Help on Circular Polarizers

[COKE CAN]

So I went out today and shot my car using the "stock" lens and a CP from Hoya. What did I do wrong?
Before

http://img197.echo.cx/img197/2105/crw1679amedium8ze.jpg

After

http://img190.echo.cx/img190/7235/crw1679medium9fg.jpg

I thought you use the CP to remove reflections.

[COKE CAN]

If it helps , it was 3pm. In VA. Blah.

[Dante King]

CPs really reduce glare, deepen sky and increase contrast. Think of it like the difference of when you put on your polarized sun glasses. They will not eliminate all reflections.

[FlyingPete]

CPs really reduce glare, deepen sky and increase contrast. Think of it like the difference of when you put on your polarized sun glasses. They will not eliminate all reflections.

It seems to maily help with glass reflections.

Did you try some different positions with the filter, it needs to be positioned correctly. Using the sunglass analogy, tilt your head sideways with the polarised glasses, and the polarising effect is no longer there.

Also what was the WB of the first image?

[COKE CAN]

It seems to maily help with glass reflections.

Did you try some different positions with the filter, it needs to be positioned correctly. Using the sunglass analogy, tilt your head sideways with the polarised glasses, and the polarising effect is no longer there.

Also what was the WB of the first image?

EDIT - I just noticed it was on indoor WB.

[COKE CAN]

http://img247.echo.cx/img247/968/crw1700medium6xz.jpg
http://img247.echo.cx/img247/8963/crw1701medium9xj.jpg
http://img247.echo.cx/img247/538/crw1702medium2es.jpg
http://img247.echo.cx/img247/9889/crw1703medium6jh.jpg
http://img247.echo.cx/img247/8483/crw1704medium3zo.jpg

I tried this again, this time with a fixed white balance and in my drive way

[FlyingPete]

I tried this again, this time with a fixed white balance and in my drive way

All with CP this time?

[Citizensmith]

A polarizer will reduce reflections. It works best on reflections from water or glass. It doesn't work well on reflections from metal. It also depends on the position of the sun and can have a larger effect at the start and end of the day due to the lower angle from which the light comes.

As has been said, rotate it to see what the best you can achieve is. They never instantly knock out all reflections though.

[COKE CAN]

All with CP this time?

Yes.

[COKE CAN]

A polarizer will reduce reflections. It works best on reflections from water or glass. It doesn't work well on reflections from metal. It also depends on the position of the sun and can have a larger effect at the start and end of the day due to the lower angle from which the light comes.

As has been said, rotate it to see what the best you can achieve is. They never instantly knock out all reflections though.

I guess I just need to play with t more.

[Eric DeCastro]

those pictures are just taken with way too much sun, wait til dusk/30 min after sunset to get a nice glow. the cp can only do so much.

[COKE CAN]

those pictures are just taken with way too much sun, wait til dusk/30 min after sunset to get a nice glow. the cp can only do so much.

I'll have to try that. I haven't had the chance yet.

[Eric DeCastro]

these were taken at high noon, 100mm f/2 wide open and cokin cp filter. just testing the cp filter, not showing off a dirty car. lol just converted and resized for the web.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/icxprince/th_CRW_1903.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/icxprince/CRW_1903.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/icxprince/th_CRW_1902.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/icxprince/CRW_1902.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/icxprince/th_CRW_1901.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/icxprince/CRW_1901.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/icxprince/th_CRW_1899.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/icxprince/CRW_1899.jpg)

[FlyingPete]

these were taken at high noon, 100mm f/2 wide open and cokin cp filter. just testing the cp filter, not showing off a dirty car. lol just converted and resized for the web.

Ah there you go the solution to you relection problems, go find some dirt :D

[HMetal]

The polarizer will not remove the glare from all parts of a rounded or arced surface. It will mainly affect 90 degree reflections. It will work best on glass and/or water.

Contrary to what some have said, it WILL work on metal surfaces but not as good as other surfaces.

You have to pick which reflections you want to remove as it won't remove them all, and there are some reflections that it won't remove (e.g those that are not 90 degree reflections - the filter falloff is gradual outside of 90 degrees).

