I really want to capture some nice photos on this trip and I am new to real photography and wondering what lens filters the real photographers take with them and which ones they primarily keep on their lens (i.e. UV/haze, polarizing, etc...)? Thanks for the help.

These days with digital cameras there's really little need to have any filters at all. The effects that can be had with color filters can almost all be replicated in post production (e.g., Lightroom.) The exception would be circular polarizing filters and either circular or square ND (neutral density) filters. What you buy ultimately depends on what kind of photography you want to be doing. I plan to take ND filters with me because I like to shoot long exposure landscape photography (particularly moving water.) My advice would be to look at what other photographers are doing, think of the kind of pictures you want to take, and most importantly get out there with your camera and shoot. You don't need all kinds of filters to take good pictures. After a while you'll begin to get an idea of what you're drawn to and at that point it will be evident to you what sorts of filters, if any, you want to be carrying. Keep in mind that filters can get quite expensive. Cheap filters are a waste of money and good ones that don't distort can easily run a hundred a pop. As for a clear filter to protect your lens well that's a matter of considerable debate. There are those (and I'm one of them) that can't see the point of putting a piece of glass in front of a quality lens. I don't don't believe that a filter can actually protect the lens against breaking - if the impact is great enough to break the filter it will almost certainly damage the lens as well. Still there are others who insist on a protective clear filter and if you are one of those then be sure to get a good quality one, they tend to run about 35 - 40 bucks (B + W is always a safe bet.)

How many lenses are you taking and do they require different filter sizes?

I take 4 filters with me: a circular polarizer, an 8-stop neutral density for waterfalls and other creative uses, and rectangular 2- and 3-stop graduated neutral density filters with a gradual transition. The rectangular graduated filters can be shifted to place the transition anywhere in the frame and at any angle.

Because I have lenses that require different filter sizes, I decided long ago to use the Cokin P system. Thus all my filters can be used with all of lenses. My square or rectangular filters are polymer HiTech.

Since you are new to "real" photography, I'd suggest a circular polarizer to start. Play with it before you go. Two of its uses are that it cuts down glare on foliage and water and it darkens skies at the correct angles. You can use too much polarization so that the result looks unreal. On wide angle lenses, the polarization effect will vary across the field of view; thus the tone of a sky can be darker on one side of the frame.

Kerry mentioned post pro software, the stuff I use.

Color Efex Pro4, free from Nik Collection redoleary posted about.

A BWCA photo seminar by David Morlock, he was asked about filters on digital cameras. His response. Why put anything in the way of the most expensive, heavily designed/engineered, piece of optical equipment on your camera? If you need protection get insurance, anything else can be accomplished post. I'm no pro but that made sense to me.

butthead

PS: even a circular polarizer! bh

While it is true that post processing software offers graduated neutral density filter effects, there has to be data on which it can be used. In other words, the highlights cannot have been blown-out at the time of capture. If you want to capture the whole range of tones on your imaging chip but that range is larger than the chip can handle, then you need actual graduated neutral density filters. You could, of course, just expose for the highlights and let the shadows get blocked-up, but that is an aesthetic choice. Another way to approach the problem is through HDR image capture, but that has its own issues.

The software polarization effect is just a simulation. Not having tried it and compared it directly to an image captured with an actual polarizer, I can't comment on its effect. The software doesn't really polarize the image data because the imaging chip has no means of recording the light vectors.

By the way, if you want to try post-processing, capture your images in RAW or RAW+JPEG. The RAW images provide more data for the software.