Circular Polarizer Demo

If you remember at the beginning of the year, I posted up a circular polarizer demo article. Today I will show you some more examples of why you should use a circular polarizer, but I most likely will be copying some text I wrote in the last article as there is no point typing the same content up twice. HAHA If you want to see the last post, you can do so here.

The sample photos with the polarizer shown today was taken using the B+W 82mm XS-Pro Kaesemann Circular Polarizer with Multi-Resistant Nano Coating. First off, let me tell you why a circular polarizer is good. First of all, if you love landscape photos, you have to get one, a circular polarizer helps contrast the colors and deepen the blue sky. Using a circular polarizer can also help get rid of glare from water, glass, leaves (what I'm showing you today), etc... A polarizer will also protect your lens from the elements like fingerprints, scratches, and water. It is a good idea to use a filter. I have also read online that a filter saved his L model lens from a fall! Definitely worth the investment because $100 < $5,000. LOL

If you are serious about photography like me, I recommend you not get the cheap ones because they cause unwanted glares in your photos and the polarizing effect isn't good. The ones I have are a B+W 58mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer and a B+W 82mm XS-Pro Kaesemann Circular Polarizer with Multi-Resistant Nano Coating. They are German made filters, and includes special nano-technology coating that causes water that collect on there to drip right off. There is also little vignetting at wider angles. However, this filter is pretty expensive, but most good ones are. The 58mm one cost me around $100 and the 82mm one cost me around $250 (still worth it for the great German optics).

If you don't know much about polarizers, you will find two types of polarizers. One type is the linear polarizer and one type is the circular polarizer. The linear polarizers will have a slightly better polarizing effect than circular polarizers, but will render your auto focus function useless as the polarizer will prevent the auto focus sensor from seeing light. Linear polarizers are usually cheaper than circular polarizers. Circular polarizers won't effect the auto focus sensor and is what most people use. Circular polarizers are more expensive.

The only down sides to using a circular polarizer (like with all filters) is that since filters is suppose to filter out the light, it will also slow down your shutter speed and the time of day it will work the test (due to the sun) is slightly limiting. If the shutter speed gets too slow, make sure you have your camera on a tripod.

Alright, let's move onto the sample photos I took. All these photos were taken in the town of Pleasanton, CA and are of autumn foliage.

This photo was taken without any filter. 

 This photo was taken with my circular polarizer. See how the glare from the leaves almost disappeared and the colors are more saturated? :)

Here is another shot with the circular polarizer.  

Here is a landscape shot taken with a circular polarizer in a park in Pleasanton, CA with the fall foliage on the trees. See how the sky is a deep blue color and all the colorful leaves are more saturated?

This is all the sample photos I got. Remember the filters I have is a  B+W 58mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer  and a B+W 82mm XS-Pro Kaesemann Circular Polarizer with Multi-Resistant Nano Coating. If you are going to buy it, please buy it through my link. :) I get referral money that way and you'll be supporting the costs of running this blog. Even if you don't, please click in to check it out. I understand this filter might be a bit expensive for a lot of people, there are cheaper filters out there, but I don't recommend those. Also, when purchasing, don't forget to check if you got the right size filter!

Thanks for looking at this demo. I hope you have enjoyed it. If you haven't seen my past sample photos taken with circular polarizers, you can do so here. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

The Beauty of Fall Leaves

It's that time of the year again, leaves turn red and yellow and start falling. For trees, I think fall the the most beautiful time of the year. A lot of people probably dread the coming of fall, because there will be a lot of raking for the falling leaves, but for a photographer, fall is a magnificent time of year! Today's post will be dedicated to the beauty of fall leaves. All the photos today (with exception of one) was taken at Alliance Redwoods in Occidental, CA. I recently went there with my parents because they wanted to hear a speech. You can check out my last post on Alliance Redwoods here. Also, none of the photos today was touched up in Photoshop (other than the watermark).

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best photos from Occidental, CA, use this link. To see all of my photos from Occidental, CA, use this link. To see my best autumn foliage shots, use this link.

A close up macro shot of the red fall leaves.

Photography tip: For macro shots like this, it is generally good to take the photo in Aperture Priority (Av or A) mode and set your camera to use a wide aperture (small f-stop number). Experiment with the f-stop until you get a satisfactory photo. Photography is all about experience!

Another close up shot. You know what's weird? Isn't fall suppose to start like in October or something? It just occurred to me, the leaves around SF Bay Area didn't turn red until late November! Weird. LOL

This was the exception I was talking about. The above photo was not taken at Alliance Redwoods, instead it was taken on the Pleasanton Trail. As the trail name mentions, the trail is located in Pleasanton, CA. At the time of taking the photo, I only had my zoom lens with me, so I had to back up a lot before I was able to get the shot! But still, turned out better than I thought.

Need camera accessories? Check these out!

A beautiful shot doesn't always have to be a leaf still on a tree! This is a photo of a red leaf that fell and landed on a bush underneath. What a great balance between the red and green right? :) Well, I touched up this photo with Photoshop just a little bit. I enhanced the colors, because the original didn't turn out too well.

A shot of a whole tree that turned yellow and red.

Another shot of the tree. I am guessing the trees behind are Redwood trees because the retreat is called Alliance Redwoods. LOL

I will have more Alliance Redwoods photos coming on this blog in a few days! Please check back! I hope you have enjoyed today's post. Please leave a comment for me! Also, if you liked it, please don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook! You can also do that in the Facebook box at the top of the right sidebar.

Update (12-16-2011): I have posted up the rest of my Alliance Redwoods photos. They can be viewed here.