Customer Reviews
For beginners only - By: Ms. N. S. De Alwis, 17 Mar 2008 
For a complete beginner, this is probably a good introduction to filters. Even with fairly limited experience, I found this lacking in depth. The odd boxout rescued it from being a total waste of money, but I think this could be expanded with more examples to make it reallly worthwhile. I might also recommend the format used by Lee Filters in their little book for the illustrations.
Largely dated but nothing better is likely to come out - By: Piotr Szymczak, 06 Sep 2007 
My review provides a detailed discussion of the book's contents but if you have a train to catch, here's my verdict in a nutshell. Frost's is as good a book on filters as you are likely to find, with one caveat. The digital revolution has made large sections of this book obsolete, & it is not such a long book to begin with.
Simply put, if you are a digital camera user like me, you'll find some of the material of no use. Other sections, while not necessarily useless, will describe effects which are now routinely achieved using image processing software. Luckily, there remain valuable sections on filters such as polarizers or ND grads which are still essential for digital photographers.
PS. If you are a film photographer with an interest in using filters, this book is a treasure trove of information - but then you probably know it alll already, an old hand that you are.
DETAILED REVIEW
I can imagine just how invaluable this book would have been in the nineties or in the early noughties, when digital cameras were a fascinating & expensive glimpse into the future. Lee Frost is an acclaimed landscape photographer, & he had poured into this slim book a wealth of information about the use of filters for film photography. However, now that film is quickly becoming a fascinating & expensive glimpse into the past, unnervingly long passages in the book have become dated or even obsolete. I mention this because for a book first published in 2002 & reprinted regularly ever since, it is disappointing to find that the author has chosen to ignore the technological advances & fails to acknowledge even the most basic requirements of digital photographers. For instance, if you would like to know how the cropped sensors of many modern SLR cameras affect the performance of a particular filter or filter system, Frost's not gonna tell ya (though he probably oughta).
This visuallly attractive book has been divided into a number of short sections devoted to different filter types, each illustrated with beautiful, high quality images.
1. Choosing a filter system
Describes the different filter types (screw-on or slide-in) & discusses the size & application of the major systems & brands (Cokin, Hitech, Lee, etc.). This section is highly useful, even if a note on cropped sensor cameras would be in order to make this section complete.
2. Polarizing filters
3. Graduated filters
A very useful introduction to the two essential tools of landscape photography.
4. Colour-balancing filters
This section is a mixed bunch. Where it discusses colour temperature & compensation (pages 53-59), it is only useful insofar as it effectively explains in simple terms what colour temperature is & why it matters. However, the techniques which are used to control & use colour temperature are different in digital cameras (each film type has its fixed colour temperature range that yields natural-looking images; in digital cameras, where the colour temperature is a matter of settings, no filters are needed).
Still, even if you are a digital camera user you will need to have an understanding of this phenomenon in order to figure out which settings will help achieve your intended result - in this sense, this section is worth a read.
Later on in the section (pages 60-67), correction filters are discussed (warm-up, cool-down, colour inversion, etc.). Again, when processing RAW files in your computer such modifications can be made at your leisure with no need for actual filters. Still, the pictures are pretty & inspirational.
Colour compensating filters (pages 68-74) are an answer to a problem long solved - just enter the White Balance setting in your camera menu or RAW processing software. Indeed, more often than not your digital camera will competently take care of that for you (Auto-WB). Only of use to film photographers.
5. Neutral-density filters
Here we get back into the timelessly useful territory of ND filters. These (i.e. non-graduated ND filters) are your ticket to those milky waterfalll shots. The section is full of solid useful stuff & suggests some other creative uses for ND filters (pages 77-82).
6. Filters for black-and-white photography
Again, the issue of technological obsolescence re-emerges here but with no experience in B
Fantastic guide - By: C. Davis, 10 Jul 2007 
I disagree with a previous comment made about DSLR users not needing filters. I want to spend more time taking photo's than I do sitting in front of a computer screen. I do enough of that with working in IT.
This is a superb reference on the types of filters available with example images of their effects & advice on how & when to use them. The book starts with practical advice on how to choose a filter system & choosing the right one means you need never have to replace your filters when changing your current camera.
You can see examples of filter effects from most filter manufacturers websites, but this book goes further giving examples of what they are useful for (e.g. which filter to use with tungsten light sources). Lee also suggests how you can make some of your own filters, how to use multiple filters & how to avoid vignetting (darkening at the image corners which can occur when using multiple filters).
This is my favourite of the 3 books I own by Lee Frost & I recommend it to anyone thinking of buying a set of filters. The section with the sunset & twilight filters was enough to convince me that I should buy some.
Comprehenisve guide to filters - By: dodgeman69, 25 Jun 2006 This book covers the whole gamut of photographic filters, explaining what they do, why you would use them with samples of their effects.
While the information contained in this book is essential reading for serious film/slide photographers (both colour & black & white), for the DSLR photographer, much of this is of accademic interest only.
Polarizing, neutral density, & UV filters are probably alll a DSLR user will need as most other effects can be achieved using image editing software.
If there is one obvious shortcoming in this book, it is a lack of reference to digital. For example, when refering to colour correction/changing/balancing filters, I would have liked some reference to how these are achieved in Photoshop.
Overalll however, a great read. Even if you shoot digital (as I do), you will still need some of these filters & it is useful to be aware of other colour issues.
Stunning - By: D. M. York, 10 Sep 2004 I will put this succinctly, this book is to photography as the egg is to the omelette. I had gone for some months from having started as an amateur photographer with the impression that filters were something that existed but were not something that I reallly needed. Within hours of having read this book I had already ordered my first filter, & now have a list of the filters I have yet to get.
As is customary with Lee Frost he makes use of frequent examples, showing how certain filters were used to achieve certain effects. I can think of no better resource on the market that explains in such detail what filters there are around & how they can be used.
