Lesson #11: Polarizing lens filter

It's been quite a while since I've done a post about something technical. Last week I told you about that Pilbara Gem Conzinc Bay and began to tell you about my adventures with the Polarizing filter I have. It really does warrant a post to it's own because let's face it, that sucker is difficult!

I have a circular polarizing filter. Now, I am not savvy with angles with the sun or any of that technical stuff, I point and shoot what looks good. Lesson 11 is that you really should pay more attention to the technical stuff because polarizers, while brilliant, can really mess with your colours if you don't use them right. They are magnificent on the water and taking the glare out, but in the sky - especially when taking a panorama (this I don't actually recommend)  - it can be temperamental, it can make other colours dark and even unreal at times.

While on my photographic adventure in Conzinc Bay I was pretty snap happy taking panoramas. The trouble was I was on the rocks,  with a beautiful scene on each side and the sun heading pretty much well overhead. I had to keep rotating the filter so that the colours were OK. Trouble was a lot of time when the glare was completely gone from the water, the surrounds were darker, meaning I had to do a fair bit of lightening in post production. And stitching a panorama with a polarizer?  Forget it. You can do it, but it ruins the sky. I guess it would be OK if you had no sky.

I took these examples especially for this blog.

NO FILTER: Five portraits stitched. EOS 50D, f/13, 1/250, ISO 160 shutter, 18mm. Slight enhancements in photoshop

WITH FILTER: Five portraits stitched. EOS 50D, f/11, 1/160 shutter, ISO 250, 18mm.

You'll notice I adjusted the settings - I was still trying to take a good photo both times (while crouching in bare feet crawling with ants on hot rocks). Notice how you can see better colours in the water in the polarized shot, but the rocks look nicer in the non polarized shot. You can also see how half the sky is darker in the polarized shot. Just different techniques I guess. I must admit though, I love how the polarizer works on the water.

Still learning!