Another well done polarizing filter demonstration.

Polarizing Filters for Photo and Video on Vimeo

Polarizers are my all-time favorite filters. Every time I get a lens with a new thread size, the first thing I do is get a polarizer for it.

Dan, this is the tutorial I needed, thanks. I love her explanation of things.

Jeff.....Keep this in mind. Polarizers remove light reflections from non metalic surfaces when you are shooting about 90 degrees angle to the sun. Not all light from one direction as she states.

Mark

Thanks Mark, I didn't get to that point in the video, I had to go to bed, but will re-watch it with your caveat in mind!

By the time I've got the essentials down for using the GH2, I will actually have the knowedlge and experience to take some halfway decent photos, not just video.

This is an advantage of using these cameras for me, as I've wanted to learn more about photography anyway!

This is an advantage of using these cameras for me, as I've wanted to learn more about photography anyway!

Other than the stunning video quality, this is my favorite thing about using the GH1. When shooting a wedding, I snap some stills that I use for DVD packaging artwork -- it sure beats having to request them from the hired photographer!

Love her site. The way she talks about ring lights makes me want to put a ring on her finger.

Well yes, she is completely adorable and I could probably listen to to her talk about Ring-Dings for 4 minutes as well, but it's worth mentioning that the idea is not always to remove reflections to reveal the "true color" of everything in nature. It's an artistic choice to be made on a case-by-case basis. In the first example, she illustrates how a polarizer can take a beautiful reflection in the water and turn it into murky pea soup (yes, it's the true color of the water--but is it what you want?).

So I'll augment Ms. Olivia's demo by saying that picking the times to use a pola is something that comes with practice and experimentation.

I generally use them to deepen blue skies, which is when the 90 degree rule Mark mentioned comes into effect--they don't do anything for the sky when the sun is behind or in front of you, only to one side or the other. Mark, your statement is a little confused I believe--a pola will still work on reflections regardless of sun position. A good example is a car windshield (another great use of a pola); you can dial out a great deal of sky or cloud reflection in glass when angled at 45 degrees (that's why windshields are perfect for this), regardless of one's orientation to the sun.

Finally--polarizers are not light switches, they are continuously variable, so it's worth considering a partial effect in many cases. Given Olivia's first example again, I might set the pola to a 50% effect, which would increase saturation in the greens but still retain some reflection in the water. When shooting a hood mount setup on a traveling car, it's tempting to dial out all of the reflections on the windshield but if your path takes you through a nice looking overhead canopy of trees, it might be a good choice to allow a small amount of reflection to remain. Again--it's a total choice.





it's also not an all or nothing proposition, you may want to just dial out a partial amount of reflection or deepen skies halfway so they don't look too saturated.

Well yes, she is completely adorable and I could probably listen to to her talk about Ring-Dings for 4 minutes as well, but it's worth mentioning that the idea is not always to remove reflections to reveal the "true color" of everything in nature. It's an artistic choice to be made on a case-by-case basis. In the first example, she illustrates how a polarizer can take a beautiful reflection in the water and turn it into murky pea soup (yes, it's the true color of the water--but is it what you want?).

.

Yes, I liked Olivia's video, but I thought the shot looked better without the filter, but it was nonetheless illustrative.

The main benefit for to me is they really improve the look of grass and foilage in bright sunlight. Blue skies are a nice bonus when needed, but I value most the shots of couples amongst greenery and how much nicer, warmer things look with a polarizer.

I love what polarizers do as well, especially what they do with skies. But I agree with Charles and would like to add that on some textures such as the roof shingles of the building in the 2nd demo that textures can look so flat that they look kinda weird. Also, besides car chrome and glass reflections they can 'darken' down street asphalt, another nice benefit.