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02/06/2011 04:01:42 AM · #1 |
I often use a circular polarizer to enhance blue skies in my shots and today was my first experience at doing so using my 10-20mm (at 10mm). Strangely, as I rotated the filter I could only get it to darken small areas of the sky, whereas I usually manage to cover all of the sky when using it with other lenses. Below is an example of what I'm talking about. The shot is an outake from my Leading Lines entry, so I'v removed everything except the sky. Is this usual? Am I doing something wrong?
Qiki.
Message edited by author 2011-02-06 04:03:08. |
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02/06/2011 04:11:26 AM · #2 |
Nope, it's a consequence of the wide angle of view.
Polarization varies in relation to the obliqueness to the light source (the sun). You get maximum polarization at 90 degrees, so if your lens has a wide field of view, you'll be able to see this variation very acutely. With a limited field of view, it's still there, but not as noticeable.
Most people don't shoot with polarizers on ultrawides, but some enjoy the effect in certain circumstances (myself being one of those).
ETA: If you're interested in the nerdistry of this all-
Luminous Landscape Polarizers
Circular Polarizer wiki
Message edited by author 2011-02-06 04:14:43. |
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02/06/2011 04:21:22 AM · #3 |
Originally posted by spiritualspatula:
Nope, it's a consequence of the wide angle of view.
Polarization varies in relation to the obliqueness to the light source (the sun). You get maximum polarization at 90 degrees, so if your lens has a wide field of view, you'll be able to see this variation very acutely. With a limited field of view, it's still there, but not as noticeable.
Most people don't shoot with polarizers on ultrawides, but some enjoy the effect in certain circumstances (myself being one of those).
ETA: If you're interested in the nerdistry of this all-
Luminous Landscape Polarizers
Circular Polarizer wiki |
Thanks. I do understand how polarizers work and so kinda figured if you went wide enough you'd be likely to experience this. I just wasn't sure how wide you needed to be. I did manage to darken the entire sky with the same lens in other shots in similar condtions, but with it zoomed to around 13-14mm. I guess 10mm was just a little too wide though. Need to remember this for future reference. |
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02/06/2011 04:28:23 AM · #4 |
The big thing is where the sun is-
You'll see it less if the sun is behind you because assuming a 102 degree FoV, you're still not getting 90 degree angle relative to the sun, so you don't have full polarization to zero polarization. You'll still have the effect, in this case you'd have a bright spot dead center with dark blue edges, like a vignette, but it won't be as pronounced as if the sun was directly to your left or right, in which case you'd have maximum polarization along with zero polarization and the brightness due to the proximity of the sun in the frame (perhaps even flaring). |
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