I have just bought a screw in Hoya circular polarising filter, but am not sure how to use it. I notice that there is a small notch on it and I believe that best results are 90 degrees to the sun - does that mean if I am shooting into the sun then I rotate the notch to 3 (or 9) o clock position?
Advice on how to use Polarising filter?
- Thread starter strider
- Start date
Freester
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 1,602
- Name
- Mark
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Don't worry about the notch or any markings. Just get used to seeing the difference it makes.
Best thing is to get out on a bright day (blue sky) and point the camera at the sky. Rotate the Filter (best if you turn it in the 'screwing in' direction) and you will notice the blue get darker and lighter.
Once you're used to it just set the blue to the setting you want whilst composing the shot. In my experience rotating to the deepest blue sometimes looks a bit unreal so quite often turning back an eighth or quarter of a turn...
Best thing is to get out on a bright day (blue sky) and point the camera at the sky. Rotate the Filter (best if you turn it in the 'screwing in' direction) and you will notice the blue get darker and lighter.
Once you're used to it just set the blue to the setting you want whilst composing the shot. In my experience rotating to the deepest blue sometimes looks a bit unreal so quite often turning back an eighth or quarter of a turn...
photon
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 5,123
- Edit My Images
- Yes
That means that you should have the sun to your side e.g. face north or south at sunrise/sunset.
Don't forget that it can also be used to reduce reflections on things like windows and water. Particularly useful in shots in sunny climes with clear seas as you can choose between the shine on the surface of the water or being able to see some way beneath.
RichieRich
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 223
- Edit My Images
- No
When there are clouds in the sky you`ll find that rotating the CP varies the amount of detail revealed in the clouds - with the most detail normally visible at the deepest blue setting. At this point you`ll also gain maximum detail from everything else in the scene.
joaquimjssoares
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 70
- Name
- Joaquim
- Edit My Images
- Yes
You'll have no problems using it. Just rotate the polarizer and point to the sky or to a reflection (water or glass). You'll see the difference immediately. THen it's up to you. When you think you get the right picture, just shoot.
Look through your viewfinder and rotate the front ring as stated above. Never mind about the sun angle - you will see the changes through your viewfinder. There will be less change if the sun is not in the right position for optimum polarization, but you will choose your shot normally for composition and then get whatever help the polarizer will give you.
With a large hood, it is often difficult to rotate the front ring. I just insert one finger against the knurled ring and rotate that ring. I use a screw in round hood on my 70-200mm f/4L IS lens. The CPL fits on the lens and the hood is screwed into the CPL (if the CPL is not a front thread-less wide angle model). I rotate the CPL by simply rotating the hood. It works great! It doesn't vignette used on a 1.6x camera and it protects the lens from flare and from damage as well as the OEM hood.
A few more uses for a CPL which I did not notice anyone mentioning:
Deepening the color of the sky also reduces the dynamic range of the image to one which can be captured by the sensor - fewer burned out white skies.
The reduction of reflections does wonders for foliage - especially wet or damp foliage. I even used a CPL to great effect in the Hoh Rainforest of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. The reduction of reflections allowed a better saturation of the color of the (constantly wet) foliage. The 2 stop or so light reduction forced me to use a tripod but, that was a good trade off.
The CPL will also do a great job in capturing saturated colors in rock formations due to elimination/reduction of reflections. This is very evident in pictures of the red colored rock formations in the State of Utah.
CPL will reduce the reflections of water droplets and other particulates in the air and thus reduce the impact of haze and fog on your image.
The CPL is one of the few filters the effects of which cannot normally be duplicated in Photoshop. As an example, in reducing reflections from water and windows, you can see beneath the water and through the windows. You cannot duplicate that in Photoshop because you never had the image of what was under the water or behind the window in the first place.
With a large hood, it is often difficult to rotate the front ring. I just insert one finger against the knurled ring and rotate that ring. I use a screw in round hood on my 70-200mm f/4L IS lens. The CPL fits on the lens and the hood is screwed into the CPL (if the CPL is not a front thread-less wide angle model). I rotate the CPL by simply rotating the hood. It works great! It doesn't vignette used on a 1.6x camera and it protects the lens from flare and from damage as well as the OEM hood.
A few more uses for a CPL which I did not notice anyone mentioning:
Deepening the color of the sky also reduces the dynamic range of the image to one which can be captured by the sensor - fewer burned out white skies.
The reduction of reflections does wonders for foliage - especially wet or damp foliage. I even used a CPL to great effect in the Hoh Rainforest of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. The reduction of reflections allowed a better saturation of the color of the (constantly wet) foliage. The 2 stop or so light reduction forced me to use a tripod but, that was a good trade off.
The CPL will also do a great job in capturing saturated colors in rock formations due to elimination/reduction of reflections. This is very evident in pictures of the red colored rock formations in the State of Utah.
CPL will reduce the reflections of water droplets and other particulates in the air and thus reduce the impact of haze and fog on your image.
The CPL is one of the few filters the effects of which cannot normally be duplicated in Photoshop. As an example, in reducing reflections from water and windows, you can see beneath the water and through the windows. You cannot duplicate that in Photoshop because you never had the image of what was under the water or behind the window in the first place.
RichieRich
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 223
- Edit My Images
- No
That advice from rpcrowe is good and pretty comprehensive. The only bit I`d disagree with is `never mind about the sun angle` as the relative position of the sun with affect the effectiveness of the polarisation (although there may be occasions where you simply have to shoot from a certain angle at a certain time to get the composition you want). The rest of the description is top notch.
What I meant to convey is don't compose your image predicated on how the angle of the sun impacts your polarizer. Instead, compose your image predicated on lighting and the general elements that lend impact to that image. Polarization should not be a main concern when selecting camera angle...
RichieRich
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 223
- Edit My Images
- No
Yep true. Now that you`ve elaborated I`m complete agreement.