Circular polarizer question - when do you use them?

jrogers

Circular polarizer question - when do you use them?

I know you use them to reduce reflections, make the sky more blue, but what other situations do you use one? What situations do you not use them?

Thanks in advance.

John

zoomer

Don't use them when you are making a large pano. Depending on direction of the photo the sky will be uneven. To some people that is not an issue.

The effect is strongest at 90 degrees from the sunrise and sunset. Shooting into the sunrise or sunset there is practically no effect.

Also reflections are a good time to break out the polarizer, it will knock down reflections.

Remember the polarizer robs light so if you are in marginal dark light is may slow your shutter speed unacceptably. On the other hand if you want to slow your shutter speed like for water, it may help you to be able to use a slower shutter speed.

Every landscape photographer should have one in the bag.

kdog

zoomer wrote:

The effect is strongest at 90 degrees from the sunrise and sunset. Shooting into the sunrise or sunset there is practically no effect.

I would state this a little differently, Zoomer. See if you don't agree.

The effect is strongest at 90 degrees from the sun (not sunrise/sunset). Shooting into or away from the sunrise or sunset there is practically no effect.

To the first point, if the sun was directly overhead, then shooting toward the horizon would give the most effect. The CP is most useful when the sun is high and strong because that's when it tends to wash out colors otherwise. The effect is diminished at sunrise and sunset because there's less light overall, and so less glare to deal with.

Dedalus77

I use mine quite a bit on very bright days, like shooting at the beach or on a cloudless day. The only lens I don't use it on is my ultrawide zoom.

jrogers

zoomer wrote:

Don't use them when you are making a large pano. Depending on direction of the photo the sky will be uneven. To some people that is not an issue.

Good point! I do a lot of panos

System

Dedalus77 wrote:

I use mine quite a bit on very bright days, like shooting at the beach or on a cloudless day. The only lens I don't use it on is my ultrawide zoom.

I have a Sigma 10-20 and never use it on that lens. There is an uneven effect with an ultra wide angle.

pathfinder

Polarizers are usually suggested to not be used on lenses wider than about 28mm equivalent on a full frame camera or ~ 18mm on a crop body, due to the variation in the sky due to the extreme angle of vue. A large panos is essentially a wide angle lens in the final angle of vue.

Polarizers are often used after the rain, to capture saturated foliage, or in front of an ND when shooting water falls. Reflections in windows, etc.

rpcrowe

I use mine when
Actually shooting in the Southwest United States, I use my polarizer quite a bit.

It will of course darken the skies and enhance the clouds but an added benefit of darkening the skies is reducing the overall dynamic exposure range somewhat, often to a point more manageable than without the CPL.

I use it to take the reflections out of rock formations and foliage and deepen the color saturation.

I will use it whenever I am shooting over water or if I have glass, such as windows, which I am shooting through or which is reflecting into my frame.

I use the CPL simply as a neutral density filter when shooting water that is running or falling in order to get a slower shutter speed. I am beginning to experiment with a combination of CPL and linear polarizer which makes into a "poor man's variable neutral density filter". ( http://digital-photography-school.com/create-your-own-variable-neutral-density-filter ) My jury is still out on that combination.

In fact, when I go out shooting for the day, I have CPL filters on the two lenses with which I am shooting. I shoot with two cameras and two lenses; so sharing a single filter is not an option. Expensive, yes, but necessary.

I generally don't take off the CPL filters unless I in a situation in which their use is contraindicated. Such situations are often in low light levels. However, when shooting the Hoh Rainforest on Washington States Olympic Peninsula, I used a CPL filter. The CPL reduced/removed much of the reflection from the wet foliage and so the colors were more saturated. I did, however, need a tripod for this shooting since the light level was low.

astockwell

I'm gonna weigh in on this, and say that I have a Polarizer FAQ work in progress over at the other forum I post at. It is still in-complete. Once it is ready for prime time I will throw it up.

Hash

Polrisers - not always for reflections !
I recently used this filter at night shooting an etched, transparent, illuminated acrylic vertical building sign for a client, to reduce not just the glare but also the flare of the light. Shot from a 60 foot high aerial mast to meet the height of the sign. Used a Canon 5dMk2, 24-105 lens- shot taken at manual settings F4 - 0.3 second - ISO 3200 92mm