Prior to my trip to Walt Disney World back in October, I bought a few fun camera gadgets. One of which was a set of plastic KOLA manual color filters (you hold them over your lens or flash). Here are a group of photos taken with my point-and-shoot at Epcot with the filters, specifically at the Mexico Pavilion, and a review.
My DSLR was back at the hotel watching pay-per-view movies.
I figured, since I was taking photos of an ancient temple built in the 1980s, using the filters would add another level of amazingness. Yes. A bullet list of my feelings about the filters is at the bottom of the post. There, I made it easy for you.
This one and the first were taken with a yellowish filter. See how it messes with those greens a bit? Outstanding. Someone bumped me while I was shooting, so that’ why this is a bit crooked. I swear. I showed them, though. I slashed the tires of their motorized scooter.
Not really.
Aw yeah. This is where it got good. Using a red filter here, and I had to tweak it a bit in Photoshop. I like the crazy, surreal look I got goin’ on here. It seemed appropriate for a temple covered in lizard heads. This reminds me of a dream I had once after eating too much spicy food.
The trick with the red filter is that you need a lot of light, and a creepy subject.
I got a bit carried away here. It happens. Looks like St. Patrick’s Day vomited all over Mexico. Yuck.
The original shot, see below, was very very red. I had to do some Photoshop magic to get it somewhat usable.
Same as above, but without any Photoshop work done. Interesting, but not a lot of details, just like this review.
Back to the yellowish filter here, and a better framed shot.
- Are the KOLA manual color filters worth the money? Yes, if you want an affordable camera gadget. They are around $15, which ain’t bad.
- Are they fun? Absolutely. I had a fun time using them with my point-and-shot, my DSLR and my camera-phone.
- What do you get? A ring of nine or so colored plastic squares. They are held together with one of those ball-chain things, which I was not a fan of. It made it difficult to flip through the filters quickly.
- How do you use the KOLA color filters? You hold them in front of your lens or your flash. If you hold them in front of the lens, everything is tinted. If it is in front of the light source, only what is hit by the light gets changed. Easy. Holding the filters in front of a point-and-shoot lens is easier for hand-held shooting. For a DSLR, I would recommend a tripod, especially for longer lenses (that’s what she said).
- Any other comments? I noticed that my filters got scratched really easily, so be careful how and where you store them. They may not really show up in the final shot, but it is something to keep in mind.
- Would you recommend the KOLA manual color filters to a friend? Heck yes. As I said, they are fun. And some times you just need to do some fun, goofy shooting.
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Daniel J. Hogan is a freelance writer, podcaster, and a photoblogger. He enjoys eating at Mexican restaurants in Lansing, Michigan. Follow him on Twitter, @danieljhogan.
