Your Best Friend for Fall Photography - A Circular Polarizer Nikhil Nagane
I am writing this article on the first day of Autumn season, which starts my favorite season to photograph in the Adirondack mountains. Vivid array of colors on trees and the ground below, a nip in the air and most importantly the end of bug season. What is not to like?
leaves is polarized in nature. Most of this polarized light can be filtered out using a circular polarizer.
When it comes to photographing the colors of autumn, one of the challenges I face is being able to capture the vividness of the fall foliage without the distracting glare. Leaves have a shiny surface which leads to them reflecting the sky just like a water surface or a metallic surface do.
In figure 1, notice the bright areas on the tree in the middle . The reflected light prevents the underlying foliage to be seen through, leading to duller colors. In contrast, in figure 2, you do not see the sky reflecting in the foliage. This was achieved by using a circular polarizer. Result is an image with greater intensity of colors, lack of distracting glare which is more desirable to me.
To help you counter this challenge, a simple solution is using a circular polarizer. The reflected light from the surface of
Let us look at an example observing the effect of a polarizer on fall foliage.
Figure 1. Highlights in the foliage of the middle tree reflected from the sky.
Figure 2. Use of a Circular Polarizer has reduced the glare of the sky, resulting in richer, more saturated colors.
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