What filter should I use to avoid overly-whitened daylight images?

Question

What filter should I use to avoid whitened images (blown highlights) caused by intense daylight? At the moment I am only using an UV Filter, but it doesn't solve the whole problem.

I am a newbie in photography, and I've recently bought a Nikon DSLR.

Answer 1

Do you mean over-exposed? If so, use +/- button. That is Exposure-Compensation and lets you make things darker by going negative.

A UV filter does nothing for brightness, usually makes things worst only. Take off and replace with polarizer that darkens the sky (sometimes, if not cloudy).

Answer 2

If you are indeed referring to your images having too much contrast to allow for both a properly exposed subject and sky, then there are a few options.

1. As Zak stated, you could use exposure compensation to darken the entire image (this might make the non-sky portion of the image too dark though)
2. Use a graduated neutral density filter. This will selectively darken one part of an image while leaving the other part alone. This is the old-school method. While it typically limits the transition between the filtered and unfiltered parts to a straight line, it does allow you to fix things at the time of the shot without having to spend time tweaking it on the computer afterwards.
3. HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. This is the hi-tech way to do things. This requires that you take multiple shots of the same scene at different exposures and use software to combine them into one image where both the highlights and shadows are well-exposed.

Answer 3

If you want longer exposure during daylight you would use a grey filter. You only need that if you want reduce the shutter speed to a lower value.