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Using a Polarizing Filter

I was considering writing a short blog post about the virtues of using Polarizing filters when, while photographing in the Olympic National Park toward the end of August (see my previous post “Return to the Olympic Peninsula” ) I was shooting at Sol Duc Falls and I moved my camera from vertical to horizontal and took a couple of shots. When I checked the image on the back of the camera (yes – I am a chimper!! I can’t help myself!) I noticed that I had forgotten to re-adjust the Polarizer, resulting in an image that was not polarized at all. The resulting image is shown in the left half of the image below, the right half of the image is the polarized version. This serves as an excellent illustration of why a polarizer is an essential tool in the camerabag.

This was a very fortunate mishap as it provides a perfect example image for the post.

Note the glare on the water, the rocks and the foliage as well as the lack of saturation in the unpolarized half of the image. It is important to note that this image was not taken in direct sunlight – the sun was very low on the horizon and the scene was in shadow, however notice the amount of glare still present in the image when comparing the left-hand and right-hand images above. Both images have the exact same treatment in Adobe Camera Raw.

If interested, you can view the complete correctly polarized image here: image: Sol Duc Olympic NP #03 or my complete online landscape gallery here featuring more images of Sol Duc Falls and the Olympic National Park.

The polarizing filter is an absolute must if you are photographing any type of natural scene or landscape outdoors. The effect CANNOT be simulated in software such as photoshop! Let me say that again: the effect CANNOT be simulated in software such as photoshop!

So, let’s take a step back and start from the beginning. How do we use our polarizing filter? Firstly, some basics that you must know about polarizers to use them successfully:

1. They have the most effect at a 90 degree angle from the location of the sun and progressively less affect as that angle is reduced or increased.

2. They reduce the amount of light reaching your sensor by up to 2 stops and therefore require adjustment to your exposure settings which may effect the aesthetics of your image. A side-effect of this is that, they may be used at a pinch to lower exposure so you can shoot at a slower shutter-speed, similar to a 2-stop ND filter.

3. Due to item 1 above, they are very difficult to use with wide-angle lenses (24mm and wider) due simply to the angle of view covered by these lenses and provide uneven polarizing effect when so used. Full polarized setting when using a wide-angle lens is seldom satisfactory.

4. Use them to darken blue sky and make clouds “pop”

5. Use them to remove glare from foliage and water (as in the example above)

6. They increase color saturation

7. The Polarizing effect may not be simulated by software (this is worth repeating for a third time!) - this is something you must do in the field.

The filter itself consists of 2-rings of glass, one fixed to the filter thread on the front of your lens and the other able to be rotated, enabling you to “dial-in” the polarizing effect. Note that because these filters consist of 2- rings, rather than the single filter ring used on many other filter types (such as warming filters), the filter can be quite thick and can cause some vignetting in the corners of the image (especially when using them on a wide-angle lens). It is possible to buy special “thin” filters to help avoid this vignetting, but these thin filters normally do not come with a front filter thread which may be a disadvantage if you ever need to stack filters.

The filters come in 2 basic types linear and circular. If you are using an auto-focus camera and want the auto-focus to continue working with the filter mounted, you must use a circular polarizer as a linear one will not allow the auto-focus to work.

Like all equipment in photography, you get what you pay for, so buy the best you can afford. I am currently using B+W filters, the one on the left in the image above is an 82mm diameter “thin” filter used occassionally on my 16-35 f/2.8 super wide-angle zoom, the one on the right is a 77mm diameter Kaeseman filter used on my other lenses. The Kaeseman has a superior foil to other polarizers and is completely sealed for use in adverse conditions.

To determine if a polarizer will help in a particular image situation, you can hold the filter up in front of your eye and turn it to see if it is having any effect on the scene in front of you. If it does and you like the effect, you can then add the filter to the front of your camera. Be wary of any unwanted vignetting caused by adding the filter. With the filter on your camera lens, the actual amount of polarization can be varied by turning the outer ring of the filter. Just a quick caution here – it is best to always turn the outer rim only in the direction that you use to screw the filter on to the front of the lens so you do not inadvertently unscrew the filter. You can vary the effect from no polarization at all to maximum polarization, please note that the maximum setting may not always be the ideal setting for your situation, there is such a thing as over-polarization. For example, when using the polarizer to darken the sky the result may be a very unnatural almost-black sky or when photographing moving water (such as a waterfall) and using the polarizer to remove the glare, the effect may be water that appears to not be moving at all if maximum polarization is used, some small amount of glare may be preferable. You must exercise some judgement as to how much polarization is appropriate in any given situation and dial the effect in to taste!!

