Photography News | Issue 51 | photographynews.co.uk
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The polariser – enhances skies
Hoyastockists
These are the official UK stockists of Hoya NX-10 and Ultra-Pro filters
Blue skies can be made much more vivid with a polariser and white clouds will stand out strongly. The key technique with the polariser is to look through the camera as you rotate the polariser in its mount and stop when the effect is what you want. Its maximum effect can be too strong for some scenes – particularly if the sky is already vividly blue – and skies that look too dark don’t look right. Sometimes the filter’s effect is minimal. This is not a fault in the filter but how polarised light works and the effect is best seen on areas of sky at 90° to the sun – there is no effect facing into or directly away from the sun. Because of this, with extreme wide-angle lenses the polariser’s effect can be patchy and uneven across the sky which looks strange and unnatural.
With polariser
Priddy's Ltd Somerset
T4 Cameras Ltd www.t4cameras.co.uk
Beverley Camera Centre Limited www.beverleycameras.co.uk
Cambrian Photography Ltd www.cambrianphoto.co.uk
Camera World Ltd www.cameraworld.co.uk
Chiswick Camera Centre www.chiswickcameras.co.uk
Dale Photographic Limited www.dalephotographic.co.uk
SRS Microsystems Ltd www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk
Focus Optics www.focusoptics.eu
Without polariser
Image Aweak blue skywill usually benefit from the use of a polariser. Bemore careful with strong blue skies because they can turn almost unnaturally dark.
Photographic Hire www.photohire.co.uk
The polariser – subdues reflections
The Galway Camera Shop www.galwaycamerashop.com
settings will change as you do this. This is normal and the polariser will absorb 1 or 2EV light as it is rotated, but the camera’s autoexposure mode will account for this.
pink building, left) so shooting from front on has no effect. So, rotate the filter in its mount while observing the effect. You will see that the camera’s exposure
Reflections off glass and water can be subdued or eliminated by the polariser. The strongest effect comes when you are oblique to the reflective surface (see shots of the
Harpers Group (Woking) Ltd www.harpersphoto.co.uk
Hilton Photographic www.hiltonphoto.co.uk
The polariser – saturates colours
D.H James Photography www.dhjames.co.uk
When light rays strike a subject it reflects back in many different planes, ie. it is polarised. In practical terms you get glare and that weakens colour saturation and means detail is lost. What a polariser does is eliminate polarised light with the result of superior colour saturation and more detail and is really useful with subjects like rock surfaces, painted areas and shiny leaf foliage. As with other polariser effects the situation has to be right for the filter to be seen at its best. If you want to check the potential quickly, just hold the filter up to the eye with it facing in the direction it would be used when fitted to the lens and rotate it to examine the effect and then fit it once you’ve decided it is worth using. Generally, you have to be at an oblique angle, rather than face on, to the subject to achieve a significant effect – the optimum angle is called Brewster’s Angle.
With polariser
JRS Photo Hardware www.jrsphoto.co.uk
London Camera Exchange www.lcegroup.co.uk
Park Cameras Ltd www.parkcameras.com
Concord Foto Centre www.concordfotos.co.uk
The Camera Centre Northallerton
Camera Plus www.cameraplusni.co.uk
Camera Centre Swansea www.cameracentreswansea.co.uk
Warehouse Express Ltd www.warehouseexpress.com
FrankWilkinson Cameras Ltd www.wilkinson.co.uk
Image In receptive conditions the polariser can provide amassive benefit to showdetail and enrich colours. These shots were taken a few seconds apart.
Hoya filters are distributed in the UK by Intro2020.co.uk
Without polariser
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