Circular Polarizer Filters and You

Circular Polarizer Filter, medium blue

A quarter turn and voila! Royal dark blue

In hindsight I should have made three photographs for this demo. The additional photo would have been the same image without the filter. Oh well, next time. There was no Photoshop enhancement done to these images. This is all 'in the camera' work and filters. I am a huge advocate of doing 95% of photographic work right in the camera. I never think to myself, "oh I can just fix it in Photoshop and make it right." Seriously, if you think that you should just put the camera down and find another hobby. IMNSHO. Anyway, on to the lesson of the above images. The whole point of the above two images is to merely demonstrate to you what affect a circular polarizer filter mounted on your camera's lens can have on a blue sky. This is one of the many benefits of a circular polarizer lens. If you don't have one I hope this example will persuade you to get one. At the VERY least you should have a UV filter on all of your lenses. Think of a UV filter as a condom for your lens. It's protection from dust, scratches and finger prints. If a filter gets dirty or damaged it's cheap to replace. Lenses on the other hand... So, go out this weekend and get some filters, experiment and have fun with filters.

Polarizer filters are essential for outdoor photography. They deepen the intensity of blue skies; reduce or eliminate glare. Use circular polarizers for auto-focus cameras as recommended by the camera manufacturer.