So, attach the filter to your lens and adjust the exposure to compensate for the loss of up-to 2 stops of light, dial-in the polarizing effect, keeping in mind the effect that you are trying to achieve so you don’t over-polarize as described above, compose the image and take the shot. Then always check the results by looking at the image on the back of the camera at 10x magnification and inspecting the histogram. If necessary, re-shoot the image.

It’s time to get out and make some images – happy shooting!

Sep 01, 2010 | Categories:Instructional, Technique | Tags: Filters, Instruction, Olympic National Park, Olympic NP, Photography, Polarizer, Sol Duc, Sol Duc Falls, Technique, Tutorial | Leave A Comment »

Return to the Olympic Peninsula

In my earlier article the lavender farms of Sequim Washington. I stated that I intended to return to the Olympic Peninsula and to Hurricane Ridge and Sol Duc Falls in particular. The intention was to be able to photograph from Hurricane Ridge and Sol Duc falls in better light than the last time I visited. The previous visits to these locations were really just scouting and familiarization visits. So, during late August, I made my way back to the Olympic Peninsula. This was my third trip to the Peninsula this year and the first on my own, with the express goal being to create certain photographs.

This time I stayed at the Heart O’ the Hills campground 5 miles up Hurricane Ridge Road from Port Angeles. This location provides for excellent early-morning access to Hurricane ridge itself and easy access to the other Northern reaches of the Peninsula. This is a National Park Services campground with running water and other facilities, but no showers – however – who can’t put up with a little inconvenience?

After arriving and setting up camp, I ventured up Hurricane Ridge Road for a Sunset shoot, I didn’t travel all the way to the top of the Ridge, but stopped at a viewpoint part-way up the hill. The moon was rising beyond the mountains and the setting sun was playing over the snow-capped peaks. Although it was within an hour of sunset, the light was not ideal and the sky was not particularly clear. I noted immediately that the amount of snow was somewhat less than when we had visited less than a month earlier. I selected my 70-200 f/2.8 lens and isolated the peaks. The addition of a B+W Polarizer helped cut through the haze and darken the Blue sky. I also found it necessary to add a Graduated Neutral-Density (ND Grad) Soft-edged filter to help hold-back the sky about 1 stop. I left my white-balance set to daylight and made a few exposures like the one to the left.

I quite like this shot, in particular the shapes formed by the foothills and the mountains and the way the shadows are falling on the landscape. I had trouble deciding whether to use the daylight white-balance setting straight out of the camera which had a moody blue cast, or this version with the white-balance adjusted to give more accurate color, in the end I chose this version.

I also tried a few shots including the moon, but since the moon was quite high in the sky, it resulted in a lot of unwanted “white-space”. Also, since the moon was not a full moon and was very small in the frame, I decided it was not worth pursuing.

The following morning, I was up before 5:00 A.M and made my way up to the top of Hurricane Ridge before sunrise. This time, I used my 24-105 f/4 lens and tried for some wider shots including more of the landscape. Again I used Daylight white-balance (adjusted to shade in post) my Polarizer to saturate the colors and darken the sky and my ND Grad (2-stops) to reduce the exposure of the sky. The image at the top of this post is one example image:

This morning, the light was much better than my previous visit to Hurricane Ridge and there was a nice red glow to the sky, with the sun, coming from the left of the image lighting the top of he mountain peaks.

Another image from this same morning is below:

In this case, I really like the rhythm created by the repeating shapes and diagonal lines of the mountains and the foothills. After the light became a little too bright for my liking, I spent some time on the trails around Hurricane Ridge. Apart from 2 deer that came to visit me while I was photographing the mountains and a Grouse that was rummaging around in the grass with her chick in tow, I didn’t see any other wildlife that morning. I returned to my camp after that for breakfast and to catch up on some sleep.

