Winter Commute

My commute this morning was very beautiful and peaceful. Coming from the Northeast corner of U.S. we get our fair share of winter conditions. Last week and this week has left us with a healthy amount of snow. Today I intentionally left an hour early so I could enjoy it from not just the window, but through the lens. It was very peaceful to watch the fog dissipate and allow the sun to come through briefly. Shortly after the sun came out, it disappeared again for the rest of the day. A quick snow shower came and brought with it a little chill in the air for the commute back. It truly was a post ice storm wonderland this morning. As I was shooting, I was surrounded by the sounds of falling ice. It was devastating, yet magnificent at the same time. It was a tad bit warmer than usual this morning, hence the ice falling. Below are a few images I made on my commute.

About the photos: I read an article earlier in the week about shooting on a "grey day". The article was filled with lots of misinformation that could really put off an amateur photographer or someone new to the medium. In terms of photography, there is no such day as a "grey day". That term is reserved for an overcast day that produces, depending on the value of darkness, some really good lighting for shooting portraits. The article was very false in the sense that it conveyed a biased opinion on how to shoot on this type of day. A day that is over cast has, for the most part, depending on the quality of light-low dynamic range. This means there is no high key lighting to work with to create shadows and bright highlights. For the images above I put a polarizing filter on my lens and set my exposure. Had I not, I would have either had to increase the shutter speed or f-stop to compensate. At that point I still would not get such a dramatic sky while retaining a nice exposure in foreground. When you are shooting on an overcast day, think monochrome, (black and white). You want to have a nice even tonal range from the blacks to what ever whites you can produce. Ultimately you want to have a nice sky that is not pure white. This is where the polarizing filter came into play. Referring back to what I read, the article mentioned black and white but did not express having nice strong blacks while having the mid-tone greys that really convey the sense of mood fused with some sort of high lights. Instead, it just said, think black and white. Days of low dynamic range, over cast days, are not particularly best for tons of color images. This is why I made sure to convert to black and white in post processing. There are a number of ways to convert an image to black and white. You need to keep in mind the contrast to create the deeper black that makes the image POP, and come to life. You really want to avoid an all grey, flat, murky image. If you are unsure of what a polarizing filter is, you can read about it here: Polarizing Filter If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. This was just a very quick introduction to the idea of shooting on an over cast day and using a filter to pull in a nice sky to create a complete tonality in your photographs.

Polarizing Filter: The right application and where to use them.

Polarizing filters are among the fewest filters needed in digital photography. The days of lugging around a massive collection of filters to use with the film you are shooting are, well, over. Inside my camera bag I have one filter. A SunPak Polarizing Filter. I have had it since I have had my DSLR. It has been a great addition to my camera bag. I am going to show to examples of what a Polarizing filter is needed and used for.

I have a pair of not-so-expensive pair of sunglasses that I bought last year. I bought them at the mall, thinking they look great, but they wont be that great. I was wrong. They are polarized with a warm tone to them. Yes, I said warm tone. They offer a warmth about them that combined with the polarizing lenses makes viewing everything more beautiful and enjoyable to look at.

 

 

I have been thinking about landscapes a lot more lately as the weather is getting nice and the trees are filling in. On my way into my studio last week I finally decided to stop and make a few photographs of this one particular area that I pass quite frequently. I took out my camera and my filter and mounted it to the front of the lens. Now, before I got any further, I must explain that filters can be a little tricky to use. During my search to find the right page to link to that has the filter for sale, I found negative reviews about the product. This particular filter requires a little bit of knowledge before you just go and slap it on and make photographs. The two sets of images below will give a visual to assist in the explanation. A polarizing filter is designed to intensify the blue in the sky and make the photograph pop. It also adds a little bit of contrast to further increase “the pop” that the photo will have. 

 

Without Filter                       With Filter

 

 

If you look closely at the image on the left you will see that it is over exposed. You could take the image into photoshop and or lightroom to bring down the exposure and brightness a little bit. However, this is one more step to your work flow that could have been avoided by using the filter. While I was making these photographs, I did not have the intention of writing this article. But, it came to me while I was shooting. So, what I did was take the filter off and made a  photograph. Both sets of images, the top and bottom, all have the same camera settings. The photograph without filter is set to ISO 100  F4.5  1/180 sec. Which is the same for the photograph with the filter If these numbers are alien to you. Let me explain, ISO acts like what film speed used to, allowing the light to pass in fast. F 4.5 is the f-stop the size of the opening of the lens. Rule of thumb I created when I was young, smaller the number the larger the opening, which allows the most light to come in, 1/180 refers to 180th of a second, the time needed to make the exposure. It took 1/180th of a second to expose the photograph.

Basically when you are going to use the filter you have set the camera to give a slight over exposure. As you can see in both sets of images, the scene is over exposed. When you place the filter on the lens it brings down the exposure. Polarizing filters require more exposure in order to function properly. Polarizing filters require a +1 - +2 increase for exposures. (If you notice the image of the filter above, you will see that it is very dark for a filter, in comparison to a UV filter, which is clear and used to protect the front of your lens) This means if the meter in the camera reads the landscape at 1/250 you need to pull it down to around 1/180 with the filter.  One thing that I did see while reading the very harsh reviews of the filter was that it was hard to focus the lens in. If this is the case, simply set the camera to manual focus. 90% of my images are made using manual focus. This allows me to set the focus to get the sharpest image possible. I have noticed with some lenses, using it on auto focus can leave the image with a slight blur. Regardless, if you do experience a blur, just make sure you set the camera or lens to manual focus.

 

Without Filter                                           With Filter    

  

 

Landscape photography is basically the only application in terms of using a polarizing filter. Think water and sky when you think you need to use a polarizing filter. You wouldn’t want to be using one for shooting portraits. Using a polarizing filter will cut down on the editing and post-processing you will need to do to your photographs. The image with the filter has a slight vignette to it and that is it. Everything else was made in camera. If you decide to search for other reviews of the lens, make sure they discuss how to use it before the make accusations about the quality or worthiness of the product. The review that I read makes no warrant as how the product functions or the application (landscape) in which needed. It is a review written without idea as to how it works, functions, or when a polarizing filter is needed. Filters are sold based on peoples ability to use them. Though the Sunpak is a cheaper more economical purchase, it functions just as good as the pricier ones. And the examples above show for this. 

Wikipedia and Filters

 

Hoya Filters are arguably the best to use. They are more pricier.

 

Below are three examples of HDR images that I used a Polarizing Filter on to increase the dynamics even further.