During the pandemic, I got very interested in contrast reducers to add some depth to my photos. There are several kinds and I'm not going to go too deep into all of the different kinds. Right now, there is a ton of material on the web about these because they're a hot topic and they are used frequently in movies and TV. My preferred choices are black mist - either from brands or homemade - and a star filter. This small article is about black mist filters.

A few weeks ago, a nice lady from Kent & Faith Concept reached out to me and offered me try out one of their products. So, I jumped on that opportunity because K&F Concept filters have been on my radar for a long while. Below is my experience with the Black Mist Filter at 1/4 strength.

Why Black Mist and Contrast Reducers?

There's a recent love for anything vintage and old-school. The fact that Dua Lipa's last album is named Future Nostalgia and is full of disco vibes and the show Euphoria being shot on film. These filters are riding this retro wave and they have become very very popular.

Digital of Camille with a 1/2 Black Mist Pro.

These filters give ultra sharp digital photos some extra soul by making them look more film-like and straight out of the 60s and 70s with the hazy overall effect in the photograph. There's an amazing Photographer and YouTuber from Detroit who's style is defined by the use of this filters for his subjects - his name is Vuhlandes. Check him out for mostly analog use of these filters.

Beside the old-school aesthetic, another reason why I specifically love these filters is that it cuts down on editing time for me. It softens skin and reduces the need to skin retouch, so I spend less time in front of the computer retouching. Finding this out was a real lovely side bonus.

Film of Laurine with a home-made filter.

The Look

Like a good contrast reducer, Black Mist filters opens up the shadows and black spots in a photograph. This makes a digital photo look more like film and film photos look vintage. The highlights or lightest part of a photo usually become softer in intensity and bloom out - the light seems to spread out and create an aura around the source - in a lovely and delicate way. Together, these two effects add a haze effect to the image and gives it a more vintage look.

These filters are measured in steps of intensity - my wife and I own 1, 1/2 and now 1/4 thanks to K&F Concept.

Real World Use

The first filter I have used was a homemade one. It's ok, but the challenge of homemade filters is that they get dirty and you have to redo the effect without any way to control the strength of the effect. This is where the brand filters come in. Below are some model test shots I did with a homemade filter. You can see how muddy the sky becomes, even a little on the dirty side because the filter picked up dirt and the quality of the glass was low.

Our 1/2 Black Pro Mist from Tiffen works lovely with film, but tends to be a bit too hazy for digital. Mist filters behave differently depending of the lighting conditions. They work well in direct sunlight, but land on the hazy side in back-lit situations. Here are some photos I took Spring last year of my wife and kids in the cherry trees of Parc Sceaux. You can see how white and milky they look for being mostly back-litm regardless of being a little underexposed.

In comparison, the 1/4 Black Mist from K&F Concept retains the blooming well enough specially from back-lit subjects without being too strong. In direct light, it works amazing. It opens up the shadows enough to know that something is going on and the highlights are perfect with the light blooming.

Digital of my wife with K&F Concept Black Pro Mist 1/4 .

Digital of Cassandra with K&F Concept Black Pro Mist 1/4 . Note the subtle blooming on the flowers and pants.

Left without Filter, Right with Filter - K&F Concept Black Pro Mist 1/4 .

The one thing I found out while testing the filter out is that it is not the best for landscape photography - it came out a little too unsharp in the details of the Tuileries test. It may be pixel peeping, but I mostly focus on people so this doesn't really apply to me. In the example below, it was taken with our Canon 5D4 plus our 70-200mm and applied the same setting in Lightroom. You can see how much it opens up the shadows and it warms up the photo a little bit which can easily be corrected. For my uses, it does the job good enough for Paris scenes.

Final thoughts

So far, I'm incredibly pleased with this filter. It really doesn't come as a surprise to me after seeing a bunch of positive reviews on Youtube. Their pricing is not bad at all as well and it comes in a nice circular case. This is why I accepted the offer from K&F Concept - they seem to be on a good path with their Pro Mist line in terms of quality and performance. I may pick up another 1/4 to explore Pro Mist filters on video, maybe even a 1/2 to see if it's more subtle compared to our Tiffen 1/2.

If you're interested in testing these out, the good lady from K&F Concept sent me a code for 10 percent off their France Webstore and a link to their Amazon France store. Links are below.

Happy shooting!

K&F Concept Store: https://bit.ly/3wsXfy4 -10% : 01FRKF10
Amazon France: https://amzn.to/3qMweBq