What I typically do is twist the polarizer until the most dominant reflection has been reduced. If there is a particular reflection that I want gone but can't get rid of with the polarizer, I simply change my perspective and recompose from a different position.

Here are some shots of classic cars (from my pre-Canon days) that were enhanced with the use of a polarizer. Note the windows which are mostly reflection-free. Before adjusting the polarizer, there were people reflections in the windshields:


http://ee.codemain.com/photos/normal/DSC00677_filtered_copy.jpg

http://ee.codemain.com/photos/normal/DSC00701_filtered_copy.jpg

You can see the rest here: http://ee.codemain.com/list.php?exhibition=9

[pierrot]

Conditions / Effect

Cloudy sky, sun (facing), raw metal, safety glass (securit), grainy or frosted surface
None
Blue sky (sun in your back, within a 30° angle each side)
Darkening, saturation of the sky
Landscape
Higher contrasts, better definition in the distance
Mountain (with haze or bright sun)
Better definition in the distance (more effective than an UV filter)
Lateral sunlight
Irregular, uneven effect (worst with wide-angle lenses)
Human body
Tanned skin tones (yum!)

Regarding metal:
A metallic surface does not polarize the reflected light, so the UV filter will have no effect. But for cars, most of the time, there is a polish coating or of course paint: thus, the light will be partially polarized and an UV filter will show a small effect.

Regarding all other materials:
All of them (solids and liquids) do polarize the reflected light, so the UV filter will always have an effect.

Intensity of the filtering effect:
Highest when the UV filter orientation is perpendicular to the reflected light rays, lowest when parallel to them.

Hope this will help ;)

[FlyingPete]

Conditions / Effect

Cloudy sky, sun (facing), raw metal, safety glass (securit), grainy or frosted surface
None
Blue sky (sun in your back, within a 30° angle each side)
Darkening, saturation of the sky
Landscape
Higher contrasts, better definition in the distance
Mountain (with haze or bright sun)

That is an excellent summary of what a polariser doesn, almost sticky (forum sticky that is!) stuff for reference
Better definition in the distance (more effective than an UV filter)
Lateral sunlight
Irregular, uneven effect (worst with wide-angle lenses)
Human body
Tanned skin tones (yum!)

Regarding metal:
A metallic surface does not polarize the reflected light, so the UV filter will have no effect. But for cars, most of the time, there is a polish coating or of course paint: thus, the light will be partially polarized and an UV filter will show a small effect.

Regarding all other materials:
All of them (solids and liquids) do polarize the reflected light, so the UV filter will always have an effect.

Intensity of the filtering effect:
Highest when the UV filter orientation is perpendicular to the reflected light rays, lowest when parallel to them.

Hope this will help ;)

That is great info, IMHO should be a forum sticky or somewhere in an existing one!

[ddelallata]

Just play with the filter for a while and you should get the effect that you are going after. OFF TOPIC..... change the wheels on that little thing. Here'm mine with OEM Z06 wheels off an '04 Corvette.sorry about the poor quality...the pic wasn't taken with a digital camera.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/ddelallata/wwNEW1small.jpg

[SkipD]

Conditions / Effect

Cloudy sky, sun (facing), raw metal, safety glass (securit), grainy or frosted surface
None
Blue sky (sun in your back, within a 30° angle each side)
Darkening, saturation of the sky
Landscape
Higher contrasts, better definition in the distance
Mountain (with haze or bright sun)
Better definition in the distance (more effective than an UV filter)
Lateral sunlight
Irregular, uneven effect (worst with wide-angle lenses)
Human body
Tanned skin tones (yum!)

Regarding metal:
A metallic surface does not polarize the reflected light, so the UV filter will have no effect. But for cars, most of the time, there is a polish coating or of course paint: thus, the light will be partially polarized and an UV filter will show a small effect.

Regarding all other materials:
All of them (solids and liquids) do polarize the reflected light, so the UV filter will always have an effect.

Intensity of the filtering effect:
Highest when the UV filter orientation is perpendicular to the reflected light rays, lowest when parallel to them.

Hope this will help ;)I do believe that rather than a UV filter having these properties, you are describing a polarizing filter. A conventional UV filter has no polarization whatever.