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Everything you ever needed to know about circular polarising filters

Jun 9, 2022 by Alex Baker Leave a Comment

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I remember when I first started out in photography I found all the different types of filters to be a bit confusing. I honestly didn’t know my ND Grad filter from my UV filter. And I had no idea about when and why you might want to use a polarising filter. Of course, since then, I’ve studied and learnt a lot.

These days the post-processing options are so good that there are really only a couple of filters that are truly indispensable. One of these is the circular polarising filter. In this video, Christopher Frost walks you through exactly when, why and how to use one.

So what does a polarising filter do? Fundamentally, as Christopher explains in the video, they absorb polarised light, which is normally light that is reflected off a non-metallic surface, including the sky.

In real terms then, what does this do to your photography? Essentially they can reduce reflections from many types of surfaces like water or glass. They also appear to saturate colours more, so foliage will appear greener and skies appear bluer.

Christopher includes lots of examples of with and without the filter in the video, which is a really great way to easily illustrate its effects. He reminds us that the full effects won’t be even on an extreme wide-angle lens such as a 14mm, however, because the filter works best when standing at a 90-degree angle to the sun.

One thing I learnt from this video was that the filter can render screens completely black because often they are emitting polarised light. This makes perfect sense actually since my polaroid sunglasses also create this effect. The other thing to remember is that you don’t have to spend a small fortune to get a good circular polarising filter.

 

 

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Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: circular polarising filter, Filters

About Alex Baker

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

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Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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