Look how you each improved this little clip beyond anything that started on the drawing board! How awesome is that!

Gratefully yours,

Cat

Spring Flowers Part 2, Take 3 on Vimeo

Cat,


Very finely done. On my computer in a few places the whites the blues and yellows seem burnt.

Whites are hard to fix, but the blue and the yellow you could use a secondary color corrector to fix the small portions that seem to bright.

I would place them on the waveform monitor and see if the ire readings are safe. It is possibler my machine could be out. I will look at it on my big screen and see: Just checked, to bright on both monitors on my workstation.

I really like the star bursts, the second one is off timing wise just a hair!!

the transitions while a bit slow for me; I think they are quite artistic and this whole piece oozes artistic flavor!!! Wish I had such creativity!!!

I can't wait to see the finale!!! it is awesome already.

Hey Dale:

You win the prize for sticking through all three versions ;-).

If you'd like, let me know a time in the clip that looks burnt (maybe at the 38 s mark where Al thought it was washed out?) and I'll e-mail a still and you can show me what can be done with it.

On a different note, this has been the year of all years for for hawks, eagles and raptors around here :). I think you would be pleased to see this, I am too. Any insights as to why this is?

Thanks again for sticking with me on this film.

Cat

Hi Catherine,

Sorry I haven't had time to comment on this before.
You already have some good feedback, so I'll just chime in and say I like the latest versjon you posted best. (only watched the 2nd and 3rd version you posted). Will try to find time to watch the first version later.
I think you are a very skilled film maker!

Hi Trond:

No worries about watching the first video, and thanks for sticking it out and watching the other two :). I'll do the same for your Charity Challenge video... good luck!

Thanks for the kind words. Let's just say I'm as skilled as all of you are helping me become. When it comes to generous time-giving in critical feedback, this is the place to be :).

Always good to hear from you friend!

Cat

Hi Cat,

I see you've given it another go, well done.

My thoughts;

Opening is good, star effect fits well and is well timed. I still think your highlights are too bright, I'll be specific, 0:09, this is over exposed, the yellows are hard to define as are the whites, what this does is turns the center of the flower into a conglomerate i.e. it lacks the fine detail that is actually there. This over exposure is also evident in the inner petals & the outer bottom petals.

Bubble transition at 1:35 is much better, 1] Because it's shorter and 2] Because your fading into a scene of a similar colour.

You mentioned your camera only has preset WB's. My suggestion is to shoot the whites and highly reflective surfaces in the 'Cloudy' and 'Full sun' settings to see if there is a noticeable difference. Dense, light coloured cloud, will throw more light and wash colours out more readily than bright sunlight. Try to avoid shooting between 11 am [ish] and 2 pm [ish] This depends on the length of day light hours and is based on the sun being at it's zenith at 12 noon.

Can you shoot with manual iris and speed?

I think you've done a good job at tightening it all up.

Looking forward to seeing more.

Al

Hi Al!

Now I get it. I see what you are saying concerning the lighting at 09 s. It's time for me to really pay attention to the white balance presets until I can upgrade to a different camera. Now that you and everyone else has pointed the hot spots in the high lights out, I'm noticing this in other film that I've taken of other things. Hmm. Nice to be aware of this now.

I can manually set iris and speed, but again they are in predetermined presets that cover most settings, but still limits complete control over everything you may want to do. I'm finding manual is much preferable over the auto-stuff, and am shooting in this mode more often.

Thanks for pulling this piece through the hoops! I'll set you on another section sometime!

Cat

Hi Cat,

Glad to be of help, nice to know you've picked it up. I also saw signs of it in your long film.

Now before you dash off and spend squillions on a new camera, you may consider reading up on two types of filters; 1. Neutral density [ND] filters & 2. Circular Polarizing [CP] filters,
both of these would be used in conjunction with your manual settings. The ND's will cut out the harsh light whilst the CP will saturate colours. The CP needs to be used sparingly otherwise your colours wont look 'right'. Don't purchase a linear Polarizer.

You can also get ultra violet [UV] filters in varying strengths to combat haze, which drains colour in the summer time.

If your camera is unable to take screw on filters the CP isn't possible but the ND's and UV's can be utilized via "Gel Filters" and some sort of holder.

This may be a cheap and easy stop gap for you but it may also be that you'd rather put the money towards your new camera!!!

Look for Tiffen or Cokin filters. [ Tiffenfilters.com.au (http://www.tiffenfilters.com.au/index.php?cPath=24) ]

Good luck.

Al

Thanks for the filter tips. I have no intention of buying a new camera anytime soon. I have plenty of learning still to do on this one first!

Cat