It only snows three or four times a year where we live, so when it does it’s a major event. Last time it snowed, I jumped in the car and drove up the hill to see if I could get some snow photos. There was a beautiful soft sunlight, and some blue in the sky, and I went wild snapping shots in every direction. This cherry tree is perhaps one of my most successful basic snow photos. Would you believe this little guy is only about 18 inches tall? I knelt down and took him close up, with the trees in the background.
The blue sky is a result of my makeshift polarizing filter made from a cheap pair of sunglasses. A polarizing filter is especially effective when taking snow photos, as the reflected sunlight tends to make things a bit overexposed.
Snow photos shouldn’t be limited to just snow. The ominous greenish snow clouds provide all kinds of mysterious and sinister looking moments. The sun kept appearing and then disappearing again. I found a good branch configuration, and waited for it to partially appear for this haunted effect. This one is also taken with a polarizing filter, which probably adds to the pink undertones in the sky here.
There are several different kinds of lens filters serious photographers use regularly. If you have an SLR camera, you will be able to buy filters that screw onto the front of the lens. Two of the most basic filters are polarizing filters and UV filters.
UV filters
A UV filter is the most common type of lens filter. It serves to partially remove the incoming ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light isn’t a problem at sea level but as you gain altitude, UV levels increase. The blue color you see in the distance in landscape photos is generally produced by ultra violet light. Some film types are UV sensitive, and will result in a bluish tint if used at high altitude. A UV filter will solve this problem, but I understand that most digital sensors are not sensitive to ultraviolet light, so a UV filter isn’t necessary unless you are using film.
A UV filter on a digital camera probably does very little except protect the front of the lens, and perhaps help to reduce haze or smog. In most cases if you have a digital camera you won’t care about ultraviolet light, so it would be just as effective to use a plain filter of clear optical glass to avoid scratching your lens.
Polarizing filters
Polarizing filters are an entirely different type of filter. We all know that light is a series of waves. Normal light has waves that undulate in all directions. A polarizing filter is like a net that only allows light waves going in a particular direction to get through. Light reflected from certain surfaces is also polarised in a particular direction, including some of the light reflected from the sky. A polarizing filter can be used to prevent this light from entering the lens, thus reducing glare and darkening the colour of the sky.
A polarizing filter is generally used to produce deep, rich blue skies. Most filters are attached to the lens in a fixed position but a polarizing filter is rotated by the photographer. As the filter rotates, the polarizing effect increases and then decreases – looking through the lens, you simply turn the filter until you like the effect. With a polarizing filter, blue skies look great and even better when there are some white fluffy clouds to provide contrast. Be careful, though if you are using a really wide angle lens (24mm or wider)The polarizing effect may not stretch across the image frame and you could end up with an unattractive two tone sky.
A polarizing filter can be used to increase color saturation in many different areas. Green foliage and even red roof tiles can look extremely vibrant. Because the color saturation is increased, your shadows may turn out much darker than you had planned, and hide or darken some of the subject, so watch out for that.
Posted 3 years, 1 month ago at 11:00 pm. 2 comments
Should I use a polarizing filter when using a lens having an aperture of f16, but opens to f1.4?
Using a Panasonic Leica D 25 mm F1.4 SUMMILUX since it is only going to f16 for bright situations what type of filter should I use?
These two issues. 1) the possibility of using a polarizing filter is to do with whether you need to reduce reflections and improve the separation cloudy sky / when shooting with the camera pointing 90 degrees to the arc of the sun. 2) The situation brighter in which is shooting in bright sunlight. The primary exposure is 1/ISO at f/16, so with your choice of shutter speed to be sufficiently high to produce a correct exposure at f/16, which is not necessary to use a polarizer or ND filter except for very special situations, like trying to do long exposures to fetch water, such as cotton
Using a polarizing filter in landscape photography
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It only snows three or four times a year where we live, so when it does it’s a major event. Last time it snowed, I jumped in the car and drove up the hill to see if I could get some snow photos. There was a beautiful soft sunlight, and some blue in the sky, and I went wild snapping shots in every direction. This cherry tree is perhaps one of my most successful basic snow photos.
Would you believe this little guy is only about 18 inches tall? I knelt down and took him close up, with the trees in the background.
There are several different kinds of lens filters serious photographers use regularly. If you have an SLR camera, you will be able to buy filters that screw onto the front of the lens. Two of the most basic filters are polarizing filters and UV filters.
