Circular Polarizer

[LKemper]

I shot with a circular polarizer for the first time today. For the most part my photos turned out well, however a few of them turned out either two dark or blown out. I shot in AV at 100 ISO and F5.6 and 8. It was a bright sunny day and through the lens the pictures looked saturated enough, but after I took the shot they were blown out. I was just wondering what I was doing wrong.

Thanks
Lisa

[dakwegmo]

Did you do anything different when you were shooting other than putting the CP on?

[scootermcq]

Not to be insulting, but did you turn the polarizer when you composed the image to get the results you wanted? It also works best at a 90 degree angle to the sun.

[LKemper]

Sorry. I forgot to say that yes, I did turn the glass to increase the saturation. Other than adding the polarizer I didn't do anything differently.

[kirbinster]

The CP cannot cause the image to be blown out, that is your metering. The CP is infront of the meter, so the meter compensates for the loss of light caused by the filter. If it was blown out it would have probably been even worse without the CP.

[navcom]

Could you post an example with it's EXIF data? That might help us determine what the problem is.

[theosus]

The problam Im having with my polarizer is when I use it - one corner of the frame is usually darker, almost like a vignette effect, but just in one corner. Its more noticeable on landscape with lots of sky. Not sure what Im doing wrong, except maybe I just bought a cheap filter? Got one of the $20 sunpak ones... but does it happen with the more expensive filters, and how do you deal with it?

[navcom]

theosus...A circular polarizer works best when pointed 90 degrees from the sun. As you get closer to the sun, the effect changes. If you are using a wide-angle lens, the change in effect can become more noticeable because you are seeing more of the sky in your shot and also more of this "transition". The vignetting you are seeing is most likely this transition. What type of lens were you using?

Hope that helps!

[theosus]

Originally Posted by navcom

theosus...A circular polarizer works best when pointed 90 degrees from the sun. As you get closer to the sun, the effect changes. If you are using a wide-angle lens, the change in effect can become more noticeable because you are seeing more of the sky in your shot and also more of this "transition". The vignetting you are seeing is most likely this transition. What type of lens were you using?

Hope that helps!

Was using canon t1i with Kit lens (18-55mm - set on 18 in this case), sunpack circular polarizer. Not sure where the sun was in this pic.

[dcclark]

Yep, that's 100% polarizer effect. I'd bet you a dollar that the sun is just off to the left in this photo!