Later in the day, I drove the 70 or so miles west to the Sol Duc entrance to the park and made my way to Sol Duc falls. Last time I visited the falls, it was mid afternoon and I had to use HDR techniques to achieve a usable photograph. This time I arrived at the falls later in the day and with the intention of waiting until the sun sunk below the horizon. I made use of my 24-105 f/4 lens and my polarizer (note – a polarizer is essential here to remove the glare from the leaves surrounding the falls and to provide more saturated foliage) to produce the image below:

This time I was much more pleased with the results than the earlier visit and shot a few variations which can be seen in my gallery.

There will be a post coming soon which discusses more about this location and the advantages and use of a polarizing filter to achieve images like his one.

The next morning, I was again up before 5 AM and made my way up the Hurricane Ridge Road to the same viewpoint I had found on the first night. This was a magical morning, when I left camp, the sky was clear and the stars were shining. When I reached my viewpoint, cloud was just starting to roll-in below me from the Strait of Juan de Fuca and as I stood there it steadily continued to roll-in until the entire valley below me was a sea of luminous white with the sun rising behind me, it was an absolutely beautiful scene. I was able to use my 70-200 f/2.8 lens to isolate portions of the scene below. Examples are in the images below:

After the sun had risen and the light was getting too harsh at this location, I drove down to Madison Falls just past the Elwha entrance to the park and made a few images of these falls in the early morning light before returning to the camp for breakfast and then making my way back home.

So, I returned to the Northern reaches of the Olympic Peninsula with the intention of gathering images from Hurrican Ridge and Sol Duc falls in perfect light. This I achieved and additionally learnt the value of scoping out a location and then returning later with specific images in mind. Next time I return to this location, I plan to do it when there is more snow on the peaks.

It’s time to get out and make some images – happy shooting!

To View further images from this trip and to purchase images, visit my gallery.

Aug 29, 2010 | Categories:Local, Technique, Travel | Tags: Elwha, Hurricane Ridge, Madison Falls, Olympic National Park, Olympic NP, Olympic Peninsula, Photography, Sol Duc, Sol Duc Falls, Summer, Technique | 1 Comment »

Book Review: Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style – Alain Briot

As promised in my earlier post My Top Ten Favorite Instructional Photography Books this is the first review of one of the books listed in that post.

Number 10 of My Top Ten Favorite Instructional Photography Books is Alain Briot’s Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style.

Alain Briot (website: www.beautiful-landscape.com) is a very accomplished landscape photographer living in the Arizona area and specializing in photographing the Southwestern United States. Alain teaches photography workshops and this book is one of two that he uses as a text in his composition workshops.

The book is published by rockynook and is of excellent quality and lavishly illustrated with examples of the authors work.

The main subject of the book is composition as it relates to Landscape Photography, in particular Fine-Art Landscape Photography. But it also covers a number of other related areas.

This book is definitely not for beginners and is quite different from any other instructional landscape photography book that I have read. It is a book about composition, but does not cover the normal “basics” such as the rule of thirds and depth of field, but rather delves deeply into color theory and calculation of sunrise and sunset times. It certainly got me thinking about these items and I learnt many new skills from it.

Alain tackles areas of landscape photography that you may not have considered and demonstrates his in-depth knowledge of those topics. Examples include “finding the best light” which demonstrates how to make use of methods for finding sunrise and sunset times, including the use of astronomical software. “Composing with color” is also covered with a detailed discussion and explanation on how to make use of the Munsell Color System. There are also a number of detailed checklists included that are worth noting and incorporating in your own workflow. He also touches on such atypical topics as developing a personal style and identifying your audience.

Alain employs a rather wordy style that may not appeal to all readers, but that I personally quite enjoy.

I rated this book as number 10 of my favorite 10 instructional photography books. The reason it did not score higher up the list is that I believe it would appeal to a smaller audience than the others I have listed. Having said that I really enjoyed this book and learnt a great deal from it.

If you are looking for a book that will teach you the very “basics” of landscape photography, then I would argue that this is not the book for you, however if you are already familiar with the basics and are seeking help with taking you to the next level, then you should definitely give this volume a look.

Note: Featured Post image is Diablo Lake, North Cascades National Park.

Aug 25, 2010 | Categories:Book Review, Books | Tags: Book Review, Books, Composition, Instruction, Photography, Publications, Technique | 3 Comments »

The North Cascades Loop

Toward the very Northern reaches of Washington State, close to the border with Canada sits the wilderness areas of North Cascades National Park and Ross Lake Recreation area. The Skagit River Valley leads the way up here from the west. The cold, clear, glacial fed, Skagit river provides a spawning ground for Salmon, a winter feeding ground for American Bald Eagles and a source of clean Hydro-Electric power for the Greater Seattle area. Being Glacial-fed, the rivers and lakes in this area have a very attractive turquoise coloring not seen elsewhere. It is said that the animals living in this park are truly wild and not used to Human activity, unlike the almost-tame wildlife at the top of Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park mentioned in my previous post.

