I bought this cool set Fractal filters a while ago, to add creativity to portraits. Not only do these things look like a crazy set of knuckle-dusters, they are fun to work with. Creative lighting effects are a great way to enhance your portraits, and the Fractal filters are an inexpensive way to add an endless source of variety.
Combined with the setting sun behind the trees, I was able to move the filters around to get a cool kind of halo effect which I really liked. These photos are all using the square Fractal filter, which is a big circle gridded with a pattern of squares (kind of. I'm good at descriptions, right? See what it actually looks like at the bottom of the page).
Kind of losing Glen a bit in this one, but I love how the light is framing Falon.
I really like this one. The filters are easy to use as you just sort of move them around while snapping away, to get a variety of effects. This was shot with my 5D Mark II with Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 wide open. The low f-stop is key to getting the Fractal result.
More of a subtle effect on this one, using the Pac-Man Fractal filter. I don't think that's what it's actually called. But it's a circle with a triangle taken out of it, so... it looks like Pac-Man.
I like how this one looks like fire. By this time of the evening, there really wasn't much light coming through those trees, so I love that the Fractals bring a bit of punch to the light and give it a whimsical feel. It feels like an overlay added in post, but shoots like this SOOC.
They also work really well to block out unwanted elements from the background. It wasn't so much of an issue here, because the setting was pretty stunning, but the Pac-Man filter in particular is great for screening chairs and tables and other random junk out of the background of reception and indoor shots.
Here are the three filters that you get in the set.
Pac-Man filter for scale. See what a strange-looking knuckle duster it makes?
They come in a high-quality carry case, which I usually slip onto my Spider Holster belt.
Have you seen the Fractal filters in use before? What effect do you like best?