Photo Tip, Landscapes: Polarizing Filters

My "first love" of photography, the type of photography I like the most--taking landscapes. Few things excite me more than a nice landscape photograph I've managed to capture.

Without polarizing filter (L), with polarizing filter (R)
(Image via Wikipedia.Org)

One tool which has been used for many years towards helping make landscape shots as vibrant as possible, a tool from the film-days which is still in usage even in this digital era: a polarizing filter.

An image I took July 2012 during my trip to Jaser ARK.
I credit the usage of a CPL polarizing filter as a large
reason why the clouds stand out so much & the colors
are so rich, this is an un-altered shot.
(20120727_124915_rsf_epl1)

A polarizing filter (here is another article on the subject, which goes in great detail) is a filter which screws onto the front of a camera's lens (provided that camera's lens accepts screw-on attachments, which most "enthusiast" or pro/amateur-grade cameras & their lenses will). It acts much as polarized sunglasses (this Wikipedia article explains it in more detail) in filtering out certain elements of light--in doing so, reflections on water are minimized, edge detail can be rendered in more crisp detail, and colors are deeper & richer. Clouds in the photo tend to stand out more. The photo above illustrates this effect very clearly.

Once you attach the filter, you rotate the concentric ring and look through your camera's viewfinder (or the back of the LCD) until you get the effect you want. Typically, at some point, you will see the skies darken & you will also see the f-stop/shutter speeds change reflecting a reduction in light. This is normal, as polarizing filters tend to reduce light by about 1 f-stop.

Older polarizing filters were "linear," newer ones are "circular." I'm not aware of the technical differences, except for this important consideration: autofocus cameras must use the circular type. Often-times the filter will have "CPL" embossed somewhere to designate it being this type. You also have to make sure the filter is the right size for your lens, look for the filter size on your lens, usually designated in millimeters (mm); often-times you will see the "Ø" symbol, as in "Ø 52mm," (in this case, 52mm), designating the filter-size.

Polarizing filters run for $20-30 depending on where you get them (I've been able to find them for $8 on occasion at sites like Fred Miranda).