Our trip took us through the scenic drive known as the “Cascades loop”. We spent 3 nights camping in the Ross Lake Recreation Area, at Newhalem, close to the North Cascades NP and 1 night close to the western-themed town of Winthrop. The company town of Newhalem served as our base-camp for the first part of our trip. Newhalem is owned by Seattle City light who operate the dams and power stations in this vicinity. From Newhalem, you have unfettered access to the National Park and the various lakes and Dams that form the power project. There are very few roads leading into the wilderness, but there are several vantage points along the main highway that offer nice scenic views.

The Eastern side of the Cascade Range offers a startling contrast to the Western slopes as Lush forest lands give way to a dry, hot landscape reminiscent of many western movies. Nowhere is more fitting for the location of Washington’s own wild-west-styled township of Winthrop. This was our second stop and we camped at Pearrygin lake. Winthrop is a neat litte town with plenty of photographic opportunities. Just before arriving at Winthrop, you cross the spectacular vista of Washington pass, this provides an awesome sight, including 7740ft Liberty Bell Mountain and Kangaroo Ridge. There is a lookout that is an easy short walk that provides all-around views ideal for panoramic photography. Unfortunately we were just passing and it was around mid-day and the sun was very harsh, so not good at all for photography.

The following day we completed our tour around the loop, past beautiful Lake Chelan and with a stop in the Bavarian-style town of Leavenworth.

The Cascades loop is certainly an adventure to be experienced and true photographic opportunities abound. All you have to do is get yourself there!! We plan on making the trip again next-year, this time with a better idea of the photographic opportunities, we can plan better to be more prepared for them.

Check out more photographs from the Cascade’s loop, or to purchase images, visit my Landscape Gallery.

Aug 21, 2010 | Categories:Local, Travel | Tags: Lake Chelan, Leavenworth, Newhalem, North Cascades National Park, Photography, Ross Lake Recreation Area, Skagit, Skagit River, Skagt Valley, Washington Pass, Winthrop | 3 Comments »

My Top Ten Favorite Instructional Photography Books

Like most Photographgers, I have amassed a small library of photography related books over the course of the last few years. Below I have listed in my order of preference, my favorite “instructional” photography books. This is the list as it stands now, as with any such subjective listing it is subject to change over time both as new books are added to my library and as my needs change.

I plan to post a review of each of these books on my blog over the next few months.

Photographing the World Around You – Freeman Patterson
Photography and the Art of Seeing – Freeman Patterson
Fine Art Nature Photography – Tony Sweet
The Photographer’s Eye – Michael Freeman
The Art of Photographing Nature – Art Wolfe, Martha Hill
Fine Art Flower Photography – Tony Sweet
Within The Frame – David Duchemin
Vision Mongers – David Duchemin
Real World Image Sharpening with photoshop CS2 – Bruce Fraser
Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style – Alain Briot

Aug 06, 2010 | Categories:Books, Instructional, Publications | Tags: Books, Composition, Instruction, Photography, Technique | 1 Comment »

The Lavender Farms of Sequim Washington

Welcome to my Blog and my site. Please take some time to explore the rest of my site via the image archive menu.

First let me introduce myself. I am a semi-professional photographer based in Washington State, close to Seattle. When not working at my day job, I am working on improving my photography and adding to my image archive.

I am planning to use this Blog to share my thoughts about photography, my travel and photographic excursions, some techniques and beginner tips and occasional reviews. By sharing my photography and my thoughts I am hoping that my own photography will continue to improve and to help others.

For my first post, I thought I would share some details of a recent trip my family and I made to Sequim on the Olympic peninsula. Sequim is located in the “Rain Shadow” of the Olympic mountains, meaning it doesn’t get all of the rain that the western side of the peninsula and Seattle do. The low rainfall makes conditions at Sequim very good for growing lavender and there are many lavender farms located in this area. Every year during July, they hold an annual lavender festival and we timed our trip to arrive just before the festival so we could experience the lavender fields in full bloom while missing the crowds and traffic that the festival attracts. This of course should make for ideal conditions to photograph the fields.

