Polarize it.. don’t criticize it.

Look at this shot of this morning:

And now look at this:

Look at the sky, and the cloud. More saturation on the blue. More separation between cloud and sky. More definition in the tree.

Because for the second shot I used a polarizer.

  1. Put it on the lens.
  2. Turn baby turn – until you see the desired effect.
  3. This effect is strongest 90 degrees perpendicular to the sun, i.e. when you are shooting 90 degrees to the right or left when the sun is behind you or in front. It is weakest parallel to the sun, i.e. when the sun is exactly behind you or in front of you.
  4. Do not leave the polarizer on – it eats a few stops of light. Only use it when you need it, and remove afterward.
  5. Do not combine with other filters, or vignetting may result.

Do you have a polarizer in your bag? If you live in a place where the sun can shine, you probably ought to.

 

6 thoughts on “Polarize it.. don’t criticize it.

    • I’ve had landscape photographers that ND and especially gradient ND filters are the best thing to use to get a ‘correct’ sky in your landscape photos. I haven’t had the opportunity to test that yet, but would love to hear other opinions on this topic.

      ~Steve

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