Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Circular Polarizer: The most amazing filter.

The polarizing filter is one of the most useful filters there is. It should be a part of every photographer’s kit

So, what does this filter do and how does it affect my pictures? First, you have to understand that light is made up of “photons”. Any light source (flash, sun, lamp) is giving off billions of photons. When these photons hit an object (face, car, landscape) and are reflected into our eyes, we sense the color and number (intensity) of the photons and our brain turns this into a picture.
However, photons have a hidden property, and that is polarity. A photons polarity is measured in degrees (0-360), just like on a compass. When light hits a non-metallic surface (glass, water, anything reflective but metals), it’s polarity shifts. Our eyes can’t tell the difference between the original photons and the shifted photons.

When you use a polarizing filter, it can block any light that has been shifted. This means that the glare off of a window will disappear because all the shifted photons (light) have been blocked. The usually result is that when looking at glass or a pool of water, you see through the glass or water and the glare disappears. This magical property allows you to take a picture and see a world without glare!

Glare is the enemy of all Photographers! So, why is glare bad?

  • Reflections off someone’s glasses can ruin a picture.
  • Glare hides what’s behind glass or below the surface of a pool of water.
  • Glare hides the beauty of a great paint job (i.e. cars, boats, …).

A Polarizer has many effects on pictures you take:

  • Glare reduction: By rotating the filter, you can virtually eliminate any glare except that caused by metallic objects (e.g. chrome)
  • Greener plants
  • Bluer sky’s
  • Generally more saturated colors without changing color balance
  • Increases contrast with black & white film

How to select the correct Polarizing filter:Many of today's cameras use semi-silvered mirrors or prisms to split the light entering the viewfinder in order to calculate exposure and focusing distance. PL (Linear Polarizing) filters can sometimes interact with these items to give unpredictable exposure or focusing. Experts recommend that you choose a Circular Polarizing filter unless you have a manual focus camera which has no beam splitter.

To find a great selection of Circular Polarizers, go to Keith's Cameras

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Tripods – An Essential tool for any photographer


The first thing you should buy after you purchase a camera is a Tripod. You may not use one every time you shoot, but there will be times when you just can’t do without one.

Sharper pictures, especially in low light. You or your camera can sometimes decide to use a slow shutter speed in order to capture a picture. This happens most often when there is little available and a flash can not be used. Typical situations are: nighttime, sunset, sunrise, inside a Museum or Church. If you don’t use a Tripod or something else to stabilize the camera, the pictures will appear blurry. This happens because your body moves just a tiny bit every time your heart beats. When your body moves, so does the camera. To isolate your camera from your heart, use a Tripod.

Getting yourself in the picture. Most cameras have a timer function. This timer is designed to let you press the shutter release and then race in front of the camera so you can get in a picture with the rest of your friends. The only problem is focusing the camera before you have to do your mad dash. With a Tripod, you point the camera, press the shutter release and then run. Ten seconds later you have a picture that includes you!

Taking a number of pictures from the same point. There are many times when it makes sense to take a number of pictures from the same point in space.

  • Exposure Bracketing. This is when you take multiple pictures of the same subject with different exposures. This is done to make sure that at least one of your pictures turns out OK

  • Time Lapse: You want to show the same subject at different times of the day.

  • Panorama: You take a number of pictures of a landscape, with each one using a different angle. Useful when you want to capture a mountain range or something that doesn’t fit in the usual 8x10 print.

So, like that green credit card, Tripods, Don’t leave home without one!

For a great selection of Tripods, go to Keith's Cameras.