We made the trip over on a Tuesday morning, taking the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston, which is a very convenient way to travel over to the Olympic peninsula saving a great deal of driving compared to taking the Tacoma Narrows bridge and driving up the Kitsap peninsula. We stayed at a campsite close to Sequim and after getting ourselves settled in, took a drive to check-out the Lavender fields. We found “Purple Haze” to be the easiest accessible, especially late in the day when the light is best and the fields are closed. Also, the owner is very photographer friendly. When we arrived there, there were 4 or 5 other photographers with tripods, who had the same idea as I had. The day was clear, the sun was low and the light wasn’t bad, although still a little bright for my liking. Surprisingly, when the sun had dropped further and the light was beautiful and tinged with gold, all of the other photographers were gone and I had the fields to myself. I attribute this to the early morning and late evening hours I have spent out waiting for the perfect light during many a landscape shoot.

The image above of some red poppies in amongst the lavender field was one of the images from that scouting session, not a brilliant photograph, but it does illustrate the beautiful quality of light later in the day after the other phtographers had left. The image was shot at 90 degrees to the the sun, which was to my right, so a B+W Polarizer was used to reduce the glare off the foliage and flowers and to increase the saturation of the colors.

We returned the next evening and I created the image below:

This is my favorite image from the trip. It is a combination of 2 images shot at 2 different exposures and combined in photoshop. The lower part of the image was shot at 1 second at f/16 and the sky was shot at .4 seconds at f/16. This was done to reduce the amount of blown-out highlights in the sky to a minimum. The star effect of the sun is caused by shooting into the sun with a small aperture. Whenever taking a photograph into the sun like this be careful not to look at the sun, I tend to use live-view a lot in these situations, so I can compose the image on the screen on the back of the camera and not through the viewfinder and lens. If you try this be very careful as you are exposing the digital sensor directly to the sun and it may be damaged, so it is best to compose your image on the live view as quickly as possible so the sensor is exposed for as short a time as possible.

We also made a trip up Hurricane ridge to scout out the location. I had the idea that I might get myself up here early one morning and get some photographs around sunrise, that however never happened! I had seen images taken up here and they were quite impressive highlighting the beautiful scenery! It is a very nice location with fantastic views of the surrounding mountains and a local deer population that, although wild is quite used to the prescence of people, enabling close-up shots to be made with quite a modest telephoto lens such as a 70-200. This is a must-visit location for any Seattle-Based photographers interested in Nature and landscape photography.

The image to the left is a sketch shot taken around midday in harsh light, but it does highlight the fantastic scenery up there. Note the wildflowers in the foreground, apparently, Hurricane Ridge is not the best location for wildflower images, so I was surprised to see these when I was there.

We also visited Sol Duc falls, again a scouting trip in bad light, with the intention to return later. In this case, since the sky was bright and we were under a canopy of trees, the light was almost impossible for normal photography, even sketch shots. Using HDR techniques, I did manage to get a couple of sketch shots that are not too bad, like the one below. This shot is an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image created from 7 images, each 1-stop of exposure apart. Some adjustment was then required in Camera Raw and Photoshop. I particularly like the light beam coming in from the top left corner and the way it is highlighted in the spray from the falls. When shooting from the other direction, from the bridge seen above the falls, this produces a rainbow effect.

To conclude, I discovered many excellent photographic subjects in the area of Sequim and Northern Olympic peninsula. I intend to return again soon, specifically to photograph Hurricane Ridge and Sol Duc falls in better light when I can create more compelling images.

Aug 01, 2010 | Categories:Local, Travel | Tags: Flowers, HDR, Hurricane Ridge, Lavender, Olympic National Park, Olympic Pensula, Photography, Sequim, Sol Duc, Summer | 1 Comment »

Using a Polarizing Filter

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Return to the Olympic Peninsula

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Book Review: Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style – Alain Briot

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The North Cascades Loop

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My Top Ten Favorite Instructional Photography Books

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The Lavender Farms of Sequim Washington

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Using a Polarizing Filter

Return to the Olympic Peninsula

Book Review: Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style – Alain Briot

The North Cascades Loop

My Top Ten Favorite Instructional Photography Books

The Lavender Farms of Sequim Washington

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