Polarizer power - give your landscapes more oomph!

View from John's Family Conservancy with (above) and without (below) a polarizer filter.

Whenever I am shooting landscapes, especially scenes of nature involving water and sky, I like to have a polarizer filter on my lens.  Although the effect of such a filter is more dramatic when clouds are either absent or sparse, even cloudy days benefit from its use.  Blue skies become more vivid, water loses some of the reflection, and the land loses some of the day's blue cast.  The effect the polarizer has on the image relies heavily on the time of day and your angle to the sun.

Photos from Akoara, New Zealand.  Above - with polarizer.  Below - no polarizer.

You can see from the photos above that a polarizer doesn't always have the same dramatic effect on a scene.  The images on the left show a significant difference with the colours of all the elements being strongly affected.  The shots on the right show only subtle changes; the most dramatic being the colour and clarity of the ocean.

Using a polarizer is simple.  Buy one that is the same size as the lens you use for most of your landscapes.  For me, it is for my 24-70 "S" series lens (Nikon Z).  I don't use one for my ultra wide angle lenses due to the wide variation across the image at extreme wide angles.  You can buy cheap filters, but it doesn't make sense to put a cheap filter on an expensive lens.  Expect to pay around $100 for a decent filter, the price varies with the size of the filter.

Rotate the filter on the end of the lens and watch how the image changes.  Stop the rotation when you find just the right position.  Take your photo.  To compare it to not having a polarizer, rotate the filter 90 degrees and shoot again.  You can compare the two images as I have done here when you have time.  I think you will be amazed.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Harjit Bahia - Science teacher and colleague from Garibaldi died August 2, 2024

Image
You will be missed Mr. Bahia.  You made a difference and we are sad you are gone. I keep in loose contact with my fellow retired teachers from Garibaldi Secondary School.  I talked with my long-time friend, Mike Lynch, today, and discovered that Hargit died over the summer.  Unbeknownst to him, he had an underlying heart condition and passed away after working out on his treadmill.  The date was August 2, 2024. I was shocked to hear this.  He was only 49 years old, turning 50 some 3 months later.  It was a shock to everyone, for he was loved by all who knew him.  As a teacher, Mr. Bahia was kind and fun.  He contributed to students in many ways and was always available to help those in need.   For myself, I knew him as a fellow science teacher and taught in the adjoining room to him.  He was always available to help, share ideas, and work together.  Easy to approach, I found that I could talk to him about anything and appreciat...
Read more

I found a black widow spider in a plant pot today

Image
The spider I found is a western black widow spider, one of three species of black widow that occur in North America.  The fact that this one has another red patch on the back of its abdomen above the spinnerettes tells us that it is an immature individual. The one thing that people know about black widow spiders is that they are extremely poisonous.  Their venom is something like 15x more toxic than that of a rattlesnake.  The saving grace is that there is very little venom injected from a black widow bite than what a rattlesnake can deliver.   The good news is that black widow bites seldom lead to death.  You are more likely to suffer nausea, muscle pain, and swelling around the bite.  Symptoms usually last only 12 hours or so.  Death may be a result in people with compromised immune systems or in the very young or the elderly.   In 2018, it was reported that there were 1015 cases of people bitten by black widows.  Of those, there ...
Read more

The passing of a generation

Image
Kathryn's mom and dad with our children, Josh and Leanne. A generation, for North America, tends to be between 20 and 30 years.  During that time a couple will give birth and raise children to see them repeat the pattern as they themselves have done.  Each generation has its own set of standards, values, and ideals based upon their experiences and culture, and some of that is passed down to their offspring.  What changes are the life experiences of the following generation and the new customs and ideals that are blended together as a couple becomes a family. Kathryn's mom passed away a few days ago, she was predeceased by her husband several years ago.  Both of them were the grandparents of my children, the mother and father of my wife, Kathryn.  It was my pleasure to know them and to love them as my own, for to me they were Mom and Dad.  And they were there to welcome my children into the world just as my children were with them in spirit when they left it...
Read more