Circular Polarizer Example

[Loupey]

Thought I'd share a recent shoot when the CP came in handy.

I rarely use the CP for darkening an already blue sky (which I think often pushes an image over-the-top), but I do use it to control water reflections (when I remember to bring it ).

The CP doesn't always work to this degree as it depends on the shooting direction in relation to the light and how polarized the reflected light is. Although one would adjust the exposure to compensate for the "filter factor" being used, I kept all 4 of these samples at the same exposure to show the exact effect of the filter. Obviously the first one has the least amount of reflections eliminated and so it was the closest to what I actually saw (albeit overexposed).

So simply dial-in the amount of reflections desired to suit your taste for a given scene.

Hope it helps :thumbsup:

[another view]

Wow, another great example from you! I agree about the sky with polarizers, and they do help a lot around water. A picture is worth a thousand words!

[Frog]

Great examples....sky maybe not but it sure can help with clouds.

[JETA]

Loupey, this is an amazing example. I love the over the top skies, but haven't tried my polarizer too much with water other then a day hike on Mt. Rainier.

I was curious if you are using a heliopan polarizer.

Do you need to apply the same 90 degree rule with the sun? (hope that's not a stupid question)

[Loupey]

...Do you need to apply the same 90 degree rule with the sun? (hope that's not a stupid question)

No not stupid at all! With reflections the applicable usage is slightly ambiguous - sometimes it works great, sometimes not so much. But because the reflecting surface is a plane (unless there are a lot of rapids) and the light being reflected is typically the clouds, the light will usually be highly polarized - meaning it can be easily filtered out.

[JETA]

No not stupid at all! With reflections the applicable usage is slightly ambiguous - sometimes it works great, sometimes not so much. But because the reflecting surface is a plane (unless there are a lot of rapids) and the light being reflected is typically the clouds, the light will usually be highly polarized - meaning it can be easily filtered out.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the explanation Loupey!