In conditions of bright light intensity, such as sunny days on snowy mountains or at the beach, or when using a video camera, ND (neutral density) filters are recommended as essentials.

Neutral filters have many uses and provide the ability to create results that would otherwise be impossible. ND filters reduce the amount of light reaching the camera and do not affect the color balance at all.

They have four main uses:

• To allow for slow shutter speeds where needed, to capture motion in subjects such as waterfalls, clouds, cars, seas, etc.
• To reduce depth of field, allowing for large apertures that help isolate the subject from the background.
• To lower the ISO sensitivity of high-speed films (i.e., above ISO400) and allow their use outdoors in very bright conditions.
• To enable cine cameras (which have fixed shutter speeds) to film subjects such as snow, sand, or other bright scenes that could cause overexposure.