The Easy Way To Improve Your Landscapes With Polarizing Filter
A polarizing filter is a very valuable tool. It is of special help if you shoot a landscape and have to cope with harsh light.
Wikipedia says: ‘A polarizing filter, used both in color and black and white photography, can be used to darken overly light skies. Because the clouds are relatively unchanged, the contrast between the clouds and the sky is increased. Atmospheric haze and reflected sunlight are also reduced, and in color photographs overall color saturation is increased. Polarizers are often used to deal with situations involving reflections, such as those involving water or glass, including pictures taken through glass windows.
Polarizers are the type of filter whose use is least affected by digital photography; while effects that may visually resemble the results of a polarizing filter can be simulated with software post-processing, many of the optical properties of polarization control at the time of capture simply cannot be replicated, particularly those involving reflections.
There are two types of polarizing filters.
* A LINEAR polarizer filter transmits one of two states of linearly polarized light.
* A CIRCULAR polarizer (sometimes called a CPL filter) similarly selects a linear state but then converts it to circularly polarized light, by adding a birefringent layer (typically a quarter-wave plate) to the filter after the linear polarizer. The metering and auto-focus sensors in certain cameras, including virtually all SLRs, will not work properly with linear polarizers, both because of the mirror and because of the beam-splitters used to split off the light for focusing and metering. Circular polarizers will work with all types of cameras.’
You should be particularly careful when you choose a polarizing filter. As mentioned above, a circular polarizing filer suits any digital camera. That is why you’d better choose this kind of filter. It is important, because it enables an auto focus system and exposure settings work properly.
There is no special skills you need to use a polarizing filter. The rules are very easy:
1. The sun should be as low above the horizon as possible. Besides it should on either side of the camera. You will get the best results if the sun is at a 90 degree angle from the camera.
2. Rotate a moveable front part of a filter to change contrast and brightness of hotspots on surfaces. As a result of these easy manipulations, reflection and hotspots on the water, glass, leaves and other non-metallic surfaces can be reduced (or deleted completely. It will make the colors more saturated and textures better distinctive. Still, remember that metallic and hard hotspots.
3. Clear sky can change its color from grayish blue to accurate azure.
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