Using the polarizing filter!

Hello, I'm going to Iceland next month so I think my polarizing filter will come in handy for landscape shots! Anyway, I went to the field behind my house and took some photo's because it was rather sunny this afternoon.

Looking for advice on how to use the Polarizing filter better, and generally improve my landscape photos.

They were all taken with the 18 - 55mm Kit lens at 18mm. Rest of my stuff is in my sig.

The photo uploader has pretty much broken so here's a Imgur album:

Testing Polarizing Filter - Imgur

thank you!

Although a polarizer can darken the blue sky, it does not do so evenly across the sky. Shooting a clear blue sky with a wide-angle lens will accentuate the difference of the polarization naturally present in the sky.

For instance, here's a shot taken of the northern sky at about 3:00 in the afternoon:



This is an SOOC image, and you can readily see the band of dark blue across the sky.


Add a polarizer, and the effect is magnified:




Unless you're shooting around 35mm or longer, don't use a polarizer to darken the blue sky. Use it, instead, to cut reflections from shiny surfaces and increase color saturation.

Good. Looks like you've got the point - the clouds are accentuated just enough as to be pleasantly visible/distinguished against the sky. Keep on mind that you can do lots of other things with polarizer: "killing" the excessive shining of the glass, water etc. surfaces, "brighten" the people's faces (by contrasting them against the sky or other parts of the surroundings)...

Ahhh OK, so would it not be useful to use in a very white environment? (Iceland) I don't really know what to expect from the skies there but I think It'll mostly be cloudy. thanks

It can be very, very useful in "snow-white" environments. The matter of fact, polarizer will help very much exactly in environments described as "cloudy", "foggy" etc.
Aurora Borealis, rainbow, snowy hills and plains, large areas covered with the woods...

Thank you! I was pleasantly surprised when I opened these images on Lightroom and realise I had to do little post production. I changed the filter to "daylight" to accent those colours a little bit.

I heard this as well, thank goodness I managed to get one from my grandfathers old kit because they seem to be very expensive! I was testing it out to make sure it worked optimally because it is about 30/40 years old or around that.

No problem about it, as long as you can tell it is not heavily scratched or broken, and rotates without difficulty... Be so kind and post the photos of that polarizer (close-up).

Mineores said:

Ahhh OK, so would it not be useful to use in a very white environment? (Iceland) I don't really know what to expect from the skies there but I think It'll mostly be cloudy. thanks

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It is not about white, it is about wide. The 18mm DX lens is equivalent view of 24mm FX, which is wider than the polarizing effect - which darkens blue sky at 90 degrees to the sun - but 18 mm (24 mm FX) is 75 degrees wide, so some of the view is not very close to 90 degrees. You will get more even acceptable results with a longer lens for a more narrow view. maybe at least 24mm DX or 35mm FX (54 degrees wide) ought to improve it. And better, 75mm DX (50mm FX) is 40 degrees wide.

The 18mm DX is actually an equivalent to 28mm FX. I remember having good results back in the old days, using polarizer with my Nikon FM and a 28mm f/2.8...

This is my polarizing filter.

So I should take landscape shots with the polarizing filter at 24mm/75mm to get the best results?

Mineores said:

So I should take landscape shots with the polarizing filter at 24mm/75mm to get the best results?

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Take them at whatever focal length you need. What you need to be careful of is using too wide a FL with a blue sky.

Good filter. Yes, you can, and you should use it. Like colleagues already stated, it's usefulness is relative to the lens's focal length, but I am sure the polarizer will be of a great help to you in Iceland (just like anywhere else)...

I didn't know this information, lots to learn in photography!

thanks for every bodies help!

DraganDL said:

The 18mm DX is actually an equivalent to 28mm FX. I remember having good results back in the old days, using polarizer with my Nikon FM and a 28mm f/2.8...

Click to expand...

You are right, sorry.

16 mm DX matches 24mm FX.
18 mm DX matches 27mm FX (1.5x).

Both are a bit wide to not show bands or variation in a Polaroid blue sky picture.

Polarizer in snow covered, foggy conditions or reflections is when to use your polarizer. If you see a rainbow put on your polarizer and turn it until that rainbow colour pops or turn it and rainbow will disappear. Even on cloudy days snow is very reflective and you get a lot more light than you would with a green landscape.

I think of my CPOL as my cameras sunglasses. If you have a good pair of sunglasses you'll notice that somethings just look better when your sunglasses are on your eyes, take off your sunglasses and what seemed like a great shot suddenly looks blah, glaringly bright or covered in reflections. Oh in winter is when I use my absolute darkest sunglasses because the glare on the snow on a bright sunny day is far brighter than in summer and can cause snow blindness so make sure you pack sunglasses for your eyes too.

While on holidays I came across a lot of beautiful water falls but the sky was cloudy and Blah but I was able to use my CPOL to slow my shutter enough to smooth my waterfalls. It's a small and handy thing to put in your bag